Autism Initiative in the Industrial Sector: A Case Study

Abstract

As employers increasingly view disability as a form of diversity that can enrich the workplace and improve performance, a company in the industrial sector in the Midwest created an innovative initiative for employing an individual with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A case study methodology was utilized to gain a better understanding of effective employer practices in hiring and integrating employees with ASD. The case study was framed by Yang and Konrad’s (2011) model of diversity in the workplace as well the Interactional Model of Cultural Diversity (IMCD; Cox, 1993), with specific focus on the four organizational contexts of the model, namely, organizational culture and acculturation processes, structural integration, informal integration, and institutional bias. Results indicate that the autism initiative had an overall positive impact on the company, with reports of stronger company performance and improved company climate. These results as well as others aligned with tenets of the theoretical framework implemented. Rehabilitation counselors can support employers looking to increase the disability diversity in their company through the theoretically supported insights of this case study. Doing so may help to address the current shortage of skilled workers in the workforce.

Effect of company-driven disability diversity initiatives: A multi-case study across industries

“…The purpose of this project was to integrate and interpret findings from seven company-driven disability initiatives previously published as six separate articles. The previously studied case studies include a large biotechnology company (Ochrach et al, 2021), a medium-sized men's apparel manufacturer (Grenawalt et al, 2020), a small software company focused on the inclusion of people with disabilities in their communities , a medium-sized global business management consulting firm (Kesselmayer et al, 2022), a small manufacturer of garden products (Thomas, Ochrach, Phillips, Anderson et al, 2021), a medium-sized industrial manufacturer (Phillips et al, 2023), and a small company selling environmentally conscious products (Thomas, Ochrach, Phillips, Anderson et al, 2021). By pulling together insights from across these separate case studies, we are better able to identify patterns and best practices in employer-initiated disability diversity initiatives.…”