Pragmatic Employment Practices for the Whole Spectrum

Published January 19, 2009 @ 09:59AM PT

a button in a wall the button has a wheelchair logo on it and the words press to open The Institute for Community Inclusion recently published an astonishingly useful article Supporting Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Quality Employment Practices. The article discusses workplace accommodations and modifications to support communication, sensory, social, and organizational needs, as well as strategies for job development and hiring that are specific to autism. The article provides useful web links to resources for assistive technology, a list of questions to help in determining work environment and accommodations, and a bibliography--which includes some writing by and for autistic self-advocates--that is well worth following up on.

Beyond that, this article also impressed me for its ability to address the huge diversity of abilities found on the spectrum without making assumptions. For example, both people with good spoken communication and people with no spoken communication are considered equally in both the concrete examples and the general employment strategies. As a person with extremely uneven skills, I really appreciated an article that respectfully discusses both AAC and highly skilled jobs in the same space.

While the suggested audience for the article is listed as "direct support professionals" I couldn't help reading through the filter of self-advocacy, thinking, "what can I use for getting my own needs met in employment?" The ideas for accommodations and modifications, many of which I have used myself and found helpful, are an excellent starting point for self-advocates wondering what accommodations to ask for at a job. Self-advocates having trouble with job developers, VR councilors, or employers who just don't "get it" can also use the information in this article to better educate staff and employers.

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Comments (6)

Re: "Direct support professionals": Is there anyone who's as directly involved (professionally as well as personally) in your support as you are? :)

Posted by Andrea G on 01/19/2009 @ 12:37PM PT
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@Andrea G, ha! true, true! I'm not sure I qualify as a "professional" but definitely give myself "direct support"! *grin*

Posted by Dora Raymaker on 01/19/2009 @ 12:48PM PT
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Thanks Dora. I've added this link to a recent ASAN Southwest Ohio post on workplace accommodations.I'd like to see it become routine practice to match jobs to everyone's individual skills and interests, instead of that being seen as an autism-specific approach. Our culture shouldn't treat workers as interchangeable, no matter what their neurological type may be.

Posted by Meg Evans on 01/19/2009 @ 03:43PM PT
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Holy cats! I'm cited in that article! Look in the "Social Demands" section and in the bibliography.

The person I refer to had two years toward a computer science degree. Prior to becoming a Subway "sandwich artist", he had been employed at a local bank. As a driver. This lasted right up until his second wreck. This illustrates what I called "malemployment": most often, the sort of entry-level, high-turnover jobs for which we can get hired without a cumbersome interview process (usually involving eye contact, etc.) are peculiarly ill-suited to our skill set.

Posted by Mark Romoser on 01/20/2009 @ 11:37AM PT
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@Mark Romoser, your cite did not escape my notice :-) I was pleased to see it!

The problem you note is one that I have definitely experienced. I got really lucky a while ago and found one of those no-interview entry level jobs that I could actually do after a long string of ones I couldn't do. It was a transcription job where I listened to things and typed them out. I ended up being in the right place at the right time (the tech bubble in the late 90's) and that job ended up being developed and carved especially for me so in the end I was doing really advanced work (e.g. creating and managing information systems). But really, it was a series of lucky breaks, and not something that I'd ever be able to repeat again.

Posted by Dora Raymaker on 01/20/2009 @ 12:37PM PT
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@Meg Evans, you're welcome!

Posted by Dora Raymaker on 01/20/2009 @ 12:39PM 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.