Test to identify inherent strengths of an Aspie?

Post Reply New Topic

Hi,

I am the parent of a 16 year old boy attending 10th grade in a regular school in India, who, years ago, was diagnosed with Aspergers.

His strengths include Math and Music (plays the keyboard well ), solving jigsaw and sudoku puzzles, assembling complex lego sets, a strong memory for data/facts, a good mimic, and, given the date of the year, can rattle off the day.

On the other hand, he barely reads (except very specific topics of interest), has challenges with communication, at times demonstrates unacceptable social behaviour (lost in his own world, laughing to himself), doesn't initiate or sustain conversations with others (except parents, close relatives), doesn't understand nuances, etc.

Since each Aspie is different, I am in the quest for specific proven tests available to identify the inherent strengths of an Aspie, and which can act as a guide as to what career would he/she be best suited for. I haven't come across any, while researching the same on the Internet.

Any help from members on this forum regarding the above, is highly appreciated.

thanks,

Hello,
Adult Aspie here. If there is any way that your son can turn a special interest into a career then this should be looked into. I realise the obvious thing is to look at what he is good at and pick a career around those things, however, almost all Aspies have serious difficulties in the workplace due to the importance of social interaction there. Therefor looking at the kind of environment he would be happiest in is a better place to start. Fitting into the work place takes an exhausting amount of effort, many Aspies have to work part time because of this. An environment that is accepting of Aspies would be very beneficial, I believe there are some in the tech industries, does he have any interest in computers?

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. You do bring out an interesting perspective as to how one could approach the situation, viz. looking at the environment that he would be happy in, and accordingly explore.

He is just about OK with programming, as of now, but maybe with further efforts he could improve.

thanks, once again,

I agree with fluffysaurus re turning special interest into a career, but I'd encourage you to think outside the box with this. Don't try think how could your son's skills correlate to a mainstream career, but what does your son value and how can you encourage him to make that sustainable.

Lots of aspies aren't motivated to make a lot of money or collect social currency, and while he may have the skills or capacity for programming, he may not be interested in it even if it seems like he should be based on other interests. I find for myself that I'm either obsessed or couldn't care less. It's pretty all or nothing. Don't be discouraged if you suggest things that make sense to you but he doesn't pick up on it.

I'd encourage him to pursue the things he's already interested in. So puzzles etc, or Lego, or maths. Google the kinds of careers people make out of those things - but with a focus on what he would get out of it, not what it looks like as a career (which can be quite a NT value). Chances are he'll continue to evolve new interests, but they're the out of the box avenues he's likely to find a satisfactory career in. I would think through it more on terms of: what things bring out the best in him (inc just making him happy!), what does he say he wants to do?

My sincere apologies for the late revert as I hadn't checked this forum in a while.

Thank you very much for your inputs - while as a parent I would like my son pursue what makes him more happy, I also worry about how he can channelise his 'likes' to also earn a living. Hence the concern on the career front. Would keep your inputs in mind while planning for his future.

Thank you once again for taking the efforts to pen in a reply.