Saturday, December 19, 2009

Clinic Notes: Help Wanted. Need People with Autism

The children with autism that I see in my clinic are very young, usually between 2 and 6. Most of the older children that I see in my clinic have been coming for years. They all progress at different rates and I wonder about their future. Where will they work, where will they live, will they marry and have children? Well, a report this week gives me a clue into the work future for some of them. Several companies such as Wrigley have hired people with autism as computer systems developers because they are able to focus for long periods of time on detailed tasks that others would get bored. A company in Denmark and another in Chicago hire and train people who have high functioning autism as consultants on data entry and code checking and send them out to work in various industries. So it looks like there will be jobs for the children that I see in my clinic if I can get them to the point that they can manage their sensory problems, follow directions, and communicate.

2 comments:

Sylvia said...

My autistic twins have an obsessive interest in sewing toys and I'm amazed at how much time and attention to detail they exhibit. If only they were able to follow directions and communicate I might have a booming business, as many people have wanted to even buy a toy because they are totally handmade.

Carol said...

you might want to contact people at the Eden Institute or at the Lewis School in NJ. They have a series of programs going on about Transition to Work.

The state of PA also is interested in transition to work

I will be blogging about work and ASD later on
journeythroughthecortex.blogspot.com