A Co Monaghan man has highlighted the importance of making workplaces more autism friendly.
Adam McPhillips is a qualified accountant with Colleran Accountants and is a member of the Monaghan Autism Friendly Committee.
The committee organise events and initiatives throughout Co Monaghan with the aim of making communities more inclusive for people with autism.
Adam highlighted the importance of understanding, education and inclusion.
He said it's important to close the gap and get people to understand that autistic people and non-autistic people are more similar than they think.
While Adam found school difficult, he believes going into employment as an autistic person was even harder because he felt like he had to mask for 40-50 hours per week.
He said trying to be someone you're not as an autistic person for that length of time is extremely challenging.
Speaking to Northern Sound, the local man had high praise for his current employer.
He noted that autistic people can do anything they set their minds to when you believe in yourself and have the right people around you.
The 29-year-old told Northern Sound: "I've been with a number of employers where I highlighted that I was autistic but it wasn't really a conversation.
"When I disclosed it to Emmet my current employer he sat down and asked me questions around autism and how I get overwhelmed.
"It's about communication and that's so important. It reassures me and it means that I can trust him because I know that he listens which is very important for both employer and an employee.
"A lot of people told me that I would never qualify as an accountant and I actually qualified this month.
"You can do anything you put your mind to as an autistic person. You need to ignore all the noise, if you believe in yourself and have the right people around you that's what you need to focus your energy on and ignore anything negative."
