Virtual Reality (VR) Technology: Empowering Managers to Reduce and Eliminate Accessibility Barriers for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Barriers to accessibility are defined as 'factors in a person's environment that, through their absence or presence, limit functioning and create disability' [1]. There are four elements that are incorporated into this term which includes: physical environment, lack of assistive technology, attitudes of others and the lack of or restrictive services, systems and policies [1]. These barriers to accessibility are present for 13% of the Irish population. Many initiatives have been developed and implemented for people with physical disabilities; however, people with intellectual disabilities (ID) remain invisible. This invisible population accounts for 9.7% of our population or 75% of the population of people with disabilities [2]. Thus, it is imperative that we commence to implement Universal Design (UD) approaches that increase accessibility and empower the invisible to become visible. One such invisible group that holds substantial potential to bring immense value to companies is that of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) [3]. ASD currently impacts 1 in 68 people worldwide with this figure growing annually at a rate of 10-17% [4]. 80% of people with ASD are either unemployed or underemployed; this can be attributed to barriers to accessibility [5]. Two of the most common barriers to accessibility experienced by those with ASD are environmental and attitudes of others [6,7]. These barriers have the potential to be overcome through the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology to provide training and education to managers. VR technology is being used to empower managers to reduce these barriers, increase accessibility and develop inclusive environments and cultures. VR technology can be used to empower managers to recognise and reduce the barriers facing those with ASD. VR is a catalyst for managers to be able to identify the environmental barriers facing people with ASD within a work environment. This solution also provides them with the skills necessary to commence making adaptations to the environment to reduce or eliminate these barriers. The use of this technology and paradigm shift brings many benefits for the individual and the company. A mixed method approach has been used for the purposes of data collection. The tools that were utilised were interviews with HR managers and people with ASD; and surveys were circulated to HR managers, senior managers, Chief Executive Officers and people with ASD. The results of these were positive and clearly verified that there is a need to empower managers to increase accessibility within their organisations.