ADA in the Workplace
What it is: Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities, including autistic and other neurodivergent workers. But most employers, especially small businesses, don’t know what neurodivergent accommodations look like. In reality, most are far cheaper and simpler than employers fear.
Why it matters to our community: Unemployment and underemployment among autistic adults is staggering. Most estimates put the majority of autistic adults out of the workforce entirely, despite many being skilled, reliable, and eager to work. The gap usually isn’t capability. It’s friction: interview processes that screen out people with atypical communication styles, sensory-hostile workspaces, vague expectations, and managers who have never been shown how small adjustments unlock strong performance. Written instructions, noise-canceling headphones, flexible scheduling, and structured feedback cost little or nothing, and research consistently bears that out.
Our position: Rather than treating employers as adversaries, Americans for Autism Advocacy wants to be their resource. Hiring neurodivergent workers isn’t charity. It’s a competitive advantage, and we’ll help businesses capture it through a multi-pronged approach:
In Congress:
- Clarify the definition of intellectual and developmental disability in the ADA. The current definition is murky and vague, leaving employers guessing and workers unprotected. That ambiguity is a driver of the high volume of EEOC discrimination charges filed every year. A clear definition protects workers and gives employers the certainty they need to hire with confidence.
- End the subminimum wage for disabled workers. Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act still allows employers to pay disabled workers below the $7.25 federal minimum wage. This carve-out is anti-free-market: it distorts wages, blocks competition for talent, and traps disabled individuals in dead-end, low-paying jobs instead of letting them compete in the open labor market.
Stakeholder education:
- Equip the business community directly. AFAA works with chambers of commerce, disability benevolence groups, and other key stakeholders on practical solutions: accommodation guides, interview process audits, manager training materials, and sample policies that help employers recruit, retain, and promote neurodivergent talent.
- Showcase what works. America’s leading employers have already proven the business case. Ford Motor Company, Wells Fargo, Salesforce, the Philadelphia Eagles, Deloitte, Walgreens, and the UConn Center for Neurodiversity and Employment Innovation have all built successful neurodivergent employment programs. We will turn these into case studies that sell the business community on a simple truth: hiring neurodivergent talent is good business.
