Greta Thunberg describes it as her “superpower”. Unfortunately, not everyone views autism that way.
For the teenage Swedish activist, having Asperger’s syndrome — a form of autism — has helped power her environmental campaigning. “It makes me different, and being different is a gift, I would say. It also makes me see things from outside the box,” she told the BBC.
But more commonly, people diagnosed on the autism spectrum — about one in 100 of the population — are stigmatised and excluded. In the UK, only 16 per cent of autistic adults were in full-time paid employment in 2016, according to the National Autistic Society. Other neurodiverse people, including those with dyslexia, dyspraxia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Tourette syndrome, can face difficulties and discrimination in the workplace.