Autism in employment.

consumers_revenge · 18 September 2018 at 10:07PM

Hi,

Just interested if you know anyone ( or are the anyone ) on the autism scale thats employed? Just trying to gauge if lots of people know someone ( not that it may be generally known ) at their company.

Reason I ask is DS has aspergers and is now classed in the autism spectrum. Wife said she noticed something on a site earlier that said only 28? percent of people diagnosed with autism have full time jobs.

Oddly I know of a huge multinational company that actually activley recruits people with autism.

Any thoughts?

CR

bellabella · 18 September 2018 at 10:11PM

My Son is on the spectrum he is self employed with our help he doesn't do so well in large companies he has worked for some but usually it only lasts 6-9 months as he finds it hard to read people which makes things tough

suki1964 · 18 September 2018 at 10:50PM

Been employed all my adult life in a variety of jobs, some more successful then others, but then I wasn't diagnosed until an adult and I never think of it as a disability , its just how Im made

[Deleted User] · 18 September 2018 at 11:17PM

I've started with someone who mentioned the term 'sensory overload' when I first met them, which I take it to be on this spectrum at minimum as recognised the wording from Alan and Erica BBC2 unemployment programme on late last year who suffered similar whilst the episode was my favourite of the series, I appreciate as a hidden disability until they chose to tell you otherwise - out of the four reasonable adjusts they requested, I know one is double eared headset and anti glare screens.

They also have their partner on the floor/working at same place so extra tuition on hand when needed - medium sized company - I'm sure they can be considered to be doing well starting at £15,270 for their below 25 yrs age in a call centre for an under 40 hour week, this being the same wage as a 36 and 48 year old who have a silly pact with each other!.

elsien · 18 September 2018 at 11:19PM

Not in my workplace but I recently met someone with Aspergers who works successfully as a support worker with people with autism.

System · 19 September 2018 at 3:48AM

consumers_revenge wrote: »

Just interested if you know anyone ( or are the anyone ) on the autism scale thats employed? Just trying to gauge if lots of people know someone ( not that it may be generally known ) at their company.

Reason I ask is DS has aspergers and is now classed in the autism spectrum. Wife said she noticed something on a site earlier that said only 28? percent of people diagnosed with autism have full time jobs.

Any thoughts?

My brother has Aspergers, my son is autistic, it runs fairly strong in my family.

Autism is a very wide range. It is everything from people who seem to be just like regular people but you think are a bit odd because of things they do to those who sit there doing nothing but jumping up and down flapping their hands and being completely incapable of feeding and dressing themselves.

As I said my brother has Aspergers. He managed to do a business degree, started working in the local authority housing department eventually ending up in a customer facing role helping people who were facing court for non payment of council tax or being evicted from their council houses for rent arreara. In his case his Aspergers was a benefit as he ended up knowing all the council housing, housing benefits and council tax legislation verbatim and after several years he was promoted to manager. Has a wife, 3 kids, mortgage, everything regular people have.

My son who has autism has with much effort on our side managed to make it through regular secondary school and is now at college studying computer programming. He used to react to stuff quite severely when he was young and was nearly at the point of having to go to special needs school however we were lucky with the junior school he ended up in and between them and ourselves we managed to get him through that and to secondary school where again he got the help needed. As he entered his teens he developed his own coping mechanisms to the point that he can pretty much cope with most stuff. Again given some of the traits of autism these will work in his favour in his chosen career and at 16 starting college I'm not as worried about him being able to find a job as I was when he was 5 years old.

consumers_revenge · 19 September 2018 at 7:04AM

suki1964 wrote: »

Been employed all my adult life in a variety of jobs, some more successful then others, but then I wasn't diagnosed until an adult and I never think of it as a disability , its just how Im made

Yep, our ds is the same.he is what he is

:)

Funnily enough he wasn't diagnosed till 13 and when the doctor asked any questions? Does having asperers make him lazy? No she replied, that him being a teenager.

consumers_revenge · 19 September 2018 at 7:06AM

Tarambor wrote: »

My brother has Aspergers, my son is autistic, it runs fairly strong in my family.

Autism is a very wide range. It is everything from people who seem to be just like regular people but you think are a bit odd because of things they do to those who sit there doing nothing but jumping up and down flapping their hands and being completely incapable of feeding and dressing themselves.

As I said my brother has Aspergers. He managed to do a business degree, started working in the local authority housing department eventually ending up in a customer facing role helping people who were facing court for non payment of council tax or being evicted from their council houses for rent arreara. In his case his Aspergers was a benefit as he ended up knowing all the council housing, housing benefits and council tax legislation verbatim and after several years he was promoted to manager. Has a wife, 3 kids, mortgage, everything regular people have.

My son who has autism has with much effort on our side managed to make it through regular secondary school and is now at college studying computer programming. He used to react to stuff quite severely when he was young and was nearly at the point of having to go to special needs school however we were lucky with the junior school he ended up in and between them and ourselves we managed to get him through that and to secondary school where again he got the help needed. As he entered his teens he developed his own coping mechanisms to the point that he can pretty much cope with most stuff. Again given some of the traits of autism these will work in his favour in his chosen career and at 16 starting college I'm not as worried about him being able to find a job as I was when he was 5 years old.

All encouraging!

In some areas he has some real in depth skills. Drawing and remembering stats etc. sure it's just a case of finding a job to suit and he could excel.

marliepanda · 19 September 2018 at 7:36AM

28% is possibly misleading as unfortunately many people with autism function to a level where employment would be difficult, which will account for a big chunk of that 72%

We do have an autistic man at my work, I’m not sure of his exact role but it is within NHS CCG. I knew he initially struggled with answering the phones and greeting new people, so they made that part of his role with support, and now he can do it indepndently! He’s a very different person to the one who started now.

Savvy_Sue · 20 September 2018 at 1:52AM

marliepanda wrote: »

28% is possibly misleading as unfortunately many people with autism function to a level where employment would be difficult, which will account for a big chunk of that 72%

This. I know two youngsters with autism who would only be capable of very limited work, and need 1:1 support with most aspects of their lives.

On the other hand, I know several people who've held down responsible jobs for many years, sometimes without knowing they're on the spectrum.

sangie595 · 20 September 2018 at 8:38AM

marliepanda wrote: »

28% is possibly misleading as unfortunately many people with autism function to a level where employment would be difficult, which will account for a big chunk of that 72%

We do have an autistic man at my work, I’m not sure of his exact role but it is within NHS CCG. I knew he initially struggled with answering the phones and greeting new people, so they made that part of his role with support, and now he can do it indepndently! He’s a very different person to the one who started now.

seconding this. Statistics are misleading. The statistic can only include those diagnosed. Many people never are. Those diagnosed would usually be so far along the spectrum as to notice that there was something more than just the normal range of human oddness! So your staying sample is on one extreme of the spectrum.

Autism in employment.

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