As an autistic woman of color listening to conversations around autism in the workplace, I ask myself, where are all our voices?  Where are the discussions on how cultural norms add complexity to our understanding of autism?  I would like to explore our understanding of autism and how ideas of what is normal affects prescriptions of behavior. 

I am a queer, autistic woman of latine-native immigrants.  I am firmly at the intersection of woman, minority, and neurodivergent where there is very little room for authenticity and self expression.  My purple faux-hawk, bold print blazer, and big jewelry do not fit into typical definitions of “work-appropriate”, especially not for an interview (to say nothing of how my autism affects my prospects).   Yet that is exactly how I dress for interviews, even though there are a slew of studies showing how personal bias affects the likelihood of people of color being hired with all other factors being equal.