Being on the spectrum and working with children with autism

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Is this plausible? I have PDD-NOS, recently diagnosed and I want to explore working with autistic children. I'm thinking about applying to volunteer at special education school for a couple of hours per week. I love children and kind of want to explore more of myself through working with autistic children.

I sort of feel odd about this. I even looked up ABA training and thought that may be an option to be an ABA therapist but with my shortcomings wouldn't this hinder my ability to work with autistic children?

If I do volunteer, should I disclose me being on the spectrum?

It can work well to disclose. I've not actually worked with autistic children, but them knowing I was on the spectrum when I was trying to did seem to make them more interested in me - they just didn't have the money to hire me .

I'm not sure how it'd work with other stuff - but for teaching/tutoring it is a positive thing to also be on the spectrum in my experience.

Being on the spectrum and working with ASD kids can work well. In that circumstance you might as well disclose at the start since it WILL come up later anyway.

As a parent of an ASD child, and having hung around WP for a while I am strongly for the idea of people on the spectrum working with children with ASD. I have conversed with someone on here who did exactly that and it sounded they were a lot more effective and intuitive than the people working with my boy.
They mentioned the main problem for them was dealing with parents, which ended up causing a lot of stress. I can understand that.

i think it should be an asset; seing as you are on the spectrum yourself, you can relate to the autistic kids and educate their parents a lot better then an NT trying to do the same, no matter how experienced the NT might be

I am on the spectrum and I work as a special education teacher at a school for children with mild to moderate intellectual impairments. My last calculations indicated that 26% of our student population were on the spectrum.
I have a class of 11 students, 4 of whom have autism.

I did not disclose my diagnosis at my interview. I did my interview over the phone and I was provided with the questions prior to the interview so I was able to prepare. Anyway, I beat out one of the teachers already employed at the school for the position so he lost his position. And I landed my dream job.

A few weeks ago the school psychologist approached me because he was doing training for the ADOS assessment tool. He asked if I would be willing to undergo an autism assessment that would be videotaped etc. I agreed, mainly because I thought my first diagnosis was made purely on the fact that I had a massive meltdown in the psychiatrists office.

Turns out I'm autistic. Go figure. I thought I'd 'passed' the ADOS, and in fact I'd done poorly and they agreed with my diagnosis (they hadn't previously, having only spoken to me in passing).

Anyway, the school psychologist said that the school was lucky to have me there. I could provide some good insight into working with kids on the spectrum. And this can be true in some cases. I deal with one of my autistic students very differently than everyone else does.

It's definitely an asset. Understanding and 'empathy' can go a long way in a job working with special needs kids.
I'd recommend doing the volunteering first. It'll give you a better insight into what you might expect. Some days I am so overloaded after being at school and working with my kids that I just can't cope when school is out. And I am a mother to a daughter on the spectrum too. I neglect her a lot more than I used to merely because I can't cope with kids all the time.

You can PM me if you would like to talk more about it. I tend to ramble though...if you couldn't tell.

I have asperger's and work with special needs preschoolers. I have found it works really well as I often notice or understand things about my kids that others don't. For example say we get a kid who is very hyperactive... my first thought would be over stimulation. Before i say that the kid is hyperactive I am going to see if he or she behaves the same way in a room with low lights and no sound. Or I have seen teachers go up to an autistic child and touch them without warning and then wonder why they melt down.... I never wondered Overall, if you have the coping and communication skills to do it then it can be great. sadly you still have to deal with stupid people and people who don't want to understand these kids. It can be a lot of fun.

I have applied for jobs at a psychiatric hospital and a place that provides services for MR/DD, ASD, and dual diagnosis clients. I have a bachelor's degree in sociology and I'm working on my master's in sociology and psychology. I really think I would do well in these environments, and although I haven't been diagnosed formally, I'm sure I will be once I see a doctor about it.

I have applied for several other jobs in health care and counseling services, but no job offers even after interviews. I'm wondering if a dx might help so I could actually get some help to get past the interview and get a job offer. I'm horrible at interviews and I know I say stupid stuff.

I didn't really know much about AS until this past year or so, and now my entire life makes sense. I finally got my degree at age 39, so I'm a little behind but I need to do something with it since I finally made it through college after 19 years of trying and now I'm in grad school. I think I could really do something to help others because I understand what they're going through.

I do well working with people with various mental illnesses. It's the NT human resources and management people I have a hard time getting through to.

Am I making any sense?

Definitely, volunteer at as many places as you can. I am a sub teacher and wanna be full-time teacher.

You are on the right track. In my experience schools want to know how much experience you have actually working with students. Also, try to volunteer in public schools. They are always looking for help especially with Life Skills classes. You could always be an aide at first so you would not have to communicate with parents.

Eventually you could work in an after-school tutoring program.

Good luck.

I'll be volunteering in something similar next year... I disclosed my diagnosis and the person organizing it seemed quite excited by the prospect.

I cannot reccommend strongly enough the value of doing a mock interview, (in fact several to allow you to fine tune and practise) with a friend or family member. It allows you to experience and then think about the questions that are likely to arise so that you have answers rehearsed.

If your like me and take a while to think about things..this doesn't come across so well in an interview..but if you have previously thought about the likely questions, got it 'in your head' so to speak - and recently, as in the past day or two, then you will find you are able to readily talk and give them the answers to questions.
This is something I also do when I need to do a presentation or discuss something with someone where I need their buy-in. Basically its being prepared..some people can bring stuff into their head and talk off the cuff..I'm not one of those people!

Theres plenty or material on the net for mock interview questions, I did this with my wife before her last interview, she was very nervous about the interview, but we did this several times until she was confident and eloquent in her answers, and she aced the interview and they rang her 20 minutes afterwards and offered her the job.

I am on the spectrum and have been working with Special Needs people since I was 16. For several months I was doing in home care for two Autistic boys. While we did not share the same struggles, I did feel like I could relate a little better. One of the moms even told me she liked that I didn't talk down to her son. She said that because he was severely Autistic and nonverbal that a lot of people take advantage of him, talk down to him, or don't even talk to him at all. She said that, even though he couldn't talk, she liked that I would ask his opinion like "(enter name here) would you like more mustard?" She said I treated him like a human, and I think that's because I know what it's like to be ignored or talked down to.

He was also fond of me right off the bat. The first time I met him he tried to give me a kiss His mother said sometimes it takes him awhile to warm up to strangers, so it was great that we got along so well from the start. I think Autistic people are very intuitive and I have a feeling he knew I was on the Spectrum, even though his mother didn't. I think that is why he liked me.

Autistic people working with other Autistic people is a great idea, so long as you can handle it. A lot of Autistic people feel better knowing that the person working with them is also on the Spectrum because it's a common bond.

I have some experience with ABA with autistic kids, as well as BD/ED classrooms (whatever you want to call it) and adults with MR/DD. I know I'm not the only one, but if you want to pm me I am happy to answer any questions.

Disclosing if you're just volunteering is probably fine (I personally think it's an awesome trait for working with kids in the same boat), but I'd be seriously hesitant doing so if it was for a job.

More power to ya either way, be aware though if you want to work in schools (regardless of disclosure) some teachers are very open to outside perspectives, but most are hesitant at best and outwardly insulting at worst.

I've mostly had the good fortune of working with good teachers, but I've also been in some where teachers are straight horrendous and co-workers of mine who actually take things personally come home crying purely because of the teachers' incompetence and/or abrasiveness.

I don't have too much trouble answering interview questions, but I have a hard time concealing my nervousness because my face flushes and I have a lot of trouble with eye contact. I know I'm supposed to look at people, but if I do then my mind goes blank. I've actually been to a few interviews this year, and even some with jobs I knew I wouldn't get or wouldn't accept. Just sort of used them as practice, I suppose. Social service interviews are difficult because of the scenario questions, where you're supposed to tell them what you would do in a certain situation. Now I've become sort of addicted to job hunting and interviews, so I'll be shocked when I finally get one!

I worked with an autistic girl for a year and half; from day one her mom bullied me. I am still pretty sure her mom was slightly autistic. She treated me like crap and the daughter felt that her mom was in charge of me. Even the team therapist called me up one day to tell me she was sorry that the girl's mom was a bully, and that the mom doesn't even realize how she is acting. It was nice having my ACTUAL boss on my side, but it did make it hard continuing a bond with her daughter. Her daughter was highly intuitive and if she wasn't on her mom's side, than her mom would bully her. It made it very difficult when her mom sensed we had a good relationship going on. That is when her mom would make sure ALL THE POWER was on her side and I had no power. Besides that, it was a very fun experience working with a seven year old girl with moderate autism.

If you where going to hire a french teacher, wouldn't you want someone who was french? If hiring someone who work with autistic kids wouldn't you want them to be autistic? As long as you can handle the work, it seems by far a benifit. If i had an interview i would explain that autistic people think so vastly differntly then neurotypicals, being autistic is the best way to understand a kid with autism the same way being an that being french helps understand someone else from france. you would be far less likely to cause crashes or meltdowns and would atleast have a few stratagies to help the students through meltdowns. why? Because you lived through it for however old you are.