May 16, 2022 – May 18, 2022

4th Annual Autism at Work Research Workshop

11:00am-2:00pm PDT

Location: Virtual

Workshop agenda

The workshop will run over three days, each with its own agenda.

Day 1: The State of Autism Employment Research (Open to all)

Day 1 will feature a review of the state of autism employment research, its history, and the history of this workshop; a set of talks from established academic centers of autism research to talk about their key initiatives and how they leverage research to impact the community; and opportunities to discuss these ideas in groups with other workshop attendees.

Time	Session title
11:00 AM PDT – 11:15 AM PDT	Introduction and Review of the Research Landscape
11:15 AM PDT – 12:00 PM PDT	Breakout discussions on how research can best support and serve the autism community.
12:00 PM – 12:10 PM PDT	Break
12:10 PM – 12:20 PM PDT	Presentation of the priorities from the breakout discussions
12:20 PM PDT – 2:00 PM PDT	Presentations from Centers of Autism Research Prof. Susanne Bruyere, K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability, Cornell University Dr. Simon Bury, Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, LaTrobe University Prof. Shevaun Lewis, Autism Research Consortium, University of Maryland Prof. Lawrence Fung, Stanford Neurodiversity Project, Stanford University Prof. Tim Vogus, Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Vanderbilt University

Day 2: The Benefits and Challenges of Doing Research in Autism and Employment (Open to autism researchers only)

Day 2 will include a set of conversations about the challenges of doing research in autism and employment, including

conducting autism and employment research
collaborating with practitioners and researchers
removing barriers that impact collaboration between research centers
engaging with the autistic community
providing access to research sites and management (e.g. workplaces, educational spaces, vocational spaces) to engage with autistic employees and their teams
including autistic voices in all aspects of the research (not just as study participants)
identifying as and/or coming out as an autistic or neurodivergent researcher
empowering and mentoring the next generation of autistic researchers
finding and successfully acquiring funding for the research

Time	Session title
11:00 AM PDT – 11:30 AM PDT	Discussion of Lessons Learned from Day 1
11:30 AM PDT – 12:30 PM PDT	2 Rounds of 25-minute Breakout Discussions
12:30 PM PDT – 12:40 PM PDT	Break
12:40 PM PDT – 1:40 PM PDT	2 Rounds of 25-minute Breakout Discussions
1:40 PM PDT – 2:00 PM PDT	Discussion of Lessons Learned

Day 3: Research Presentations (Open to autism researchers only)

Day 3 will include a set of research paper presentations and breakouts to help individual researchers socialize their project ideas and get feedback from the community. We especially encourage solo (i.e., those in academic environments that are not focused on autism and/or employment) and junior researchers interested in these topics to attend.

Presentations will be 5 minutes each and will be followed by a 3 minute Q&A period. 4 or 5 papers will be presented in each 40-50 minute session.

Time	Session title
11:00 AM PDT – 11:32 AM PDT	Research Presentations and Discussion A Longitudinal Study Exploring Autistic High Schoolers’ Interests in CS Lessons Learned: Developing a Survey with Neurodivergent Youth Autism Spectrum Disorder and Postsecondary Placements; A Descriptive Study Understanding strengths and challenges of people with autism from parents and practitioners: roadmap for skill development and employment opportunities
11:32 AM PDT – 12:12 PM PDT	Research Presentations and Discussion Designing an Online Game Design and Employment Workshop for Autistic Youth in Collaboration with Neurodivergent Students Understanding Neurodiverse Workers’ Performance and Perspectives in Image and Text Annotation Tasks Promoting inclusive workspaces through virtual reality training of empathy in neurotypicals Lessons Learned: WorkingWell 2.0: Assistive Technology for Autistic Employees Achieving common ground in autistic-neurotypical interactions with innovations in video calling
12:12 PM PDT – 12:22 PM PDT	Break
12:22 PM PDT – 12:54 PM PDT	Research Presentations and Discussion Empowering Neurodivergent Librarians to Lead Inclusion in Libraries Autism at Work: A Systematic Review and Critical Analysis (Working Paper) Project R.E.A.D.Y — Roadmap to Employment for Chinese Americans Developmental Disabilities Youth Interview-based Assessments for Autistic Job Candidates: How interview item content, and topics discussed in responses, impact autistic job candidates scoring on competencies
12:54 PM PDT – 1:26 PM PDT	Research Presentations and Discussion Lessons learned from viewing acceptance and societal attitudes towards autistics in the workplace What factors influence employers to successfully recruit and then retain autistic employees? Measuring the Success of Neurodiversity Job Placement Programs in High Tech Industries Measuring Inclusion in the Workplace for Autistic Adults
1:26 PM PDT – 2:00 PM PDT	Workshop Takeaways and Wrapup Discussion