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Jonathan Andrews
Jonathan Andrews, 22, is a member of the first parliamentary commission on autism. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian
Jonathan Andrews, 22, is a member of the first parliamentary commission on autism. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

‘I saw being autistic as an opportunity, not a weakness’

This article is more than 7 years old

Young autistic people want to be accepted by employers for who they are, says award-winning campaigner Jonathan Andrews

Jonathan Andrews was once advised to hide his autism from prospective employers. Instead, he is making his name by doing just the opposite.

“I saw it [being autistic] as an opportunity, not a weakness,” says Andrews, 22, who recently won campaigner of the year at the European Diversity Awards 2016. The law graduate, who starts as a trainee solicitor at Reed Smith in August, says: “I wanted to work somewhere that wouldn’t see the word ‘autism’ on an application and think, ‘This is terrible.’ The ones [prospective employers] that took it in their stride were the best workplace environments, rather than places that talk about it [autism] all the time, because they think you’re this strange, exotic creature.”

Andrews is a member of the first parliamentary commission on autism, and has advised the government on its green paper covering work, health and employment, which proposes to help at least 1 million disabled people into work and to consult on overhauling the notorious work capability assessment. Consultation ends later this month.

Although there are some 700,000 people on the autism spectrum in the UK, the condition is widely misunderstood. The spectrum includes people with learning disabilities as well as “high-functioning” individuals and those who find interaction difficult.

“I’ve heard things like, ‘You don’t look autistic.’ But do you hear anyone say, ‘You don’t look dyslexic’? People understand dyslexia is a different way of thinking and that’s what we need to get to [with autism].”

In the UK, 48% of disabled people are in work compared to 80% of non-disabled people. According to the National Autistic Society (NAS), only 16% of autistic adults in the UK are in full-time work. Andrews wants to shatter the preconception that autistic employees are best suited to IT because of the attention to detail stereotypically associated with the condition. He says this ignores people’s talents and interests. He suggests other employer-friendly traits might include problem solving, focus, single-mindedness and punctuality.

Despite the Equality Act 2010, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against a job seeker because of a disability, Andrews says: “There’s only so much legislation can do because you need people willing to enforce it.” Specialist careers advice for young people would help, he suggests, and employers must recognise the advantages of recruiting neurodiverse staff “who think differently”.

Through chairing the youth council of the charity Ambitious about Autism, Andrews promotes a campaign that aims to improve how autistic people move from education into work. While the government introduced reforms to the special educational needs and disability (Send) system three years ago, families still struggle to get the right support.

Research from NAS suggests 17% of parents appeal to Send tribunals against their council’s decision on their child’s education. And government figures show special needs pupils are more than seven times more likely to receive a permanent exclusion than their non-Send peers.

“There can be assumptions that pupils are ‘being naughty’ and exclusion is the easiest approach. But it should be last resort; a lot of people are shut out of education, it’s very hard to get back in.”

Growing up, Andrews was an avid reader and writer but “not interested in the same things as my peer group”, he recalls. His younger brother defended him from verbal abuse at school. “It was words like ‘retard’ … I developed a thick skin, people used to tease but I felt it was best not to focus on them.”

Andrews’ anxiety made him a quiet teenager but, he adds, “just because you don’t speak doesn’t mean you don’t have anything to say”. His bid to improve his confidence set him on the campaign path as he forced himself to speak up about autism. “I wanted to achieve things like going to university and into law, and I knew someone wouldn’t take you on just because you’re nice – it’s competitive – so I exposed myself to those [social] situations … learning how people expect you to talk to them.”

Autism is not a mental health condition but, as stressed in his work with the parliamentary commission, 70% of autistic children meet the criteria for a co-occurring mental health condition. “Not being understood because of being autistic can affect younger people who might not have that internal confidence to say, ‘I am who I am,’” Andrews explains. The solutions include more training for health professionals and for NHS England to appoint a national clinical director for autism.

How does Andrews resolve his campaigning with his role advising a government that is imposing cuts that could mean 45,000 fewer disabled people will get support to find work? “You need to show what they can get out of it – government officials can increase employment statistics; many MPs’ constituents have children who are autistic, or are autistic themselves … so doing more work on autism gives them a better chance of getting re-elected,” he responds. “I can’t do anything about the welfare changes but I can help in a field that I understand – employment.”

Andrews is positive about future employment equality for autistic people. Given rising diagnosis rates, he predicts a groundswell of support for action: “There are a lot more young people who will be diagnosed with autism than previous generations. A lot of them are not going to want to be handed a job – they’ll want to use their skills and contribute to a firm and be accepted for who they are. If firms don’t get that, they’re missing out on that talent.”

Curriculum vitae

Age: 22

Lives: Orpington, Kent

Family: one younger brother, lives with parents.

Education: Darrick Wood comprehensive, King’s College London, BA English; BPP University (private), LLB Law. Currently studying MA Law at BPP and Leading Change, the Queen’s young leaders programme, at the University of Cambridge

Career: from August 2017, trainee solicitor, Reed Smith; 2014-2017, My Plus Consulting, disability consultancy agency; 2015, member of BBC Generation 2015, working with the BBC on general election coverage

Public life: UK government health and work expert group member; Westminster autism commission member (parliamentary committee); Disability Confident ambassador; Law Society diversity board member (specialising in disability); Commonwealth disability working group member; Ambitious about Autism youth council chair

Awards: Queen’s Young Leader, 2017; European Diversity Awards campaigner of the year 2016, British Citizens Award 2016; National Autistic Society Autism Professionals Award 2016; Dyspraxia Foundation Award, 2016

Interests: mentoring, exercise, royal and constitutional history and fiction, creative writing

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