The “Autistic/Allistic Intercommunication: A Guide for the Workplace” was developed in 2022 by Sara Lacarte, an Autistic PhD student at the University of Toronto and Autism Alliance of Canada’s 2021-22 Health System Impact Fellow, and Zahra Husein, an Autistic MA student at the University of Guelph. It was funded by Ready, Willing & Able’s Community Innovation Fund.
This resource was developed for managers, supervisors and colleagues who are working with Autistic staff. It provides an overview of Autistic communication differences along with explanations for these differences. It also provides guidance on how to adapt verbal and non-verbal communication in the workplace.
People need to know it’s okay to ask me what my intent was behind saying something, because I can say something that may sound—especially as an employer—I can say something that may sound incredibly harsh, right, and no harshness was intended, but I can’t read everyone’s body language to tell that they think that was harsh. And so, I need to create basically a zone or a bubble around me where people feel comfortable asking me questions about my intent behind actions. It creates an environment where people know that I welcome criticism. If I said something here that offended people, let’s talk about it.
