Oct 22nd 09 Posted by Barbara

Request for Autism Social Skills Information

“My son is 18 and is a junior in college. He has autism but is very high functioning. He is in a band, a social club, and writes for the school paper. He also does illustrations for a magazine. He still needs help with conversation and approaching friends or calling to make plans to do things together with anyone. Do you have anything that I could look into for him? I saw this boot camp on a... read more

Oct 21st 09 Posted by Barbara

Tips from CSAAC’s John Solyst – Autism Job Stories

For more than 15 years, John Solyst has been locating employment positions for clients of CSAAC (Community Services for Autistic Adults and Children.)  As Assistant Director for Supported Employment at CSAAC, he deals directly with employers and job coaches to match positions with job skills – what the clients are good at or what they enjoy. He won’t put a client in a job where they’ll... read more

Oct 19th 09 Posted by Barbara

An Update to Ian’s Autism Job Story

In May of 2009 Ian was one of several students recognized at his school district’s end of year recognition celebration of the students and community partners in their 18+ program called LIVE (Leander Independent Vocational Education program). The Williamson County Justice of the Peace Pct. 2 and Twin Lakes YMCA Health & Fitness both commented on the growth they observed in Ian as he progressed... read more

Oct 16th 09 Posted by Barbara

Nat-of-all-Trades: An Autism Job Story

“When our kids have disabilities, on the one hand we believe that fantasy, dreams, and plans are no longer possible,” Susan Senator writes in her September 30, 2009 blog post, “My FaNATasy.” Susan is a writer and mother to three boys, including Nat, 19, who has autism. She uses her writing talents “to make sense of autism and find a way to my oldest son, and help others... read more

Oct 13th 09 Posted by Barbara

Shoe Processing – An Autism Job Story

My name is Connor I am almost 20 years old. I work at TJ Maxx. My job is being a shoe processor. I take shoeboxes out of the cardboard boxes which are shipped to my store. I also break down the boxes to recycle and I code the shoes by writing the numbers on the bottom. I also censor the shoes so there will not be any burglary. I work for 4 hours from 11:00am until 3:00pm (my favorite time!) at 1:00pm... read more

Sep 2nd 09 Posted by Barbara

19 year old is 2008 Mayor’s Committee Employee of the Year – Autism Job Story

“Nathan is nonverbal and needs to be supervised at all times. He attended school with the assistance of a 1:1 aid until middle school and then was homeschooled due to the inadeqaucies of the schools. He also has been involved in our home Lovaas/ABA program since he was 6. When he was 16 we started considering what employment he may enjoy and be successful in. We looked at his strengths and... read more