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Autistic strengths should be utilised to best effect

spadger

Hi,

I am the father of three kids with varying degrees of autism. My eldest is 22, has Aspergers and on a positive note has recently started his first job but it is early days as yet.

The next is 18 (also has Aspergers) and we are finding it difficult to know how to help him towards a suitable, enjoyable long term career path. The youngest is 11 (High functioning autism) and although he is doing well within the specialist education environment, I am concerned about his future prospects.

Their seems to be little real government policy regarding supporting and assisting the huge volume of unemployed ASD people into sustainable employment despite most of them wanting to be in employment. 

In addition, given the strengths ASD individuals can offer to employers given the appropriate support and training, it seems to me that society is missing out on a massive valuable untapped resource.

I have recently started to investigate in more detail what opportunities are available and this led me to discover Specialisterne (Specialists), a Danish organisation that have developed a model for assisting ASD people into sustainable, professional, enjoyable work (usually testing software and data entry). http://specialistpeople.com/

In recent years they have developed a franchise style partnership model and as such have expanded into a number of countries the nearest being Scotland. http://www.specialisternescotland.org/

Does anyone know of any similar projects running or due to start in England, particularly the North West?

Parents

  • Some very interesting and thought provoking points longman

    Although it is not official policy some of what you talk about already occurs but only by individual teachers or in some institutions. I agree learning good solid research skills at school benefits all and I believe it should be part of the curriculum.

    My youngest son like yourself has a special interest in research into many or all topics and this enriches his life massively. 

    I believe that as far as school and individual special interests go it certainly is useful for educators to be fully aware of these to provide the best possible education. As a teacher it is essential for me to know an individual special interests and skills so that I can identfy how I can utilise them to best effect. At the very least they can help motivate during learning and can often compliment other learning.

    I have to agree with and substantiate scorpions point of view that if special interests are understood and utilised correctly (by learner, educator and employer) they can be implemented into a 'real world' earning potential scenario. I believe this has occurred for a number of ASD people at the organisation I referred to in my original post.

    Yes I agree, so far only a relative hand full of people have benefitted from this relatively new concept but it is early days yet and that single organisations mission is to create 1 million sustainable ASD jobs. Organisations like this increase public awareness and I am hopeful that the tide will eventually turn and ASD people will be recognised as a valuable asset to employers.

    Despite the failings of the past I think we should try to be positive about this progress albeit quite limited as yet.

    I agree a lot more research in this area would be useful in bringing the issue to the fore and clarifying the most progressive direction to take. On a personal note I intend to carry out a feasibility study in the not to distant future to identify what can be done in my local area to benefit ASD adults seeking employment so I really value others points of view.

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  • Some very interesting and thought provoking points longman

    Although it is not official policy some of what you talk about already occurs but only by individual teachers or in some institutions. I agree learning good solid research skills at school benefits all and I believe it should be part of the curriculum.

    My youngest son like yourself has a special interest in research into many or all topics and this enriches his life massively. 

    I believe that as far as school and individual special interests go it certainly is useful for educators to be fully aware of these to provide the best possible education. As a teacher it is essential for me to know an individual special interests and skills so that I can identfy how I can utilise them to best effect. At the very least they can help motivate during learning and can often compliment other learning.

    I have to agree with and substantiate scorpions point of view that if special interests are understood and utilised correctly (by learner, educator and employer) they can be implemented into a 'real world' earning potential scenario. I believe this has occurred for a number of ASD people at the organisation I referred to in my original post.

    Yes I agree, so far only a relative hand full of people have benefitted from this relatively new concept but it is early days yet and that single organisations mission is to create 1 million sustainable ASD jobs. Organisations like this increase public awareness and I am hopeful that the tide will eventually turn and ASD people will be recognised as a valuable asset to employers.

    Despite the failings of the past I think we should try to be positive about this progress albeit quite limited as yet.

    I agree a lot more research in this area would be useful in bringing the issue to the fore and clarifying the most progressive direction to take. On a personal note I intend to carry out a feasibility study in the not to distant future to identify what can be done in my local area to benefit ASD adults seeking employment so I really value others points of view.

Children
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