The reason why 85% of autistic adults are unemployed is because of sensory overload as well as a profound mismatch between traditional, heavily social hiring processes as well as neurodivergent skill sets.
Traditional hiring of employees also heavily rewards eye contact, small talk and social fluency, which inherently penalizes autistic adult candidates for the job who communicate differently or experience social anxiety.
And open plan offices and demanding sensory environments also trigger burnout in people with autism and they also often have issues with maintaining eye contact.
And employers also often fail to offer simple accommodations like modified lighting or noise canceling headphones.
And while an autistic adult may be able to physically do a job, the autism creates barriers out of their control to where they cannot handle the job and so they don't stay on the job too long or simply remain unemployed.
Autistic people including autistic adults will sometimes cry when they are overwhelmed, although it can also depend on the individual autistic person.
Crying in autistic people is a common and involuntary response to sensory overload, emotional burnout or even a neurological fight or flight stress reaction that is also known as an autistic meltdown.
Many autistic people may cry due to sensory overload, for example when the persons environment has too many bright lights, loud noises or social demands, the brains processing limits can be exceeded and crying acts as a visceral, involuntary release of that pent up stress.
And autistic meltdowns are not a tantrum, as meltdowns and crying spells in people with autism are not manipulative and instead they are genuine, physical reactions to feeling completely overwhelmed.
And although some people with autism may cry or shout when they are overwhelmed, some people with autism, when overwhelmed, experience silent meltdowns, where they freeze, shut down or even withdraw completely without crying.
Even difficulty identifying and putting words together also known as alexithymia is common in people with autism,
Because it's also hard to articulate or process internal feelings, the physical at of crying can also take over.
People with autism will often also do what is called finger flicking, which is where an autistic person does repetitive, rhythmic movement of one or more of their fingers, which often involves rapid flicking, snapping or a wiggling motion.
Finger flicking in autism is also a very common form of stimming also known as self stimulatory behavior that many autistic people including autistic kids use to regulate their emotions, process sensory input and self soothe.
The finger flicking in autistic people provides the person with autism, calming, grounding physical sensations and flicking their fingers near their face or eyes can also provide them with visual stimulation, like watching their fingers move or catch light.
And just like hand flapping in autism, people with autism often also flick their fingers when they experience intense feelings of excitement, joy or anticipation.
And the finger flicking in autism also acts as a release valve to manage stress, anxiety or sensory overload from the environment that surrounds them and the repetitive movement of finger flicking in autism also provides the autistic person with vital feedback to their brain, which helps them understand where their hands and body are at in space.
The motion in finger flicking in autism also varies from person to person, but the finger flicking in autism often involves rapidly opening and closing their thumb and index finger, a snapping like motion against their thumbnail and wiggling fingers in front of their eyes or a light source.
90% of autism is caused by genetics.
Autism is also highly heritable, although autism is not caused by a single gene and instead autism is actually a complex, multifactorial condition that is drive by several biological and environmental factors.
However the vast majority of autism risk does come from a combination of variations in inherited genes from both parents as well as spontaneous or (de novo) genetic mutations, which occur during early development.
And hundreds of genes are also linked to autism, and each also slightly increase susceptibility to autism.
The remaining 10 percent of autism risk is attributed to prenatal and environmental influences.
These prenatal and environmental influences that cause autism include maternal health complications, exposure to certain chemicals such as air pollution or certain pesticides during pregnancy, extreme prematurity and even advanced age at the time of conception.
Autism rarely has a single cause and it's often the result of a complex interplay between a person's genetic makeup and environmental triggers during early brain development.
Specifically, children born to fathers over age 40 face a notably increased risk of developing autism.
Studies from various countries have found that these children are about 5.75 to 6 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than those with fathers under 30.
Autism rates are also rising primarily due to better screening, broader diagnostic definitions, and increased public awareness, rather than a sudden spike in the condition itself.
Key factors driving these changes include:
Broader Definitions: The criteria for diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have widened.
In 1994, conditions like Asperger's were added, bringing milder traits into the spectrum.
Improved Screening & Awareness: Routine developmental screenings in early childhood—along with greater awareness by parents and educators—have drastically improved identification.
Better Inclusivity: Diagnosis rates for girls and previously underrepresented minority groups are catching up as clinicians better understand how autism presents differently across genders and ethnicities.
Diagnostic Substitution: Children who may have previously been diagnosed with another learning disability or intellectual delay are now receiving a more accurate autism diagnosis.