Now Garry has written a book about the challenges and difficulties he faced growing up, attending college and finding employment so that others can learn from his experience. I Want to Work – an Asperger Story relates Garry’s story, includes a foreword by Dr. Attwood, and offers strategies to help adults on the spectrum find employment.

Topics include:

• Leaving school and finding a career path
• Dealing with disclosure of an Autism Spectrum diagnosis
• Finding employment support
• Training managers to be more aware of Autism in the workplace
• How to overcome bullying and discrimination
• Employers who specifically employ adults on the Autism Spectrum

“My transition into employment was not an easy process.  My first real job was working casually in a Brisbane supermarket but not really being well understood and I was dismissed for no reason.  I know some people work in supermarkets and are able to survive in them but for me, the experience was not much fun.  I experienced some bullying and intimidation while working in them as well as being under ineffective managers.  My first real job was in 1999, just after I graduated from the University of New England.  As I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome in 1998 by Dr Tony Attwood, I joined a disability employment agency and was successful in being placed into the Queensland Parliamentary Library.  I really enjoyed my time here as I could feel like a human being and was valued in the job I carried out.  I was under a supportive supervisor who knew of my strengths and having worked hard within the Queensland Parliamentary Library, I was offered a further 4 months to work within it.

After I completed my placement at the Queensland Parliamentary Library, I then went through the musical chairs process of finding a disability employment agency which I hoped would assist me in finding employment.  After repeated attempts I find the right one and submitting employment applications, I was to land employment in a state government department.  It was here that I worked for 12 months in a traineeship and I successfully completed a Certificate III in Business and Office Administration.  It was after I completed this qualification that I went to the United Kingdom.  Despite trying to obtain employment, nothing was available so I thought I would make use of the time and go to the United Kingdom.

Upon my return in 2001, from a four week holiday, I was to find the search for employment difficult.  I did not know whether or not I should reveal my diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome to prospective employers.  Added to this, I just was disability employment agency hopping as I just could not find an employment consultant who could assist me in successfully being placed into employment.  I undertook volunteer work, I submitted job application after job application but found my attempts unsuccessful and my time totally wasted.  One of my more successful work experience attempts was working in the library of a Brisbane private school.  It was here that I worked for 12 months as a volunteer. Despite my knowing and the vague promise of me obtaining a position in the middle school library, I was to later find my application unsuccessful. Despite this, I was also contacting the school myself instead of the disability employment consultant.  I then had a breakdown and it took me a few months to join the disability employment agency bandwagon again.  I worked part time after perseverance and finding a helpful employment consultant with a disability service provider.  It was with success that I found then another supportive disability employment consultant who assisted me in obtaining my current position within the University of Queensland Library.  Within this position I mainly shelve and sort library items and ensure they are shelved in accordance with the Library of Congress (American Classification System).  I am also involved in some other library duties where required.”

Garry’s website is full of information, links to resources and advice, including “Strategies in finding employment for adults on the Autism Spectrum”  (Click HERE to read.)

For information on how to purchase his book, click HERE.

Anthony was born with developmental disabilities.  The bees provided Anthony with a chance to support himself with dignity rather than face a future with severely limited career options. As his dad says, Anthony “is a role model  for people with disabilities as well as everyone else” by turning his love for the bees into a career.

His family helps out by bottling and packaging the honey. To find out more about Anthony and his bees, including how he saved approximately 40,000 bees from a fallen oak tree limb in his hometown, and how to order honey and other natural products from “Anthony’s Beehive”, click HERE to go to the website.

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Anthony’s Beehive website.

Scott Williams/ Senior student Rep
www.thecollegeofcommunityliving.com

To see Scott’s own job story, click HERE

Thumbnail image from HERE

-contributed by Scott in Texas. To see Scott’s first Jobs4Autism post, click HERE.

For more information on Nitro Swim Center, click HERE.

I have not quit or gotten fired from my job. I gather this is unusual for someone on the Spectrum.

I have driven a city bus for almost 14 years. Here is why I think I haven’t quit or been fired:

Minimal supervision. In a typical day’s work I will not cross paths with a supervisor or manager. True, supervisors are out there watching, but it doesn’t occur to me — I rarely see ‘em, so I don’t feel pressure from them.

Sometimes I get paid not to work. Now that I have memorized all the routes I work off of the “extra board”. This is for drivers who fill-in for other drivers who have called in sick, can’t finish their work, etc. At least 2 time per week I get put on “call”. This rarely means having to work a full day and can mean being paid to do “nothing” at the garage for 8 hours. I love this time. I use it to read, even to nap. Even before my diagnosis (a year ago) I would refer to call days as therapy.

Interactions with bus passengers is limited. It took a year or so to memorize the social interactions a bus driver needs to use in a typical day. I view passengers as dead weight, making them not very stressful at all. There is stress sometimes. Buses are likely to carry the most dysfunctional people in any given town. These people are stressful for any bus driver to deal with. For me they can be overwhelming. See notes about sick days below.

FMLA. Since my diagnosis, management has made me eligible for unlimited time off via the “Family Medical Leave Act” (FMLA). For normal employees there is a limit on the number of sick “occurrences” allowed in a given year. With FMLA I have no such limit. This is vital for me to use after particularly stressful days (which I am slowly beginning to be able to recognize).

Excellent training. My trainers are very good. They are thorough, patient, and disciplined. Thanks to them I do the job with ample preparation for what may happen in a day’s work.

I find the biggest downside to be boredom. I like to use my brain and bus driving uses very little brains. Before I was given anti-depressants the boredom inspired lots of job-threatening behaviors. Those happy pills have worked wonders in improving my tolerance and patience in dealing with people at work.

I am a thinker with a terminal graduate degree. I wish I could somehow earn a living thinking. Unfortunately I have never encountered any career (or even job) that remotely addresses this primary interest of mine. I spend two to three evenings every week attending philosophy discussion groups. They have become my way of getting desired positive social interactions. They are structured, so for me it’s comforting to know in advanced how we will be interacting with one another at each group. Sadly, this activity can not be a way to make a living. So, I drive a bus.