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lilred
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10 Mar 2012, 3:35 am

Short introduction,
I am new here and am 95% sure I am an Aspie at least when I take the online 'test' it always comes out that I am. That and according to all the 'symptoms' you have to have be officially diagnosed as having Aspergers I qualify.
I have been looking for a job in child care for the last 6 mos or so and have been unsuccessful for a few reasons.
One I fail the job interview because lets face it I suck at normal social situations, so the ones that are nerve racking are probably ten times worse.
Two when they give the job there is a 'probation period' when they can dismiss you whenever they want if you don't meet their standards. Well I don't 'fit in' with the team they are trying to build.
I am great with kids, I know this for a few reasons,
A. I have been working with kids since I was 13 and excluding the one team building thing I have never ever once had a single person complain and that is easily 500+ kids and dealing with their parents.
B. I think because I have been studying social cues for so long I can 'read' them very easily. I can read them and not adults because kids are more straight forward with their thoughts and feelings than adults. (at least that is what I think)
C. I have multiple examples of being able to work and communicate with other children that other adults can't. Including a 1-3 year old with no language or signal communication skills at all but by working with him I taught him to walk, climb up a ladder, go down a slide, say car, mommy, daddy and multiple other things they weren't sure if he would ever be able to do, because I was able to I don't know understand him some how when other adults couldn't understand him I guess. I mean he was severally delayed not walking at age 1 only a like 10 words at age 2 and only if he really wanted to.
Ok I guess my point is what do I do?
I won't change my chosen profession, but how do I get them to accept me and let me show them what I can do when they won't give me the chance because I don't respond well to the employee team building exercise and have trouble communicating with the other teacher in the room. She though I wasn't social enough and that I was like playing with a book, which sounds bad but all my education classes say in contextual learning where kids learn things when learning isn't the first objective.
Ok sorry long post/rant but I really don't know where else to post or as for opinions.



jinto1986
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10 Mar 2012, 3:42 am

If you are female especially I would look into respite/hab work. That is what I do and it pays decently (here in AZ between 10-14 depending on where and if you are doing respite (babysitting) or habilitation (skill building) the later of which is obviously harder). If you are male, like me, it is still good, but hours can be hard to get because moms with lil ones and females (and older males for that matter) all want female clients. That lives males with the male clients between age 10-16, not horrible but during the school year there aren't many chances for a lot of hours as they are in school all day.



lilred
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10 Mar 2012, 3:49 am

I am think I kind of know what you mean but I am unsure, here I think they refer to it as an individual provider.
I have a few questions though.
A do you have to have a degree cause I only have an AA in Libral Arts and am working on my BA in ECE.
B I am guessing by the age that these are kids with disabilities that you watch or help them build and work on their skill set, am I right?
C How would you go about getting such a job, do you have to find your own clients?
ok sorry had to ask



jinto1986
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10 Mar 2012, 3:54 am

A) Depends on which agency you want to work with around here. BA never hurts though.
B) Depends on the kids, sometimes I just watching them, sometimes I am working on their skill set... sometimes I plan to work on their skill set, but for whatever reason that doesn't work)
C) The agency will find clients for me, but it helps to look for clients too if you can. Any time I am talking to parents of kids with autism, wherever it may be I try to find a way to drop in that I am a care provider. That's how I got my current client.



lilred
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10 Mar 2012, 4:04 am

what type of agencies should I look into to apply to I mean, I am guessing it is not like the home health care aids ones or is it?



jinto1986
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10 Mar 2012, 4:08 am

Not knowing where you live... no clue really. I would just type "respite" and your city into google to start off with, or ask any parents of autistics you might know who they get hours with (if they do). That's how I did it. Of course I had it a bit easier too because I have my Master's in Special Education so a lot of my classmates did respite work too.



Cornflake
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10 Mar 2012, 8:49 am

[Moved from General Autism Discussion to Work and finding a Job]


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