Topic 6: Breaking Barriers

What can people with autism do to try and alleviate some of this stress? Michael Carley suggests to look for little truths within the lies. Instead of talking about the negative aspects of a company in an interview with a potential employer, a person with ASD may find it more beneficial to talk about the little things they do enjoy about the company and what makes sense to them about the company. For example, if the company is well established and has been around a long time, they are therefore stable. It makes sense to want to work for them because they are stable. This logic may help a person with ASD get through an interview without having to force themselves to lie completely (Carley, 2016, p. 68-69).

There are also strategies that may help people with ASD prepare for the career world, such as writing a cover letter, making business cards, or developing a successful resume. Michael Carley suggests keeping your resume simple. Use generic font, regular text size, spell-check twice, and make it look like everyone else's. Rather, "let your value show only through the experiences you've had, and the accomplishments you made within those experiences" instead of trying to shine by its "looks" (Carley, 2016, p. 70). Carley also suggests using key words and trying to speak the corporate language. Complete the following activity to understand how to use keywords to explain more specifically your experiences (Carley, 2016, p. 71).

Many employers now use electronic scanning devices that scan the resume for the keywords that match the job description or the keywords that the employer has established for that job. If they are not there, the resume will not even make it to the consideration pile. Use the wording from the job description if possible, as well as active verbs. Verbs should always be past tense when writing about a previous job and present tense if the person is still working there (M.Pelich, personal correspondence, 2018). Mistakes will immediately deter an employer.

Activity: Out of the following descriptions, which utilizes the use of specific language and keywords that matches "corporate speak"?

"Wrote columns for newspaper"

OR

"Researched local stories, conducted interviews and developed articles to be published in local newspaper"

Extension Activity: There a number of online resources that can be utilized to help format and prepare a resume. Visit the three online resume builders listed below and try to develop your own professional resume.

1. https://resumegenius.com
2. https://www.myperfectresume.com
3. https://www.resume.com

As stated earlier, employers can be intimidated to hire people with ASD because of a number of factors, when in reality these employees can make significant contributions to the workplace. People with autism bring unique skills and personalities that make them perfect for certain jobs. Leslie Long, vice president of adult services for the advocacy group Autism Speaks, says people with autism may "engage in repetitive behaviors, which can seem odd to the uninitiated. But those idiosyncrasies sometimes mask hidden talents, like intense focus, or facility with numbers and patterns" (Noguchi, 2016).

In addition to the strengths that Noguchi points out above, people with ASD can bring many positive attributes to the workplace. Listed below are a few of the common characteristics seen in people with ASD.

• They are:
  • conscientious and like rules
  • on-time to work
  • seldom absent
  • rule followers
• They have:
  • integrity and tend to be honest or frank
  • an unbiased perspective
  • extreme loyalty to their career/place of employment
• They exhibit:
  • enthusiasm or passion
  • tireless interest in their passion
  • consistent, hard-work, and are driven
  • creativity and great ideas

Valerie Herskowitz, speech pathologist, pastry chef, and mother of a son with autism runs a chocolate business staffed completely by people with ASD. She explains how she never expects anyone to be perfect because no one on earth can ever be completely perfect. Rather, she lets her employees explore different areas of the job and observes where they excel and where they are most happy (Herskowitz, 2018). Using their inherent skills is what makes her business so successful. More about this business is discussed later in Success Stories.

Activity: Jerry is a young adult with autism looking for a job. Jerry struggles socially, but has great focus and attention to detail. He thrives when given tasks with specific instructions and likes repetition. Name three jobs at which Jerry could be successful and would also enjoy.

Many companies are taking advantage of the unique skills people with autism offer. For example, the entire staff of 75 at the support center of Bank of America located in Dallas, Texas have some sort of disability. Duke Robertson, manager of the support center, explains how his employees with autism enjoy the repetitive nature of the job and are extremely efficient at finding the smallest of mistakes. He states, "we do the same thing the same way, every day" (Noguchi, 2016). Robertson believes that what makes the workplace so successful is that his workers enjoy what they do.

While many people find paper-handling work monotonous, people with ASD may find it comforting. He also reassures his workers that employing them is not charity, rather that they are valuable and efficient. Specialisterne USA is another company that hires people with ASD as information technology consultants. Executive director Mark Grein recommends clear communication, specific expectations, rules, mentors and training (Noguchi, 2016). View the video below featuring Thorkil Sonne to learn more about the founding of Specialisterne.

Watch the following video about Thorkil Sonne and his reason for founding his company, Specialisterne (10 minutes and 30 seconds).