Asperger's on the Job: Must-Have Advice for People With Asperger's or High Functioning Autism, and Their Employers, Educators, and Advocates (2 page)

If this or some other unfortunate situation does occur and the person loses his/her job, other issues often come to light, such as the employee’s failure to preserve copies of their work. I talked to several older Aspies who lost their jobs when their company was reorganized and they had never saved any examples of their work for their portfolios. All of their work was left behind. One person was an engineer who had failed to preserve samples of his drawings. Another person failed to save samples of the sales manual he had written. I learned that, to be successful, I had to show samples of my work to potential employers instead of selling myself. A good portfolio, in addition to a resume, can help you get many types of jobs. You need to save and take home paper copies of your best work (electronic media are useless when they become obsolete). To avoid problems with confidentiality, you can show only small portions of your drawings or written documents. Your portfolio should be professionally presented and should include four or five examples of your best work. Choose examples that would be appropriate for the job you are seeking. For example, if you were applying for a journalism job, articles you had written for a high school newspaper should be in your portfolio. However, articles on extreme politics, sex, or religion should never be included. Your work life will be more successful if you leave these subjects at home. It is a good idea to build a strong professional portfolio, even if you expect to stay in your current position for a long time. Sometimes things happen that are out of your control, and you need to be prepared.

If you found this advice helpful, you are really going to love this book. It is especially helpful to individuals on the high end of the autism spectrum who will be working full-time in the same workplace every day. The sections on dealing with social problems at the office are especially valuable. During my career, I have worked for twenty major clients and over two hundred smaller ones. If I had read this book when I was in my twenties, I could have avoided many problems with coworkers.

I truly believe that this book will help individuals on the autism spectrum get, and keep, the fulfilling jobs that they deserve. And the whole world will benefit from their passion and ingenuity.

T
EMPLE
G
RANDIN
, P
H
.D.

Author of
Thinking in Pictures, Developing Talents,
and
The Way I See It

While I was researching my book
22 Things a Woman Must Know If She Loves a Man With Asperger’s Syndrome
(2009), I discovered a strong recurring theme: the majority of adults with Asperger’s I spoke to had great difficulty earning a living. Most were on unemployment, welfare, or disability; some were still living off their parents; others were surviving only because they were married and their spouse had a good income and health insurance. Many were self-employed, some successfully, but most in that category were jacks-of-all-trades scraping out a living through a variety of odd jobs. Their experiences echoed my own—I had thought I was the only one who, despite many practical gifts, did not fit into the world of full-time employment. This has colored every aspect of my life and has negatively impacted my self-esteem, finances, relationships, and health. Finding out that so many others were going through these same struggles, I felt compelled to do something about it. I began to research and list all the factors involved in determining whether or not an employment experience is successful for both parties—employer and AS employee.

I’ve come to the conclusion that there are cultural differences between those with the syndrome and those without. Those differences are felt most keenly in the workplace, where a person is essentially held captive for a large portion of their day. Think about the differences in communication, different physical needs, different needs in instructions and supervision, different outlooks on time constraints; when you add into the mix the AS person’s social anxieties and independent spirit, there is a lot of potential for failure. Yet, those with Asperger’s possess some extremely useful, important, creative, and marketable skills that employers are missing out on. Likewise, employers hold the paychecks, and those are what people with AS are largely missing out on. With the autistic population on the rise the way that it is, there’s going to have to be some kind of compromise. Times are tough, and while the economy of people with Asperger’s has always been bad, it’s just going to get worse in a competitive job market. It is thought that over 85% of people with AS are without fulltime employment. This situation is bound to have dire consequences on the health and security of the individuals affected, as well as on their families and their communities.

This book is a resource to help employers accommodate this growing population, and for this growing population to find and keep gainful employment. The only way that we can do that is to know what our strengths are and use them productively. A lot of us with Asperger’s don’t always realize what our strengths are because we have been told throughout our lives that these characteristics are flaws—or else we receive mixed messages. For example, we are told to work hard and when we do, we fail because of our social skills. We also need to know where we are sabotaging our own best interests.

Employers and corporations have been going down a certain path for a long time now. With cost-saving techniques being implemented, whether in the form of lay-offs, cramped open-plan offices, energy-efficient fluorescent lights in windowless rooms, or no fully-subsidized health care plan, things are becoming less secure, less pleasant for all. The rise of stringent hiring procedures and screening in the form of personality tests has
given rise to an atmosphere of conformity and play-it-safe behaviors, leaving many feeling restricted and unfulfilled. This is difficult enough for non-spectrum people, but even worse for those with AS who are socially and environmentally sensitive, and who have a hard time coloring inside the lines or thinking inside the box.

This book looks into all aspects of employment—because going to work isn’t just about work. It’s about what you wear, what you eat, what your environment looks like, what it feels like, how your boss behaves, and how your coworkers treat you. There’s so much more to a job than what the tasks are. Most people with Asperger’s would just like to do the work and go home, but life’s not that simple. I wish I could say I have the magic formula to ensuring a harmonious experience for all, but people are people and it is very difficult to mandate human behavior except in its most obvious and extreme forms. Many of the difficulties we will discuss are subtle in nature— subtle, but insidious at times, and with real and often serious consequences. It is very important to recognize our differences and to become aware of some of the injustices this population has experienced, from ostracism to verbal abuse to physical assault on the job, often with management turning a blind eye to these events because of inherent prejudice towards those who are different.

Autism is not a disease; it is a neurological disorder which is now largely considered to be the result of genetic and environmental factors. While there is much debate over autism’s exact cause, one thing is certain: there is no doubt that the number of people affected by autism has risen dramatically. The Centers for Disease Control has just confirmed that prevalence is now 1 in 100 (CDC 2009). Less than twenty years ago, prevalence was at 1 in 10,000! Only some of this increase is due to changes in when and how autism is diagnosed. These numbers include everyone on the
autism spectrum,
from the more severe and obvious classic or low-functioning autism, on to High-Functioning Autism (HFA), and to the mildest form, known as Asperger’s Syndrome (AS).

Depending upon whom you ask, there appears to be little difference between HFA and Asperger’s. Most say it is a question of IQ, yet I’ve met those who were diagnosed HFA and were highly intelligent. Diagnosing autism is itself not an exact science; it is identified mostly by its symptoms and there is always some level of subjectivity involved. At the time of this writing, there is debate over whether to abolish the Asperger’s diagnosis altogether, and merely place it back under the heading of autism. Whether or not that happens, the condition, the subculture, and the challenges of those at the high functioning end of the autism spectrum will remain unique, and must continue to be the subject of study and redress. Another point to bear in mind is that as young autistic children improve over time, through the efforts of family, diets, doctors, and support teams, they may no longer be classed as autistic, but will likely share at least some of the traits of Asperger’s. For the sake of simplicity, we will use the term Asperger’s (AS) to mean anyone at the higher end of the spectrum.

The reader will notice that throughout this book, I sometime use “we” when referring to Aspergians and other times “they.” I felt it was not only important to illustrate that I know firsthand what I’m writing of, but also that my experiences are not exactly the same as another’s, and that it would be erroneous and simplistic to promote the idea that we all have the same strengths and weaknesses, the same experiences. There are themes, threads, and similarities, but I don’t ever wish to convey a one-size-fits-all picture or make the reader feel as if I am speaking clinically. I sometimes find it offensive when even the most well-meaning individual refers to us as “they,” but unfortunately that cannot be helped, and I wish to keep the focus off myself and on others.

You can find the criteria for Asperger’s, from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV), easily enough online. But it’s not really going to bring it to life for you in human terms. Generally, people with Asperger’s are highly intelligent. They frequently have savant skills or abilities in one or more areas. They are generally uncomfortable around other people because of a fight-or-flight reaction to social contact that can make them seem anti-social, unfriendly, or intimidated. They often
have difficulty communicating verbally, and are socially awkward. They sometimes talk to themselves or echo what has been said to them. They may suffer bouts of mutism and shyness. Conversely, if they are talking about a subject they are interested in, they can speak at great length, and, because they have difficulty understanding social cues, may go on when no one is really interested. There are physical hallmarks of AS, such as low muscle tone or poor posture, and trouble with eye contact. The reasons for all these things will be discussed in this book. While Asperger’s is often called the “geek syndrome,” that’s not always the way a person with AS appears; they may appear quite cool at times, attractive, artistic; or they may just seem quirky or eccentric. It presents differently among individuals and also between genders.

Dr. Barbara Nichols, founder of the Southern Arizona Association of Adult Asperger’s, further describes it for us in easy-to-understand terms:

Aspergians usually want to be social but find it nearly impossible to figure out how to behave in a social setting or how to maintain social relationships. They have trouble reading and understanding body language, facial expressions, voice tones, or idioms. It is as if they were from an alien culture and were never taught the meaning of subtle gestures and nuances of conversation. They can’t figure out the rules of engagement in a social exchange. It is awkward for them to jump into a conversation and they report that they can’t figure out how to add to the discussion without taking it off the track. Add to the above list of characteristics a long list of symptoms such as anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, tic disorders, and learning disabilities, and you are getting closer to what it is to be an Aspergian. They struggle with sleep, eating, digestive, and sensory problems, all of which make melding into the social environment difficult. In addition, many, if not most, Aspergians had been bullied in school and have trauma-related disorders as a result. Most often,
they are rejected, or worse, made fun of in the workplace and in school. Loneliness is their constant companion.

Asperger’s has its advantages. [People with this disorder] can hyperfocus on one topic and have a tenacity that is matchless. They can store huge amounts of information, learn languages easily, and are talented scientists, musicians, technicians, and historians. While they are not comfortable with people, they love information. Aspergians are in good company. Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and Sir Isaac Newton, just to name a few, are now thought to have had Asperger’s Syndrome. More recently, actor Dan Aykroyd has announced that he has been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Once they have learned that they are not inferior, but rather exquisitely different, they begin to appreciate themselves and their considerable talents. The culture at large has not accepted them as yet. Finding a niche in the world is what is needed and those lucky enough to find it excel and contribute significantly. (2009)

Despite these positive traits, people with AS often have difficulty obtaining and keeping jobs. The main reasons boil down to:

• Awkward social skills
  
• Difficulty communicating
  
• Environmental sensitivity
  
• Not being able to utilize their natural strengths and inherent interests
  

In the workplace “their failure to adhere to social rules often results in ridicule, aggression, or exclusion” (Hendrickx 2009) until they are literally driven out—either fired or ostracized until life at work becomes unbearable and they quit. Consequently, many with AS have a patchwork quilt for a resume: an inordinate number of jobs, gaps between jobs, or a long history of self-employment in one or even several fields. Yet, this kind of track record can be a boon for both employer and AS employee, for a varied history usually makes for a wide variety of useful skills. It is important that a
potential employer does not assume that this history stems from a lack of desire to work. There may not be a harder-working segment of the human race. The AS person simply may not have had: