Creating Seminars for Autistic College Students

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I'm starting a PhD program next year and I don't have enough loan money to cover it. I'm planning to apply for funding under a few diversity programs, because I study autistic adults, who are a minority population.

I'm trying to put together some proposals for programs that I could make for autistic college students. Here are my ideas so far:

-Job readiness training: I taught a similar 2 day seminar to refugees for a few years. It included specific examples and instructions for how to dress for an interview, at work, how to do a resume (they each got a resume), how to answer common interview questions, body language (what theirs means and what you should do), and a practice interview at the end

-Peer training: My husband found this today. It's training for teens on how to make appropriate friends. I thought maybe this program could be adjusted for college students. If you don't want to click the link- it's about how to start and exit conversations, what humor is appropriate, how to talk on the phone, what to do if you're bullied, how to find if other people share your interests, etc. I'm neurotypical and *I* could have used this information when I was 14.

-Studying and class focus tips: It can be hard to retain information when the professor is droning on and on, especially if people are distracting you or it's loud or bright or smells bad in there. There are tricks that can take a lot of the stress out of your situation and level the field for you.

What do you guys think of these ideas? Would you mind critiquing them and letting me know if you think of others?

All are quite appropriate for Spectrum people on the cusp of adulthood.

Maybe you could teach a class on "job interview techniques."

Or on "not allowing statistics to deter you."

That's a good point. I bet that would go well with Gen Yers too, since they're all like unique maybe it's an easier idea for them than for us older folks.

I was just trying to write out what I would do for study and class tips and I realized that most of my "tips" sound like ways to cheat. For example, I'm Linux + certified although I don't really know anything about it and I did it through a quick memorization technique that anyone could learn. Is it helpful to teach people how to memorize things without understanding them or should I keep that to myself?

If a person has that ability, why not? Professors in Anatomy classes make considerable use of mnemonic techniques.

If you get a class of 20 to learn Linux plus through that technique, why not put it on your resume? You could bring the proof to your interview.

For those of us on the Spectrum, there is almost an inverse relation between "good" jobs and "bad" jobs.

For example, at age 29, I worked in a grocery store. Seemingly an easy "entry-level" job. Yet there were all kinds of sensory issues such as a turnstile for bags which no one thought to oil. There was also bullying behavior, which to the extent the so-called managers even noticed at all, their first reaction tended to be to blame the unpopular person being bullied.

Now, contrast that to H&R Block, where yes, you had to learn the framework of tax returns and a computer system, but so much of an easier and more professional environment.

So, instead of downshifting to even "easier" jobs where it's an abandoned and largely negative environment, consider upshifting, re-ambitionizing, all that good stuff.

In addition, "hard" jobs often have less competition and are easier to get.

I absolutely agree with that statement about "good" and "bad" jobs. It might save some young people time and trouble to get a better idea of what good and bad might mean for them.

This is the kind of thing I was hoping to talk to students about. Sometimes university students have been sheltered and usually they're young so between those two things they usually don't have much job experience. I personally have experience with jobs from grocery stores to factory work to office assisting to management in software development. I'd love to have an aspie or autie with similar breadth of work experience to talk to the class, either in person, through skype, or just from an email interview where they could ask questions and the person could answer. If anyone wants to think about volunteering to be available to consult on something like that, I could have a better chance of getting my proposal through. Keep in mind this would be next year, Fall 2016. I think I need to start applying for funding by January.