It can’t be possible that everyone is an introvert.

But it sure seems that way, based on the amount of folks I meet (who are genuinely otherwise genial and social) who confess that, despite their apparent gregariousness and yen for social activities, they are introverts at their core.

So there are times I have to reckon with The Life Autistic: am I not just a different variety of introvert? Or conversely, aren’t introverts in some way “a little bit autistic?”

No.

Autism encompasses a range of characteristics. Even though it may make sense that a “bookish, awkward, comic-book loving math savant introvert” would be your typical autistic example, it’s just as likely that it’s actually going to be your “focused, clumsy, exuberant, trouble-with-eye-contact-and-boundaries camera-parts-loving extrovert.”

Really? Really.

Introversion and extroversion are basically just matters of “social energy,” as I’ll call it. Extroverts gain it, introverts drain it.

And it has nothing to do with whether you like people or not. You could be an antisocial extrovert, or a sociable introvert — it happens.

That’s where people can get confused about autism.

I’ll admit that I’ve worked to a place where I can turn on the jets, flip a few switches, and almost be fun at gatherings, events, parties, you name it.

Would I rather be back at my house reading a book? Or out doing my own thing alone? Uh, not always.

Sometimes I enjoy the thrill of company, where it changes the pace in my day, and I know I’m going to have a good time — who wouldn’t?

The introverted side of me has to recharge after a load of people and events.

The autistic side of me needs to recharge before I melt down and lose my emotional bearings.

And no matter how much socializing I do or don’t do, I’m still an overly literal thinker, have trouble summoning the right empathetic responses, dig into fixations and enthusiasms, and stim oddly in my own house.

I have autism, and I just happen to be an introvert.

I owe much of my career longevity and relative success to Apple allowing me to work almost entirely remote.

Working remotely is not just a matter of convenience in The Life Autistic; it’s a way to embrace and promote diversity for us.

All too often workplaces get bogged down in remote work debates (or justifications!) from a convenience, creative, or productivity standpoint. Those are all well and good, but they fail to account for a more inclusive, important factor: people.

We’re in a “bring your whole person” to work era — even if that means you’re bringing in remotely.

So how does remote work promote diversity and neurodiversity?

Remote work minimizes our social burnout 

I travel to our sites every so often, and atop an already demanding role, I’m smoked by the sheer number of interactions and meetups that pile on. While I’ve tried to be less popular (hah), it gets tough to save energy for my work when it’s being spent on social capital and interaction.

Remote work allows focus on our terms

Ok, autism-friendly workspace, it’s nice that you let me wear big headphones at my cube in your open office — but that’s only going to help so much. We value our space, place, unperturbed arrangements in a way where we don’t have to drown everything else out, but can make a more focused place to begin with.

Remote work lets us opt in to the essentials 

I’ll write about this later! But being able to select my spots for meetings, collaborations, and partnerships has helped my mental well-being, even if I don’t get as much of that organically. And if want to do that, I travel. Win-win.

Remote work allows for our, uh, expression without awkwardness

Are you familiar with stimming? No? Well, it’s a thing — and it’s very noticeable if you watch me for too long at home. In public, I can shut it down, but that takes work. We’re way more free as people when we can segue into stimming without co-workers or colleagues thinking we’re weirder than we already are.

 

But here is the kicker:

Don’t just offer and tolerate remote options.

Embrace and promote not just the work, but the worker finding their best in it.

Are you actively embracing the growth and benefit it can afford your people? Is it just an option to offer so you can check a box?

Are the opportunities of remote career growth appealing, or are they at a lower tier “because it’s too hard to make it work?”

Are you valuing and finding ways that your neurodiverse remote employees can grow and do more?