Preparing Young Adults for Employment

Michaela Arens, Author

03/16/2021 Added

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[00:00:03.330]Hello, welcome.
[00:00:05.010]My name is Michaela Ahrens.
[00:00:06.510]I'm the senior director of programs
[00:00:08.190]for Autism Action Partnership.
[00:00:10.500]Thanks for joining us for this session
[00:00:12.220]on Preparing Young Adults with ASD for Employment.
[00:00:17.000]So when we think about preparing
[00:00:18.500]these young adults for work,
[00:00:20.370]whose responsibility is it?
[00:00:22.150]Is it the responsibility of schools,
[00:00:24.510]parents and caregivers,
[00:00:26.530]is it the responsibility of state organizations
[00:00:29.430]or community agencies?
[00:00:31.800]The answer is all of us, anyone who touches the lives
[00:00:34.860]of these young adults can help play a role
[00:00:37.570]in preparing them for work.
[00:00:42.550]So the goals for today are for you to be able
[00:00:46.370]to understand some of the workforce trends
[00:00:48.400]for individuals with autism
[00:00:49.870]that are out there seeking competitive employment,
[00:00:52.950]to learn how to prepare job seekers with autism
[00:00:55.710]to capitalize on those opportunities,
[00:00:58.340]and be able to apply some of the best practices
[00:01:01.100]for helping young adults with ASD get,
[00:01:04.080]but more importantly, keep jobs.
[00:01:09.420]Despite the abilities of autistic individuals,
[00:01:12.560]they face high rates of unemployment and underemployment.
[00:01:15.900]And right now, many companies are ramping
[00:01:18.420]up their diversity inclusion initiatives.
[00:01:20.930]There are several national and international programs
[00:01:23.850]that are aimed at recruiting, hiring,
[00:01:25.710]and retaining employees specifically with autism.
[00:01:29.730]We'll share some best practices learned from these programs
[00:01:33.130]and our own workforce development program
[00:01:35.350]at AAP to help young adults with autism build
[00:01:40.410]and showcase their strengths
[00:01:42.030]in order to capitalize on these employment opportunities.
[00:01:47.690]If we look at some numbers on both sides of the coin,
[00:01:51.000]think about individuals with autism over the next decade.
[00:01:54.680]An estimated over 700,000 teens
[00:01:59.950]are gonna enter adulthood.
[00:02:01.970]More than half of young adults with autism remain unemployed
[00:02:05.300]or unenrolled in higher education
[00:02:07.210]in the two years after high school.
[00:02:09.210]And 80 to 90% of adults with autism
[00:02:12.600]are unemployed or underemployed.
[00:02:15.020]So despite the unique abilities they bring to the workforce,
[00:02:18.370]we're not seeing great outcomes.
[00:02:21.970]Now these labor statistics are pre-pandemic,
[00:02:25.060]but we don't have any reason to believe
[00:02:26.910]that our workforce landscape won't return
[00:02:29.090]to the healthy state it once was.
[00:02:32.870]In March of 2019, the "Omaha World Herald"
[00:02:36.210]noted a need to fill 36,000 positions
[00:02:40.130]across the state of Nebraska.
[00:02:42.100]The Greater Omaha area enjoyed 3% unemployment.
[00:02:48.860]Many individuals with autism are finding success
[00:02:51.610]in the tech industry.
[00:02:52.790]And while it's certainly not the only area
[00:02:55.180]that they're finding success in,
[00:02:56.890]I thought it was interesting to share
[00:02:58.440]that in our region alone,
[00:03:01.130]a couple of years ago,
[00:03:02.120]there was an average of 600 open tech positions
[00:03:05.630]at any given time.
[00:03:10.960]I shared that there were a number of national
[00:03:14.240]and international autism hiring programs.
[00:03:18.110]On the left, you'll see a list of just a few of those,
[00:03:23.030]but I want you to understand
[00:03:24.930]that these programs are providing models
[00:03:30.500]for other companies to change the way
[00:03:34.830]that they recruit and hire diverse employees.
[00:03:40.310]I'm gonna share a short video clip from Auticon
[00:03:43.470]which is a German-based program that operates
[00:03:47.490]in about 16 countries, I believe,
[00:03:50.370]and has moved to the United States.
[00:03:52.640]They operate in Los Angeles, and most recently opened
[00:03:57.320]up regional center in Columbus, Ohio.
[00:04:03.360]I'll go ahead and play this video clip for you.
[00:04:08.782](gentle music)
[00:04:09.734]Auticon is an IT consultancy business.
[00:04:11.540]We're the first consultancy business
[00:04:12.910]in the world to exclusively employ adults
[00:04:15.520]on the autism spectrum, as our consultants.
[00:04:17.880]People on the autism spectrum have a particular skills
[00:04:20.960]in attention to detail, pattern recognition,
[00:04:23.740]error detection, sustained concentration
[00:04:26.370]that are far above what we'll find
[00:04:28.020]in the neuro-typical community.
[00:04:29.940]So the reason that we work with people
[00:04:31.379]on the autism spectrum is because of the talents
[00:04:33.210]and the skills that they bring to the workplace.
[00:04:35.267]1.1% of the UK population are estimated
[00:04:37.980]to be on the autism spectrum,
[00:04:39.650]and only 16% of that are estimated
[00:04:42.210]to be in full time employment at the moment.
[00:04:44.986]I was out of work for two years
[00:04:47.366]and struggling with depression, anxiety.
[00:04:50.766]And then read an article in the paper.
[00:04:52.760]Just looked them up to see what they were like.
[00:04:55.150]I liked the sound of what they were doing.
[00:04:56.820]Our clients get outstanding quality of work,
[00:04:59.520]very good value for money.
[00:05:00.670]They get their projects delivered well
[00:05:02.280]and delivered on time.
[00:05:03.510]And we support our consultants from two angles.
[00:05:06.290]We have our own in-house job coaches and project managers.
[00:05:10.050]Our job coaches support our consultants
[00:05:11.970]from a social and communication angle.
[00:05:14.270]Whereas our project managers support our consultants
[00:05:17.760]from a technical angle
[00:05:18.990]and also mentor that professional development.
[00:05:21.970]A lot of clients may not have worked
[00:05:23.400]with an autistic person before, and they may worry
[00:05:27.320]about how they might communicate with that person.
[00:05:30.100]So we talk about direct communication
[00:05:33.560]being really clear,
[00:05:35.630]maybe a slight processing delay that somebody might have.
[00:05:39.050]Many of our clients have actually fed back to us
[00:05:41.600]that working with autistic colleagues
[00:05:43.360]has improved their internal communication in a wider sense.
[00:05:47.800]Their communication has become clearer,
[00:05:50.230]more to the point,
[00:05:51.063]and more straightforward
[00:05:51.960]which has benefited of the entire team.
[00:05:54.120]The feedback that we had from Siemens
[00:05:56.340]was that our consultants were outperforming
[00:05:59.163]their existing team by 50%,
[00:06:01.800]within two weeks of starting to work.
[00:06:03.854]It's nice to actually see that there are companies
[00:06:05.527]out there now who are taking an interest
[00:06:09.070]in people like me and realizing we want to work.
[00:06:13.810]We can work.
[00:06:15.030]We just need a bit of help sometimes.
[00:06:18.070]We've brought on a number of blue-chip clients.
[00:06:20.760]We've completed a number of projects now
[00:06:22.940]and had extremely positive feedback
[00:06:24.620]from those clients who have described the work
[00:06:26.610]that our consultants have done as being phenomenal
[00:06:29.270]and way beyond the expectations that they had going into it.
[00:06:32.270]I think that so many different clients
[00:06:34.430]will say that working with an autistic person
[00:06:37.710]brings diversity and inclusion
[00:06:39.760]into the workplace which it has such a positive impact.
[00:06:42.197]We have built a very successful
[00:06:44.670]and widely admired and very effective business.
[00:06:47.940]So we want people out there to think again
[00:06:50.560]about their views and about their attitudes to autism
[00:06:53.830]and realize that bringing more people
[00:06:56.160]on the autism spectrum into the workforce can deliver real,
[00:06:59.480]genuine commercial benefits to the business.
[00:07:12.613]So Auticon is just one example
[00:07:16.000]of a company that is using a specific program
[00:07:23.310]to help bridge the gap
[00:07:25.830]between this underrepresented population
[00:07:29.670]of diverse individuals
[00:07:31.190]and the growing need for skilled employees.
[00:07:37.420]I can tell you that pre-pandemic,
[00:07:40.680]and really even throughout the pandemic,
[00:07:44.380]at Autism Action Partnership,
[00:07:46.210]we're seeing more and more companies who are interested
[00:07:50.530]in learning how to tap into this talent pool.
[00:07:54.580]So it's quite encouraging.
[00:07:57.090]And that's why it's so important for us
[00:07:59.440]to talk about the best practices
[00:08:02.080]in preparing these young adults to get and keep jobs.
[00:08:06.555]While the opportunities are out there,
[00:08:08.930]while companies are open to learning
[00:08:11.640]about supporting diverse employees,
[00:08:15.790]now more than ever is the time
[00:08:17.960]for us to help our young adults take advantage.
[00:08:22.610]So we're gonna talk about each of these strategies
[00:08:26.750]a little more in depth, but I should tell you
[00:08:29.210]that this really is an introductory session.
[00:08:34.040]We could talk in depth about any one
[00:08:36.820]of these practices that could be employed
[00:08:40.600]to help prepare your young adults.
[00:08:44.460]So first, we're gonna start with, oops, sorry about that.
[00:08:52.620]First, we want to talk about career exploration.
[00:08:56.650]Really, it's just about exposure.
[00:08:59.430]It's about giving our young adults the opportunities
[00:09:03.430]to experience different jobs, careers,
[00:09:09.210]so that they can really narrow the interests
[00:09:13.200]and strengths that they would bring to a particular career.
[00:09:20.050]We think about researching jobs and careers.
[00:09:22.880]It's important to ask questions, like
[00:09:25.250]what are your interests?
[00:09:27.110]What subjects do you like in school?
[00:09:29.940]Geographically, where is it that you'd like to work?
[00:09:33.250]What occupations have you already observed?
[00:09:36.320]What does your mom do?
[00:09:37.640]What does your dad do?
[00:09:38.940]What do your neighbors do?
[00:09:40.570]And what about those positions,
[00:09:43.570]jobs, careers, do you like or dislike?
[00:09:46.890]It's really important to start asking questions.
[00:09:50.230]They can research jobs and career options
[00:09:53.000]on a number of websites like O*NET
[00:09:56.620]or college and university sites,
[00:09:59.940]the Nebraska Department of Labor.
[00:10:02.010]There are a wide variety of internet resources
[00:10:06.020]that can help them learn about different jobs and careers.
[00:10:10.800]As we're learning about those careers,
[00:10:13.820]gaining those experiences,
[00:10:15.830]it's then important to evaluate which ones
[00:10:19.680]might be a good fit to help narrow our interests.
[00:10:23.190]So if one particular job requires a post-secondary degree,
[00:10:29.290]but we're not interested in going to college,
[00:10:32.870]then perhaps we can cross that one off the list.
[00:10:36.760]So the more you learn,
[00:10:38.310]the more you're able to narrow your career path.
[00:10:44.100]So we like to use this acronym
[00:10:45.880]RED: Research, Evaluate and then Decide.
[00:10:52.940]So how can parents and educators
[00:10:55.540]help with this career exploration process?
[00:10:59.500]Really, it's about making sure again,
[00:11:02.210]that the young adults are exposed.
[00:11:04.250]So creating those opportunities and experiences
[00:11:08.290]that allow them to explore their interests
[00:11:11.700]and narrow where their strengths fit.
[00:11:16.340]We might be talking about volunteer opportunities,
[00:11:20.610]volunteering in the neighborhood, volunteering at school
[00:11:24.420]to be able to create those experiences and opportunities.
[00:11:28.170]Think about your own network.
[00:11:30.260]Do you have a neighbor who works in journalism?
[00:11:33.780]Do you have a vet for your own dog
[00:11:38.210]that might allow a job sampling
[00:11:40.970]or job shadowing opportunity?
[00:11:43.010]So take advantage of your network,
[00:11:46.850]the people around you
[00:11:48.720]to be able to create some opportunities
[00:11:51.160]that allow these young adults to experience what jobs
[00:11:56.900]and careers look like.
[00:12:07.350]Many people are familiar with the SMART Goals model.
[00:12:11.930]And we just like to remind individuals
[00:12:15.900]that as you plan for your career exploration,
[00:12:22.900]as you plan for your job pursuit,
[00:12:25.580]using this model of goal setting is very effective.
[00:12:29.580]So lots of people use this model
[00:12:32.360]for attaining academic goals,
[00:12:36.370]setting and attaining academic goals,
[00:12:38.980]behavior goals, but again,
[00:12:41.150]your professional or job pursuit goals
[00:12:44.530]would benefit from this model application as well.
[00:12:48.530]So we want to make sure that our goals are specific.
[00:12:51.700]We can measure whether or not we've attained them.
[00:12:54.670]We're setting goals that are challenging,
[00:12:56.830]but able we're able to reach them so they're attainable,
[00:13:01.080]that they're relevant and in line with everything else
[00:13:03.940]that we're doing at this particular stage in our life.
[00:13:07.740]And that we set some deadlines.
[00:13:09.980]Again, to make sure that we can keep on track
[00:13:12.980]and measure our progress.
[00:13:14.850]So just as an example,
[00:13:16.430]let's say you have a young adult you're working
[00:13:19.040]with who loves animals and thinks that might be
[00:13:22.360]a career path that they want to pursue.
[00:13:25.080]It's important that maybe you set some specific goals
[00:13:28.960]for the semester, for example,
[00:13:31.670]that maybe he or she would explore a veterinary clinic,
[00:13:38.430]a pet store,
[00:13:39.940]a pet shelter as a way to experience what a job
[00:13:45.450]in those settings might look like.
[00:13:50.030]You can measure those three visits across the semester.
[00:13:56.860]It's certainly something that's attainable
[00:13:59.560]and relevant to that student's interests.
[00:14:03.460]Then maybe in the summer, you decide
[00:14:05.950]that the student should try some part-time pet sitting
[00:14:11.080]or dog walking that might again align with their interests,
[00:14:16.230]but also give them more information
[00:14:18.970]about where their strengths might be the best fit.
[00:14:28.320]I can't say enough about soft skills.
[00:14:30.390]And you've probably all heard
[00:14:32.050]that corporate America employers
[00:14:35.890]these days are talking about the lack of soft skills
[00:14:39.490]among the general population of candidates
[00:14:42.500]coming to them for work.
[00:14:44.150]So it's super important that as we work
[00:14:47.200]with our young adults with autism,
[00:14:49.060]that we're helping them to focus on developing soft skills.
[00:14:54.500]This is certainly not an exhaustive list
[00:14:57.100]of the skills that employers are looking at,
[00:14:59.690]but it's a good start to remain focused
[00:15:03.370]on any opportunities you can to develop these skills.
[00:15:09.600]Now, it's also important to recognize
[00:15:13.100]how those career exploration opportunities
[00:15:16.160]you're setting up for your students
[00:15:18.010]will help them develop those soft skills.
[00:15:22.430]We talk about those in terms of transferable skills.
[00:15:25.810]So being able to recognize the skills you obtain
[00:15:29.520]through extracurricular activities,
[00:15:31.410]volunteer, non-traditional work like mowing lawns,
[00:15:36.320]it's important to recognize how those skills
[00:15:38.880]can then transfer into strengths
[00:15:41.050]that any employer might be looking for,
[00:15:43.790]then helping our students be able to highlight those
[00:15:47.560]on their resume and cover letters, and in interviews.
[00:15:52.550]These are just some examples of transferable skills
[00:15:56.980]that are attained through extracurricular activities,
[00:16:00.890]volunteer work, and the next slide,
[00:16:03.070]some non-traditional work experiences.
[00:16:06.300]So if you have a student who participates in a drama club,
[00:16:10.610]maybe they've learned some organization,
[00:16:13.370]some safety inspection, communication skills,
[00:16:18.970]attention to a timeline.
[00:16:22.510]When you volunteer in a concession stand,
[00:16:25.280]think about all of the customer service and teamwork skills
[00:16:29.240]you're learning, not to mention the payment transactions
[00:16:34.490]and producing accurate change.
[00:16:37.970]Even if you're babysitting or lawn mowing,
[00:16:41.030]you could be gaining valuable skills that can be applied
[00:16:45.210]and showcased in any workplace.
[00:16:47.980]If you are ensuring a safe environment for children,
[00:16:51.510]if you are preparing meals,
[00:16:54.110]or organizing a daily schedule,
[00:16:56.750]regularly communicating about activities
[00:17:00.770]that have happened throughout the day,
[00:17:02.320]those are skills that could be applied
[00:17:05.560]in another work setting.
[00:17:07.540]If you set up your own little lawn mowing business,
[00:17:10.070]that takes coordination, organization, communication,
[00:17:14.440]again, payment transactions,
[00:17:17.000]cleaning, maintaining equipment.
[00:17:20.270]Those are skills that also might be relevant
[00:17:23.610]in another work setting.
[00:17:24.920]It's important to be able to recognize
[00:17:27.130]how those skills can be transferred
[00:17:29.380]to another work setting so that you can highlight them.
[00:17:34.730]Another important way to be able to showcase your strengths
[00:17:38.410]to an employer might be attention to personality traits.
[00:17:42.830]There's a number of personality inventories available
[00:17:45.990]on the internet.
[00:17:47.280]Sometimes, students are able to take them in schools.
[00:17:51.550]But it's important to translate your personality traits
[00:17:57.360]to again, showcase the value you bring to a workplace.
[00:18:01.970]So if you are organized, you can highlight yourself
[00:18:05.760]as a meticulous planner.
[00:18:07.760]If you're responsible, you can highlight that you always
[00:18:10.870]finish tasks on time.
[00:18:13.560]That's another way to showcase strengths.
[00:18:16.570]And this is just an example of how personality traits
[00:18:20.250]could be highlighted on a resume or a cover letter.
[00:18:24.230]So you might say, I demonstrate outstanding dependability
[00:18:29.600]and I'm able to take direction well.
[00:18:34.600]I have superior time management skills
[00:18:37.060]and accept feedback for improvement.
[00:18:39.610]I have a positive attitude
[00:18:41.250]and a strong ability to learn from others.
[00:18:44.690]I seek new opportunities to learn
[00:18:46.700]and possess honesty and respectfulness.
[00:18:49.370]Who doesn't want to hire that individual?
[00:18:55.360]So we talked a little bit about learning
[00:18:58.130]how to build and then showcase strengths.
[00:19:02.350]We also want to provide our young adults
[00:19:05.340]with practical suggestions for easily applying for jobs.
[00:19:12.700]So nowadays, almost all of the applications
[00:19:17.390]that our individuals are filling out
[00:19:22.230]have some type of online component.
[00:19:24.870]There's some type of online application,
[00:19:27.280]even if the employer is asking for a resume as well.
[00:19:31.100]So we help our young adults create,
[00:19:33.450]we call it a pocket application,
[00:19:35.280]but basically a form or a document that has all
[00:19:38.800]of the information you need readily available.
[00:19:42.010]So think about references.
[00:19:43.710]It's important to have a list of three references,
[00:19:46.750]and to know how long you've known that individual,
[00:19:49.960]have a valid phone number and email address.
[00:19:53.060]And have already contacted that reference
[00:19:55.550]to make sure that they know you're gonna be using them
[00:19:58.380]on employment applications.
[00:20:01.110]To have a list of any employment history
[00:20:04.160]or volunteer history with dates,
[00:20:07.910]contact information for a supervisor.
[00:20:12.410]Having all of that information readily available
[00:20:15.510]in one document can really help streamline that process.
[00:20:20.140]And it makes it so much less overwhelming.
[00:20:25.410]Now, in addition to completing applications,
[00:20:30.080]we find a lot of our individuals like to try
[00:20:32.780]the spray and pray approach.
[00:20:34.320]They're going to apply to of any
[00:20:36.639]and all kinds of,
[00:20:39.430]they're going to complete all kinds of online applications,
[00:20:42.710]but then they never follow up,
[00:20:44.680]or they're not able to tell you whether
[00:20:46.630]or not already applied for this particular job in the past.
[00:20:50.960]It's really important to create a spreadsheet
[00:20:53.140]that helps track what applications have been submitted.
[00:20:56.980]So you keep the company name, the job title,
[00:20:59.890]and what date it was applied for.
[00:21:02.250]Some companies will maintain an application for six months.
[00:21:06.190]So maybe you applied for a cashier position five months ago.
[00:21:12.530]You want to be able to know you could reapply
[00:21:14.960]in another month
[00:21:15.860]if it was something you were interested in pursuing.
[00:21:18.590]And it's just always important to remind them not
[00:21:21.040]to get discouraged.
[00:21:23.330]I think about my coworker, she talks about her son
[00:21:27.800]who was in high school.
[00:21:28.900]She told him he needed to go out and get a job.
[00:21:31.010]And he went to a strip mall and she said, came home.
[00:21:34.810]And she said, how many jobs did you apply for?
[00:21:37.120]And he said, well, only the one I wanted.
[00:21:39.030]It's important to remind our young people
[00:21:41.810]that you don't always get the one job that you apply for.
[00:21:48.180]Right now, especially when there
[00:21:50.160]are so many unemployed people looking for work.
[00:21:53.150]We're working with a young man who applied daily
[00:21:56.280]to multiple positions for six months.
[00:22:00.060]He just finally now got a position, was hired.
[00:22:05.340]And so it's just important to remind them
[00:22:07.910]that sometimes the job search process takes longer
[00:22:12.030]than we would like.
[00:22:13.430]And we don't always get
[00:22:15.350]the jobs that we apply for.
[00:22:22.820]Next, it's really important ahead
[00:22:24.870]of time to start thinking about disclosure.
[00:22:30.120]Disclosing any type of disability is your absolute right.
[00:22:35.880]It is not a requirement that you disclose your autism
[00:22:39.180]to an employer, but sometimes there's benefits to doing so.
[00:22:43.890]So it's important to think about what kind of accommodations
[00:22:48.110]you might need in this job.
[00:22:50.007]Are you gonna need some kind of outside support,
[00:22:53.490]maybe from a job coach, to help you get, or keep this job?
[00:22:57.870]How stressful would it be to try to hide your disability
[00:23:01.590]in this particular work setting?
[00:23:04.480]And what would be some of the benefits of disclosing?
[00:23:08.170]So think about maybe some some accommodations
[00:23:11.880]that a student needed in the classroom.
[00:23:15.490]Do they need a quiet workspace when they were taking tests?
[00:23:21.290]Did headphones help in particular,
[00:23:24.730]noise-canceling headphones help
[00:23:26.300]in particular situations that were noisy or chaotic?
[00:23:30.910]Sometimes those accommodations can help you think
[00:23:33.690]about what accommodations
[00:23:35.270]you might need also in the workplace.
[00:23:39.030]A lot of individuals,
[00:23:40.210]we work with find a great sense of relief
[00:23:45.960]knowing that their supervisor, even some of their coworkers
[00:23:50.080]might have a greater understanding
[00:23:52.850]of their challenges or idiosyncrasies.
[00:23:56.930]There might be less judgment,
[00:23:59.260]less communication difficulties,
[00:24:02.720]less frustration on the part of the individual
[00:24:06.350]when others around them understand better
[00:24:10.150]what's going on and what challenges might be presented.
[00:24:16.210]So even as you're deciding whether or not to disclose
[00:24:22.310]at all, if you decide that disclosing is the best answer,
[00:24:29.160]then you need to think about who needs to know,
[00:24:34.240]is it the person in human resources?
[00:24:36.920]Is it just your direct supervisor?
[00:24:39.480]Is it a small group of team members
[00:24:41.700]that you're gonna be working directly with?
[00:24:45.950]You need to think about when you'll disclose.
[00:24:48.980]Some find it important to disclose
[00:24:51.890]right at the point of the interview,
[00:24:54.090]since that might be challenging,
[00:24:56.090]and it might not be the place
[00:24:57.580]that you show your greatest strengths.
[00:25:00.120]Some think it's better to disclose once a job offer is made.
[00:25:06.080]The important thing is that you don't wait to disclose
[00:25:09.930]until you're about to be fired,
[00:25:16.280]you might not necessarily be protected by ADA
[00:25:19.250]if you wait until that crisis moment to disclose
[00:25:24.290]that you have autism.
[00:25:27.250]When we talk to the participants that we serve
[00:25:32.040]about how to disclose autism,
[00:25:35.350]we always encourage them to highlight the strengths.
[00:25:39.950]So let's take, for example,
[00:25:41.750]an individual maybe who struggles
[00:25:44.060]in a very fast paced work environment.
[00:25:47.350]We talk to them about presenting
[00:25:49.570]that in a way that highlights their accuracy
[00:25:52.770]or attention to detail.
[00:25:54.700]So while accuracy is one of my strengths,
[00:25:58.610]and I very rarely make any errors in my work,
[00:26:03.150]sometimes it prevents me from working
[00:26:05.910]at a pace that other individuals
[00:26:08.390]might be able to work at.
[00:26:11.380]While highlighting the strengths
[00:26:13.545]through the disclosure can also be helpful.
[00:26:17.620]In addition, we encourage individuals
[00:26:20.780]to be able to not only express what the challenge might be,
[00:26:26.420]but also what supports or accommodations
[00:26:29.710]could help prevent that challenge
[00:26:31.850]from causing any problems in the workforce.
[00:26:34.660]That can be helpful as well.
[00:26:38.820]Okay, I'm about to discuss two,
[00:26:43.360]what I would call golden tickets.
[00:26:47.510]There are two practices
[00:26:50.580]that we have found incredibly important for individuals
[00:26:55.280]with autism in the workplace,
[00:26:56.900]particularly in keeping jobs.
[00:27:00.380]So particularly important for retention.
[00:27:04.550]The first is being able to handle feedback.
[00:27:08.430]Now, this is something that can be practiced now,
[00:27:12.130]right now, while they're students in middle school,
[00:27:15.790]in high school, it is important for them
[00:27:18.710]to learn to handle feedback.
[00:27:20.290]And here's why.
[00:27:22.360]We, all the time run into individuals
[00:27:25.840]who are missing the message.
[00:27:28.670]Feedback is the way that we get better
[00:27:30.900]at whatever it is we're trying to do.
[00:27:33.370]And our supervisor's job is to help us get better
[00:27:37.450]at our jobs to learn how to perform up to expectations.
[00:27:42.620]So supervisors are giving us feedback all the time.
[00:27:47.920]And it is important for us to prepare our individuals
[00:27:51.290]with autism, to recognize that feedback,
[00:27:54.400]and be able to translate that into action
[00:27:56.880]that helps them actually get better at their jobs.
[00:28:02.190]So our individuals with autism often miss feedback.
[00:28:07.660]Sometimes it's because of communication challenges.
[00:28:10.960]They don't pick up on the messages the way they're stated.
[00:28:15.220]Think about your workplace.
[00:28:16.900]A lot of times, feedback is given in the form
[00:28:19.470]of a memo or maybe to a group in a team meeting.
[00:28:23.920]So a boss or supervisor might say,
[00:28:27.547]"We're recognizing not enough production in this department.
[00:28:31.650]So we're gonna institute this new process."
[00:28:36.860]Even if the individual, the autistic employee works
[00:28:41.950]in that department, they may not recognize
[00:28:44.670]that that feedback was directed at them.
[00:28:48.920]And so it's sometimes it's just a matter
[00:28:52.430]of missing the feedback.
[00:28:54.340]The other thing we see often is that employees
[00:28:58.250]with autism are perfectionists.
[00:29:02.000]They want to do everything exactly right.
[00:29:06.310]So when someone tells them
[00:29:08.350]that they didn't do it exactly right,
[00:29:10.860]they're incredibly hard on themselves.
[00:29:13.550]Sometimes, it's anxiety.
[00:29:16.190]It's anxiety that is triggered by past failures.
[00:29:20.690]They feel like they've never done a good job,
[00:29:23.400]or they're always doing something wrong.
[00:29:26.150]So when they're presented with feedback,
[00:29:28.340]sometimes they get overly defensive
[00:29:31.270]or there's so much anxiety that they shut down
[00:29:35.300]and they don't take that feedback to heart
[00:29:39.360]and aren't able to put it into practice.
[00:29:42.040]So it is super important
[00:29:43.860]that we are helping our young adults learn
[00:29:46.630]that feedback is your friend.
[00:29:49.280]Feedback is part of growing,
[00:29:53.780]part of getting better at anything you're trying to do.
[00:29:57.100]And one of the ways that we can help them do
[00:30:00.180]that is to teach them to solicit that feedback.
[00:30:05.560]Teach them to ask, is there anything I'm doing well?
[00:30:08.750]Is there anything I need to work on?
[00:30:11.170]What can I do to make these improvements?
[00:30:13.740]If we teach them to ask those questions,
[00:30:16.720]we can also teach them
[00:30:18.420]that the response is their action item.
[00:30:21.490]The response lets them know things that they
[00:30:25.010]should keep doing or things that they can improve upon.
[00:30:30.040]And so we just need to continue to reinforce the idea,
[00:30:35.540]again, that feedback is their friend,
[00:30:38.110]to help them recognize feedback as a way to help them grow
[00:30:43.940]and sort of empower them to be responsible
[00:30:48.290]for that own growth and development
[00:30:50.550]by soliciting feedback on their own.
[00:30:56.600]Whoops, keep pressing that wrong button.
[00:30:59.320]You probably just see a black box.
[00:31:02.160]Okay. So here's the other golden, whoops, wrong button.
[00:31:06.420]The other golden ticket item, in addition
[00:31:09.950]to handling feedback, is working with a workplace mentor.
[00:31:15.700]Almost every single one of those autism hiring programs
[00:31:19.460]that were listed with that Auticon video,
[00:31:23.640]all of those programs somehow employ the use
[00:31:27.570]of a workplace mentor, a buddy, an ambassador.
[00:31:32.270]Whatever they call it,
[00:31:33.620]it is that go-to person
[00:31:35.830]in the workplace that helps the autistic employee
[00:31:40.800]understand some of the hidden curriculum at work.
[00:31:43.840]This person is nonjudgmental, they're patient.
[00:31:47.370]They're perfectly comfortable
[00:31:48.950]giving some of that social feedback
[00:31:51.500]that not everyone is comfortable giving,
[00:31:54.310]whether it's how to behave in the restroom
[00:31:56.660]or you can't sit in the boss's chair, whatever it is.
[00:32:02.250]These workplace mentors help that autistic employee
[00:32:07.040]navigate the unstructured times
[00:32:09.700]to be more successful socially in the workplace.
[00:32:15.480]Sometimes these mentors happen organically.
[00:32:18.030]It's the person that sits in the cubicle next to you.
[00:32:20.960]It happens to be your direct supervisor.
[00:32:24.300]But sometimes, they are arranged by an employer.
[00:32:27.860]Maybe it's an individual
[00:32:29.540]who has a son or daughter with autism,
[00:32:34.180]or maybe it's a paraprofessional in the classroom
[00:32:42.260]that the student is really comfortable with.
[00:32:45.308]Building in these natural social coaches in academic
[00:32:53.090]and work settings can be incredibly helpful for individuals
[00:32:58.650]with autism to be successful and remain successful
[00:33:04.060]over the course of a long period of time.
[00:33:06.700]So we are big fans of identifying workplace mentors.
[00:33:14.580]So if you weren't paying attention
[00:33:16.890]throughout the whole presentation,
[00:33:18.380]I hope you got the golden tickets.
[00:33:20.040]The most important,
[00:33:21.170]while I shared a great deal of a great number of strategies.
[00:33:26.810]Some of the most important are being able to prepare
[00:33:31.540]our young adults to recognize
[00:33:34.360]and implement feedback, but then also providing them
[00:33:38.160]with a workplace mentor that can help navigate
[00:33:41.740]particularly social, the social aspects of the job.
[00:33:49.180]I wanted to share a list
[00:33:51.340]of resources that were used to build this presentation
[00:33:56.120]in case you want to look up some of the information later
[00:34:01.780]that those references are available
[00:34:04.100]to you in the slide deck.
[00:34:06.930]I'm also anxious to take any questions that you have.
[00:34:11.410]There's still a lot of work to do in this space,
[00:34:16.250]but really the workforce now is more
[00:34:20.120]than ever open to learning how to support diverse employees.
[00:34:25.220]And so it's so important,
[00:34:26.770]that we take the opportunity to prepare our young adults
[00:34:30.010]to be able to take advantage of those opportunities.
[00:34:34.250]So before we move on to questions,
[00:34:36.450]I just want to share my contact information
[00:34:40.490]and the reminder to fill out the feedback
[00:34:43.040]in the guidebook app.
[00:34:45.600]I want to make sure that you have a way
[00:34:47.310]to contact me offline,
[00:34:49.040]in case she can't hang around.
[00:34:50.910]Also, if you live in the Omaha Metro area and are interested
[00:34:55.050]in learning more about Autism Action Partnership's
[00:34:57.710]Workforce Development Plan program,
[00:35:00.750]please feel free to reach out.

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Preparing Young Adults for Employment

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