A new (possible) Job Opportnity
Background: I am an NT service provider currently coordinating a supported employment program. We follow the theory/approach of Customized Employment (Overview Link Below) which is basically an approach that attempts to match job seekers skills with the needs of an employer while avoiding the tasks or circumstances that would cause the job seeker extreme difficulty once they start the job. It's a great approach, though it is a difficult practice. Here is my question:
Have any of the Aspie folk out there ever looked into working in the human service industry or special eduaction as either a Direct Support Professional or as a clinical professional. I have this idea that Aspies could find good work providing services for individuals whose Autism affects them more drastically. I'm talking about people who may have no capacity for verbal communication, strong stim behaviors and any number of other challenges associated with their diagnosis.
My theory is that many of the folks struggling with more dramatic physical manifestations of Autism are being supported by NT's who are really good people....but they just don't get it. As Aspies, don't you identify with the sensory related challenges? The communication breakdowns? The stress and anxiety of life with Autism?
I hope that I've written this respectfully and I hope that everyone reading this will give it some thought. I know that good work is hard to find, but with the occurrence rate for Autism rising it might make sense to shift towards a field of work that is going to grow.
I look forward to your feedback and if you have any other employment related questions I hope you will ask me.
Thanks for the interesting and potentially helpful post. I have other health issues that took me out of the work force several years ago, but this may prove helpful to others on the spectrum. Trying to get and keep jobs was very difficult in my case.
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If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away.--Henry David Thoreau