2019 Volume 17 Issue 1 Pages 43-51
Recently, there has been a tendency to diagnose adult developmental disorders only after a person encounters social difficulties or other problems are observed. It is known that among developmentally disabled individuals, those with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to have problems at their workplaces. Many such people leave their job even though they can work because of communication difficulties and problems related to interpersonal relationships. This study used qualitative methods to clarify how ASD patients that have been continuously employed in the same workplace had coped with workplace difficulties. We performed a semistructured interview with ten workers with ASD that had worked in the same workplace for six months or longer. We found that workers with ASD coped with new difficulties and with differences in the “individuality of various companies” using “independent-minded problem resolution.” They used self-control as much as possible and reached out to their co-workers. The workers with ASD were able to develop the “value of their work” while learning from their experiences over time on how to reduce difficulties in their lives. The workers chose to continue with their jobs as a result of comparing “satisfaction with and expectations from their work,” which was appropriate for each worker with ASD.
