21-yr old Young Woman with Asperger’s: Her Mother’s Perspective
My daughter has wonderful gifts: avid reader, sharp intellect, excellent
writer, creative cartoonist (anthropomorphic characters), is an “animal
magnet” and possesses a wickedly funny (i.e., dark) sense of humor. Many
adults love her take on life.
So how come finding employment will be hard for her? The crushing anxiety over social interactions in the workplace. It is absolutely overwhelming. She will need to find a job that has minimal interaction with people. So that pretty much eliminates typical 9-5 office and most retail/supermarket jobs (no cash registers!). The jobs must involve one of her passions: books & animals. I’m thinking along the lines of: stock area of a bookstore, dog groomer, dog walker, pet sitter. She’ll probably also need a “job coach” to ease anxiety.
So parents, do some creative thinking about your son/daughter’s passions and try to come up with some ideas for employment. Maybe they would do best if they have their own business. Best wishes!
I also have Asperger’s but being a former foster child I did not have this kind of help. When I hit the world I had to socially interact with people or I would be out on the streets. Sometimes I wonder if things like a “job coach” hurt more than they help.
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My son has pdd-nos/anxiety, and we’ve had excellent luck with prozac. It’s not for everybody, you have to find what works, but even Temple Grandin uses anti-anxiety meds. It’s a good starting point, we’re currently looking for a psychologist/psychiatrist for cognitive behavioral therapy in an attempt to help him help himself through his anxiety. Your daughter is clearly intelligent enough to have a job that will challenge her, she may want to try some of these tactics to help her get her anxiety under control so that she can find her dream job! Maybe a librarian, book shop owner, veterinarian, dog trainer, maybe she could train autism therapy dogs!
Like the person described in the post, I was diagnosed as having Aspergers. A good job for such a person is Database Administrator where the person keeps track of a mailing list for a company, an organization’s membership list, etc. I now occupy such a position for a non-profit international religious organization. There is no social interaction other than through e-mail where I have the opportunity to read over what I have written before hitting the “Send” button.
I recommend that the person learn Access and other database management systems and then, start applying to companies, organizations, etc.
My sister is brilliant and also has Asperger’s, so this is a dilemma that I understand all to well (her passion happens to be music). She has so many incredible talents, but we sometimes struggle to find a comfortable environment for her to express them. A lot of libraries have behind-the-scenes work that has to be done, and as government organizations, they’re hiring guidelines are often more accepting. Also, I know of many animal shelters (especially for wild rescued animals) that have a lot of jobs strictly involving animals. I know there are many other options, but these are two ideas that came to mind!