Article~The level of unemployment among people on the autism spectrum is massive

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The level of unemployment among people on the autism spectrum is massive

Donna

I'm known as 'the arty autie' and have been described as the embodiment of creative chaos. I'm an international bestselling author with 9 published books. I've been a public presenter for ten years and a consultant in the field of developmental differences for 8 years. I'm a qualified teacher with a background in sociology but largely I'm a prolific, fairly mad artist. I was assessed as psychotic at age 2 in 1965 when I was also thought deaf. Although I had stored speech (delayed echolalia), I was still tested for deafness till late childhood by which time I was labeled disturbed. It was then that my meaning deafness became understood and I was helped to discover interpretive meaning and with it, functional language. I was diagnosed with autism in my 20s.

By Donna

January 31, 2008

Because of poor social skills, sometimes because of limited communication skills, uneven abilities or other autism related issues, non-autistic people tend to get places at the front of the job queues. Socially, those on the spectrum are often the most socially isolated and have limited social networks to develop their interests and skills. But you don´t have to wait for the services. You can do something in the meantime. You can begin to create opportunities, then refine and develop your ideas.For those of you who don´t know about www.auties.org its a FREE community service where teens and adults of ALL abilities who are on the autistic spectrum can put up a listing to:a) list a product, service, skill they have or seek an autism friendly employer (or employers/customers can find people on the autism spectrum to buy from/employ). list a dinner club in their own local area they hope to get members for (or those seeking to meet others on the spectrum can contact the person running the dinner club to inquire about attending).c) list an activity around which they´d like to form an activity club (or look for someone with an activity that interests you in your area).At present we have a number of autism friendly dinner clubs and activity clubs who are looking for extra members.So come along to www.auties.org and see what groups are listed (you´ll have to register to access the contacts there)and if there´s nothing in your area, be a pioneer and dare to list your own activity or dinner venue you´d like to form a club through.If you´re out of work and looking for an autism friendly employer, come and list what kind of work you´re looking for.

We´re about to start posting autism friendly jobs which people send in.And if you aren´t ready for working full time or for an employer then onsider what skills you DO have,what products you CAN produce and how you might market these directly to the public as a form of self employment.It might be gardening skills, window cleaning, dressing up in a chicken suit to flap outside of a used car lot as a ´promotions contractor´, being available for community fetes, festivals, markets or autism events to do face painting, poetry readings, juggling or mime in the foyer, you may wish to mentor others online, create an online art gallery or maybe you just want some work experience or to do volunteering… you can list those too.Maybe you have a book you´d like to self publish for free via www.cafepress.com then come and list it on www.auties.org under poets and authors.Maybe you have expert knowledge in asteroids, natural disasters or are a walking encyclopedia on mini beasts… you can start a free quality blog using a template from www.wordpress.com then come and list this as part of a mentoring/tutoring service on www.auties.org under our ´training and education´ category.It´s all up to YOU.www.auties.org is page 1 on Google searches for ´autism jobs´ and ´autism employment´ so if you´re listed there you´ll be likely more findable than those who aren´t. www.auties.org is free (donations welcome) and global and a working model of what people on the autism spectrum are doing for themselves.Hope to see you there.Donna *)http://www.donnawilliams.netauthor, artist, composer, screenwriter

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/50628