'It's going to cost me a lot of energy and stress that isn't needed', whereas if you let me stay at home, it can make a huge difference': autistic academic discusses benefits of remote and hybrid work
According to a recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), there has been a significant rise in disability employment — particularly in sectors offering work from home (WFH) and remote opportunities.
The study identifies a 22% rise in employment by disabled employees between 2019 and 2024, with a similar rise in Canada.
And 80% of that growth can be explained by the increase in access to WFH jobs sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Heather Brown is an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Alberta. She specializes in autistic research and is autistic herself, referring to herself as “AuDHD” – a new term for those who have ADHD and autism.
Speaking with HRD Canada, Brown shed light on the importance of remote work for neurodivergent individuals and those with physical disabilities.
A large barrier to employment for many neurodivergent individuals is the sensory challenges they experience in office environments; everyday sounds such as talking and typing, along with the myriad sights, smells and other inputs that are barely noticed by most employees present serious problems for workers who are neurodivergent.
The flexibility of remote work allows employees to manage their environments and reduce the stressors that often accompany traditional office settings. Brown underscores how remote work can reduce sensory overload, a common issue for neurodivergent individuals:
"For me, what that means is that I'm sensory defensive,” she says. “It means that I don't like most sensory inputs. I don't like strong smells, I don't like loud noises. I don't like visual motion, people jiggling … when you look at the way that most offices are organized, there's very few opportunities to give most neurodivergent employees their own space and own private quiet space."
Relating her own experience of being fired from an early data-entry job that wouldn’t allow her to wear headphones, Brown emphasizes the importance of recognizing sensory needs and of accommodating them, highlighting the critical role employers play in creating environments that allow these employees to thrive.
This is crucial not only for the comfort of neurodivergent employees but for their productivity as well, she says.
“If you're forcing me to work in this environment, it's going to cost me a lot of energy and a lot of time and a lot of stress that isn't necessarily needed, whereas if you let me stay at home and I'm online — but yet I'd be able to control the noises and the temperature and the sounds all around me — it can make a huge difference.”
The traditional office environment simply isn’t suitable for all employees, Brown says, particularly those who are neurodivergent. Many employees may not feel comfortable disclosing their needs due to fear of discrimination or stigma, and therefore neurodivergent workers may be spending a lot of time and energy on “masking” or “camouflaging” – which cuts into their productivity.
“So, what do we do in an office setting? Because we don't want to seem weird, we basically suppress,” she explains. “We suppress those behaviours. That costs a lot of energy, and it means a lot more lost productivity, because, again, you're putting all your energy into appearing normal and sitting still, and dressing the way you're supposed to, whereas I could be devoting all of that energy to my work, if I'm at home.”
Employers can reduce these stressors by offering remote work as an option, she says, allowing employees to control their environments and, consequently, their productivity. For those with physical disabilities, the ability to work remotely can also minimize the physical strain associated with commuting and navigating office spaces that may not be fully accessible.
A critical component in accommodating employees is creating a culture of psychological safety. This is particularly important for those with invisible disabilities, Brown explains, because the individual may not feel confident about disclosing due to their disability being minimized or dismissed previously.
The key is focusing on building trust between employees and their managers, she says.
"People don't want to tell you what they need, because they're afraid they're going to be punished for it. They're afraid they're going to be discriminated against,” Brown says. “So, if you want your employees to open up and tell you these things, you've got to create a psychologically safe space where they know that they can communicate their needs and it will be not held against them.”
Open communication, flexibility, and a focus on strengths are essential in creating this atmosphere, Brown says. Employers can initiate conversations with employees about their needs and present a variety of accommodation options, ensuring that employees feel supported rather than singled out.
“Above all, it's just building a connection and a relationship with every employee, understanding who they are, what they need, how they work best, that will allow you to be able to figure this stuff out, even if you never mention the word accommodation,” she says.
Accommodating employees with disabilities isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, Brown explains, it requires a measure of adaptability from employers.
"It has to be an individual, case-by-case basis, both in terms of what the company's needs are as well as what the individual's needs are ... There's no black-and-white wrong here. It's not necessarily wrong to require your employees to come to work. There may be advantages in certain situations ... but [it’s also not] ‘necessarily wrong’ to let them work from home."
Especially with big players such as Amazon ordering employees back to the office full time for reasons of culture and collaboration, some employers are questioning the necessity of accommodating employees who prefer to work remotely.
Brown doesn’t disagree with that argument, emphasizing that especially for neurodivergent individuals, the community created by being together physically is very important for employee mental health.
“One of the things that we need the most to experience well-being and to be productive, is to feel like we're part of a group, to feel like we have a community,” she says.
“When we are a bit more isolated, that can be harder to do, but it's not impossible, because you have to also remember that there's evidence now that online connection isn't that different than in-person connection… if I'm online and I'm working with my team … and I have collaborators all over the world, and I see some of them multiple times a week, well, how can you say that those relationships, even if they're never in person … are any poorer than a relationship where we were all in the office every day?”
The rise in disability employment coinciding with the increase in remote work underscores the importance of flexible work arrangements for recruitment; as the report highlights, “in five countries (Australia, Canada, France, Spain, and the U.S.), there is a substantially larger increase in disability employment (average of 10%) compared to non-disabled employment (average of 2%) from 2019 to 2022.”
Not only that, the increases in WFH employment for disabled employees are concentrated in full-time employment, meaning these individuals were able to transition from part-time to full-time work.
According to Brown, by recognizing the diverse needs of their employees and providing the necessary support, including remote and hybrid work options, Canadian employers can ensure that their organizations remain competitive, innovative, and resilient.
"Creating these more flexible work environments to encourage more neurodivergent employees to be part of your company is only going to make your company a hell of a lot stronger than it was before,” she says.
"We bring a lot of value. We make the company stronger. We have all of these amazing strengths, and we just need people to give us a chance and to understand that we often experience the world differently, and because we experience the world differently, we're going to need different accommodations for these differences."
