How to get and keep a job – from those that know

There are many different factors that go into successful employment for people with and without autism.  As part of the ASF policy brief on employment, the US, Australia and Sweden held meetings with autistic adults, family members and employers and asked “what are the issues in your words”?  Then they were mapped onto areas of functioning, not ability or disability.  One thing that stands out is “matching interests and skills to job requirements”.  This is important, but a complicated issue.  This week’s podcast reviews what autistic people say, how it maps onto functioning and why we need to be careful about taking a one – sided approach to autism.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31276308

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31177369

 

Getting Autistic People to Work

This week’s podcast is dedicated to the recently released INSAR – supported employment policy brief.  This was a 2 year project by ASF, Stony Brook, University, Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Curtin University in Australia to provide a cross-cultural perspective on getting autistic people who want to work, employed, and stay employed.  Thank you to all the participants in the surveys, community meetings, and GoldNFish for putting together a document that is not just informative, but fun to read.

 

Click to access 2018-insar_policy_brief.pdf

Work and study

 

A sampling of science from the International Meeting of Autism Research

In case you didn’t have time to jump on a plane and fly to the Netherlands last week for the International Society of Autism Research meeting, this week’s podcast is a short summary of just a few of the presentations.  There was more of an emphasis on what has been called “real life” research questions like employment, quality of life, and relationships.  As a result, some of the more basic science questions around autism are now being presented at other meetings.  This is a shame.   This podcast follows some of those basic science questions to the now translational opportunities that were presented at the meeting.  It also highlights some newer findings that will provide help to people at all ages who need supports and services.

What does Labor Day mean for people with ASD?

Labor Day is a time to appreciate and honor all those people who work to make this world a better place.  People with autism do that, but they also want to get paid and be employed just like anyone else.  This Labor Day, the podcast summarizes challenges to studying employment in people with ASD, what we know, and what is being done in a collaboration between ASF, Curtin University in Australia, the Karolinska Institute and Stony Brook University in Long Island. This is the INSAR supported policy brief project that will be completed next year, but you will all be receiving a request to fill out a survey about employment in the coming weeks.  In addition, what does employment mean for people with autism?  A NY Times article recently highlighted the journey from childhood to adulthood and what having a job means.