By Kate Duffy
My English 101 students stared warily at me last semester when I assigned them a rather lengthy research project about the economy and employment. A number of the students were in their 40s and first-time college students, and, frankly, they were overwhelmed, scared even.
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| March 3, 2010 | ||
| 7:30 am | to | 9:00 am |
MARCH 3. Sean Swindler, director of community program development & evaluation for Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training — K-CART — will lead discussion. Learn how autism affects the workplace and families in our community, as well as how K-CART addresses the needs of this population. Coffee and pastries served at 7:30 a.m.; lecture begins at 8 a.m. at Regnier Hall, KU Edwards Campus, 12610 Quivira Road, Overland Park, Kan. 66213. Free and open to the public. To RSVP call Christine at (913) 897-8548 or click here.
Advertise on SpectrumConnection.net and reach bistate families affected by autism.
By Jeanne Holverstott, M.S.
Question: It seems like summer can be full of pitfalls for my son with Asperger’s — the structure has gone away, and he’s no longer in contact with classmates. He is content to play on the computer all day, but seems to get moody more easily. Should we treat summer vacation as a long break from school-year stress, or what?
Answer: Summer vacation presents a contradiction: Children with autism spectrum disorders thrive on structure, routine, consistency. Summer vacation throws these principles of ASD parenting and behavior management in flux.
» READ MOREBy Kate Duffy
A while back, Toni, the SpectrumConnection editor, asked me to write about how far parents should go to help their teens on the spectrum land a job. Since then, several of our Hot Topics parents have shared their kids’ job search stories with me, and I realized there was no easy answer to her question. For the most part, though, their stories revolved around the kids’ inability to accurately read situations, to remember instructions and to multitask to make a deadline. Looking at that list, it sounds like business as usual on the job for most of us — which is why it is so very important that our kids start learning about the world of work as soon as they can.
That’s why the short answer to Toni’s question is this: do what you need to do.
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