SPECTRUM CONNECTION

By 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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By Toni Lapp

There have been times that I couldn’t picture my teen-age son Ryan maturing into a responsible adult. When he entered high school he would converse about communism and the Bolshevik revolution to strangers, he had few friends, and he was frequently the target of his peers’ jokes. Seldom did a week go by that I didn’t get the dreaded Parent@School notice apprising me of missed assignments.
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By Toni Lapp

When “Temple Grandin” aired on HBO recently, one Kansas Citian watching with keen interest was Kate Duffy, who teamed with Grandin to write “Developing Talents,” published in 2004 by Shawnee-based Autism Asperger Publishing Company. Duffy, mother of two sons on the autism spectrum, had written How to be Happily Employed in Kansas City and a careers column for six years for The Kansas City Star.

When Duffy’s editor, Kirsten McBride, met Temple Grandin at a conference, Grandin complained about the number of people on the spectrum who were unemployed or underemployed. McBride suggested Grandin collaborate with Duffy on a how-to book about career planning for those on the spectrum, and Developing Talents, now in its second edition, was born.
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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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By Kate Duffy

A couple of weeks ago, while I was talking shop at Johnson County Community College’s autism conference, two of my students, Caleb and Alex, morphed into entrepreneurs right under my nose. It happened like this. The three of us were staffing a resource table, me to sell Hot Topics — a social and vocational skills program for teens and young adults on the spectrum — and the guys to sell their artwork. And, much to my surprise, they were really good at it, not too pushy and not too relaxed. They answered the same questions over and over, chatting with visitors for several hours, two dreaded chores, as we all know, for those on the spectrum.
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By Kate Duffy

People on the spectrum often resist change, even change that might be good for them. They don’t have a lot of motivation to try new things and sometimes can get stuck in patterns that aren’t particularly good for them. This is not a character flaw, just a byproduct of brain wiring and temperament.

But one thing we know about life is that change is what it’s all about. So how do you learn to adapt well enough to hold down a job or start a small business?
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By Kate Duffy

For many with autism, being self employed is the best way to make a living. A couple of weekends ago, I visited Poppin Joe’s Kettle Corn at the Overland Park Farmer’s Market, a prime example of small business ownership being the way to go for people on the spectrum.

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By Kate Duffy

Sometimes my students at the college worry about how long it is taking them to get through their course work.
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By Kate Duffy

When asked to co-author a book about career planning with Temple Grandin, the noted autistic animal scientist and entrepreneur, I jumped at the opportunity.

Our book, Developing Talents: Careers for Individuals with Asperger Syndrome and High-functioning Autism (published 2004, by AAPC), provides concrete vocational guidance for adolescents and young adults on the autism spectrum. It also is a guide for the faculty, counselors and family members who work with them, the “helpers” in their lives.
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By Kate Duffy
For many of our kids on the spectrum, schools are not always the friendliest of places. Often, high-functioning teens misbehave or tune out in high school because they get bored. So it’s especially important that you help your teen find a mentor in his interest area to keep him learning and plugged into life.
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