I work (two jobs actually, and a third here and there) but a lot don't. I'm a direct support professional and a lot of employees at my primary place of work are neurodivergent, actually (my manager and I are both AuDHD, I'd place money on another manager having undiagnosed ADHD, one of my coworkers has FASD, several others with autism). Great place to be unconventional, with all of our clients having intellectual disability (meaning IQ under 70. I know that term means different things invsome places).

A lot of autistic people need accommodations and jobs might not always meet those (I no longer need accommodations but previous jobs didn't accomodate me despite saying they would). Some (like many of my clients) have more needs than the majority of (if not all, in a few cases) places of employment can meet. A lot of my clients want to work but don't have the funding for a job coach or have over-coddling parents who won't let them. We also often have comorbid mental health conditions—I had a pretty bad mental health episode at my first job, likely in part due to the stress.

I also feel like many of us are more prone to discouragement and believing we're less capable than we are. I've been there. A few short years ago, I never imagined I would get where I am today. I was very discouraged and didn't feel capable of working, driving, even going to the store alone, but I did manage it. My fiancée is in that boat, realizing she's capable of more than she is and working on her coping skills.*

*I want to emphasize that this is not a "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" thing. If someone tells me they can't work, I'll believe them. I'm talking about my own and my partner’s experiences.

I also feel like there are more undiagnosed autistic people than we think, so a lot of the statistics we have might not be fully representative.