It's been a year since my original post, and I thought I'd post a follow-up in case people were curious and as a modest thank you to everyone for their thoughts.
From July 2007 till about December 2007, my cousin didn't take to my prodding about AS or the job search. My brother-in-law fortunately has his own small business. He already knew that my cousin was a good smart kid but a little awkward, so he was able to bring him on understanding he'd have to work with him a bit more. The business is a small retail store, so he had do things that didn't have much interaction with people - inventory, computer work, keeping the place orderly. As a small business, there was a small intimate workforce (7-8 workers, most of which were family), so my cousin was totally out of place. Still there were times of social interaction. Luckily my brother-in-law was there to moderate and encourage/discourage the interaction.
Over 4 months, my cousin has become a good contributor to the store and my brother-in-law is trying to get him to work with customers partly as a way of honing his job skills and partly to improve his social interaction. The only downside is that this line of work is not exactly what my cousin wants to do (a problem that almost everyone who works has had at some point), but at the same time, he's not at the point where he's more capable of interviewing or handling an unfamiliar work social environment.
I guess my cousin was lucky to have a compassionate family member who had the practical means of employing him in an environment that suited him. I know that not everyone will have this good fortune.
20 Aug 2008, 8:30 am
