Fwd: Gray Center SUN News: Transitioning to a Successful Career

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Welcome to SUN News--an update for The Gray Center Social Understanding Network!

Temple Grandin has been a huge inspiration to me! You may know about her;

although she's widely known and appreciated in the autism community as an

author, presenter, and a person with autism, she's perhaps more widely respected

around the world for her work designing livestock facilities. In her book,

" Developing Talents: Careers for Individuals with Asperger Syndrome and

High-Functioning Autism " (available at www.thegraycenter.org), Temple shares how

she went from a childhood struggling with the symptoms associated with autism,

to a successful career where she has managed to utilize her tremendous strengths

and compensate for her challenges. She begins the introduction to her book with

these words:

" Whenever I attend autism conferences, I am struck by how many people on the

high end of the autism spectrum are either unemployed or underemployed. This

really bothers me because working is such an important part of my life. Without

work, no matter how big or small the job, life would become small and

unsatisfying for me. With work, we discover we can give back to our family and

community that have given so much to us. "

Temple's book provides a fabulous blueprint for others seeking to ease the

transition from school to work, and includes the following chapters:

- Autism Spectrum Disorders and Their Effect in the Workplace

- Easing into the Workplace

- Rules for Success on the Job

- Finding a Vocation you Love

- Searching for an Ideal Job

- Do What You Do Best

- Best Jobs for Individuals on the Autism Spectrum

The book contains valuable tips for individuals on the spectrum who are trying

to learn ways to locate, attain, and sustain meaningful employment (and for the

people working to support them in these endeavors). A few of Temple's thoughts

which stood out to me when reading her book may be helpful to many SUN News

readers:

1. Mentors are key to the success of individuals with autism spectrum disorders

(ASD). Whether you are a parent, teacher, friend, or employer, your involvement,

perseverance, and willingness to " coach " the individual on everything from

identifying his or her strengths, to being aware of and compensating for

weaknesses, to identifying and successfully navigating unwritten social rules

(such as how to dress, what to talk about and with whom, how to handle difficult

situations, arriving on time, using time wisely, etc.) can mean the difference

between a successful and happy career and a lifetime spent watching television

in the privacy of one's home.

2. Playing video games in most cases will not prepare an individual for

meaningful employment! Temple acknowledges the interest that many individuals

have in video games and other technological and/or solitary pursuits, but

encourages parents and teachers to steer children and young people toward

activities and relationships that will help them develop the skills that they

need to be successful in society.

3. Find and support the individual's strengths and interests. In Temple's case,

her love of animals and her ability to think in pictures became the avenue to

becoming an independent consultant designing humane livestock handling

facilities. She acknowledges that in her case, working for herself, taking on

the jobs she's most likely to handle well, and moving on frequently to new

customers works better for her than trying to be employed by a particular

company doing the same thing and working with the same people every day.

People who attended our Gray Center Family Resource Expo on Saturday also

received valuable information about transitions from the leader of our sibling

groups (and former social coach), Dr. Dale Ranson. Dale reinforced the

importance of the following steps for career preparation:

1. Begin discussions about an individual's dreams early in life. Find out where

he or she wants to live after school, what jobs are intriguing, what activities

he or she likes or feels most comfortable with, etc. On-going discussions help

to adjust for changing interests and knowledge about what's available, what's

feasible, and what's most likely to be successful.

2. Know the individual's strengths and weaknesses!

3. Help with self-discovery (so that the individual can be realistic about

what's available and where he or she is most likely to be successful, as well as

what he or she needs to do in order to achieve success).

4. Stay realistic. Continually focus on the individual's present level of

academic and functional performance to monitor functioning and develop

strategies to help. Make sure that goals and activities are designed to support

the current level of functioning and to move the student toward continued

satisfaction and success.

5. Connect with others who can provide valuable information and support. Young

people can benefit from groups with shared interests or even a shared diagnosis.

Parents can benefit from talking with other parents who have successfully

navigated this stage in life, or are at a similar point in their journey.

Ideally, these social connections should begin early in life and continue into

(and throughout) adulthood.

Transition is a topic that needs to be considered, not only at the point where a

student is getting ready to graduate from school and move into the workplace,

but throughout childhood and beyond! Hopefully this information will help you as

you support individuals in the process of obtaining and maintaining meaningful

and satisfying careers!

Laurel Hoekman, Executive Director

The Gray Center for Social Learning and Understanding

www.thegraycenter.org

P.S. You can find both " Developing Talents " and Temple's book, " Animals in

Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior " at

www.thegraycenter.org. If you have tips you'd like to share about successful

transitions, feel free to add those to our SUN News blog at

http://graycenter.wordpress.com. If you live in West Michigan, we hope you'll

join The Gray Center this Wednesday, October 1 at the Wealthy Theater in Grand

Rapids, at 7:00 p.m. to watch " Today’s Man, " a documentary that focuses on the

transition efforts of one young man with Asperger Syndrome. Details are

available at www.thegraycenter.org. If you're interested in registering your son

or daughter for Dale Ranson's sibling group in Grand Rapids, please contact

annmary@... this week.

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