Recently in Florida, there was a story on the evening News (as a previous Broadcast Talent Agent, not the greatest broadcasting) that featured a mother complaining of the lack of work for her young adult son/daughter with Autism. They did not clarify severity or whether or not he/she is verbal or non-verbal which are characteristics that should be important in looking for work. Anyway, this got me thinking for a few reasons. First, I realized that number one, it is not easy in this environment to find work for any working individual. My ex boyfriend couldn't find a job for 5 years and fed off of my living. He's still looking for work. Using your child's diagnosis to get something out of it is looked upon as poor taste. Secondly I thought to myself, "I'd never done a search nor paid any attention to resources for work for the Adult with Autism so I wonder how easy it is to find." Shame on the Reporter who did the story for not doing their research as well as the mother in the story who apparently was just trying to bring attention to her son/daughter b/c a quick google search brought me tons of resources and ideas on getting a job for your son/daughter with Autism. Now, as I stated in the beginning, getting a job, or certain jobs, depends on the adult's severity and verbal skills. Had she not done her research, as proven, and tried to get jobs at certain places where they cannot hire Adult's with Autism b/c their behaviors will interfere with business then she may have been discouraged and thought there were no places willing to hire Adult's with Autism. Every autistic child I've ever worked with has had some kind of talent, whether working well with computers or something as simple as drawing well. As we do in therapy, the parent should draw from that talent and build upon it to find a job that's appropriate for them even if they have to create it themselves! Lori Ireland told USA today that she and a handful of other parents in Chapel Hill, N.C., wanted their teenage children to be able to have jobs someday. So, like an increasing number of parents with children on the autism spectrum, Ireland and her peers set out to employ them themselves. Their non-profit Extraordinary Ventures businesses, including one cleaning city buses and another making candles and other gifts, now employs 40 people with developmental disabilities in the Chapel Hill area. If you are not able or willing to create jobs for your Autistic child or Adult, below are just a few resources among the many found at http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/community-connections/employment-opportunities-individuals-autism CLICK ON THE TITLE TO GET MORE RESOURCES Comments are closed.
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Amy Reinstein, M.S., CCC - SLP
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