The Business Disability Forum has released Square Holes for Square Pegs, a report on current practice in accommodating autistic employees. The report examines current practice in the employment of people with autism amongst BDF’s member companies and organisations, and makes key recommendations for employers when adopting inclusive practice.

The report is available as a PDF download

This week we’ve learned of the fascinating and inspiring story of Donald Grey Triplett, the first person to be diagnosed with autism. Donald might easily have been trapped by the low expectations of medical science and society in the 1930’s, spending his life in an institution and being abandoned by his parents. Instead, his mother and father refused to give up on him and brought Donald up as a normal boy. Now aged 82, Donald lives an independent and active life, still living in the home he grew up in, and indulging his love of travel and golf.

A key part of Donald’s story is the affection and support shown to him by the residents of his home town of Forest, Mississippi. In a world where people with disabilities still encounter discrimination, their sense of community and acceptance of diversity is remarkable and an inspiration to us all.

Donald’s story is told in In a Different Key: The Story of Autism, a new book by American journalists John Donvan and Caren Zucker, reviewed by The Observer on 17th January.

News from the US this week: About 1 in 45 children in the United States has an autism spectrum condition, according to a new government estimate of the condition’s prevalence in 2014. This is a significant increase from the previous figure of 1 in 70.

This new report is based on data collected during the yearly National Health Interview Survey, from interviews of parents about their children, and is the first report of the prevalence of autism in the U.S. to include data from the years 2011 to 2014, according to the researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

interestingly, it appears that a small change in the survey questions has resulted in the higher figures. An article in Forbes Magazine goes into detail on this. Another article here at The Verge.

With a change to the wording of a survey making a big difference to results, it’s difficult to know the true prevalence of ASC. However these new figures confirm what is already known: ASC is far more common than previously thought.