Employment: What Works and What Doesn't Work

Published April 07, 2009 @ 04:00PM PT

US News and World Report story Teens with autism looking for jobs gives concrete examples of employment approaches that work for people with a wide range of interests and abilities, and echoes ideas I've covered here on finding jobs to fit people, employment practices for the whole spectrum, and Employment First programs.

Barriers of course continue to be some of the very government programs that are supposed to help, especially for older people who were not necessarily well supported by modern programs to begin with, as well as attitudes about autism, disability, and employment (including misguided notions by service workers who want to change people to fit a narrow range of jobs). In my state, only a small percentage of former special ed students are getting jobs.

Approaching the employment problem both from the direction of what is working and from the direction of what is not working can provide valuable insight into solutions. Removing barriers and encouraging facilitators are both necessary. As is "thinking outside the box."

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Comments (13)

An autistic person costs $3.2 million over their lifetime? Where did they get that statistic?

Posted by Jeremy Gallen on 04/07/2009 @ 05:45PM PT
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I've always wondered about that figure myself. I would, of course, be more than happy to simply take my $3.2 million and invest it so as to adequately take care of myself, thereby sapring the state the trouble of doing so.

Posted by Mark Romoser on 04/07/2009 @ 05:50PM PT
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I've been wanting to post (and have been collecting information but am not quite there yet organized in my head) on the "cost to support" type statistics. I don't really know where the statistics come from (and they are always different depending on context), but the whole idea of putting monetary value on human beings is a little... inhumane? Also I wonder--what's the cost of a non-autistic person over their life time?

Posted by Dora Raymaker on 04/07/2009 @ 06:03PM PT
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The $3.2 million figure is noted in this article:

The Lifetime Distribution of the Incremental Societal Costs of Autism Michael L. Ganz, MS, PhD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007;161(4):343-
349.
http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/161/4/343

Posted by Kristina Chew on 04/07/2009 @ 07:09PM PT
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The thing that gets me is the way these cost figures are presented -- as if autistic people cost X amount, but give nothing back. I maintain that it's possible for ALL people to contribute to their communities, families, etc.

Posted by Anne Corwin on 04/07/2009 @ 11:14PM PT
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I've gotten so frustrated trying to find a job in my first field of preference (international relations) that I've all but given up and am switching careers, at the ripe age of 24. While I am articulate--and not terribly worse in person than I am in writing, though I am much better at self-editing in writing than I am verbally--and can generally get away with an acceptable NT affect, my perseverative traits do not a good politician make. I can fake diplomatic skills up until I hit a frustration level that is variable, which I realize may not be helpful to the diplomatic corps; I am too inherently honest and expect the same from my peers to do well in most civil service programs. I have been rejected, despite very high scores on the entrance exam, from the foreign service application twice.

To this end, I find myself going back to school. The picture of a specialist doctor, studying his or her niche of medicine...that is the very ideal of brilliant Asperger traits, and I shall do the image proud. I'm interested in pediatric neurology, probably with a MD/PhD in linguistics double, as I would love to study autistic language acquisition.

Funny how my all of my interests end up alligning whether I try to make them do so or not.

Posted by Ali ... on 04/08/2009 @ 01:23AM PT
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Since there doesn't seem to be the kind of support I needto work at a regular job, I've recently decided (after thinking about it for 2 years) to simply start my own business/project. Not a 'normal' one, but one for and by autistics and other disabled people (and people whose 'thing' isn't officially a disability etc etc), for which I should be able to get the start-up money from... somewhere (either the government or other businesses or some agency finances these kinds of initiatives initially), and as much help as necessary for every step of the way from a company that the NVA recommended to me.

So if they tell me that what I want is possible, I'll keep everyone here posted on the progress (whether they like it or not :P). (And if it's not possible something else a lot like it may be possible).

Posted by Norah vd Stel on 04/08/2009 @ 07:41AM PT
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This is fantastic, I can't wait to hear how it goes! I also have ended up constructing my own things because the usual jobs don't work for me.

Posted by Dora Raymaker on 04/08/2009 @ 10:50AM PT
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Maybe they'd benefit if they hired some of us to work for the employment programs. How can the government help us find meaningful employment if they don't know what that means to us?

Posted by Joe Bond on 04/11/2009 @ 11:14AM PT
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I agree completely!

Posted by Dora Raymaker on 04/11/2009 @ 04:36PM PT
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I think what all autistics need is not more government assistance but more towards a self-help model, where we form our own social units towards that end...this way, we become more self-reliant and if there are autistics that know there are job openings for other autistics to get into...maybe we should post them here, or any other blogs, or groups they belong too...

Posted by Jon Arnold on 04/11/2009 @ 03:14PM PT
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I love this idea! An autistic-friendly job board sounds really useful. Here is probably not a good place as it will get lost quickly in with all the other posts, but maybe a job posting area could be developed on WrongPlanet, or you or someone else could get a new forum started for it?

Posted by Dora Raymaker on 04/11/2009 @ 04:33PM PT
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From my own personal experience, since I work in IT (which autie does not work in IT...lol..:-)))...I would prefer to work with someone who has experience with job boards like this....any volunteers???

Posted by Jon Arnold on 04/11/2009 @ 04:58PM PT
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Author

Dora is committed to improving quality of life for individuals on the autistic spectrum--including herself! She is Co-director of the Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education and a member of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's Board of Directors.