Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Some bad news

Some bad news in the world of autism regarding a certain individual's nomination to a government post

I have read that Unemployment among autistics is higher than 90%. Even the very optimistic Joseph of the autism natural variation blog has placed it as 75% . Though Joseph is quite vague as to where this statistic comes from. When asked by gadfly, he was not able to give an answer, except assuring me he did not make it up, as he claims autism speaks and other organizations just made up the 80% divorce rate among parents with autistic children.

However, no need to fear, Ari is here. The solution to the unemployment problem among autistics is simple. All we have to do is eliminate social pleasantry in the workplace as a criteria for hiring and a criteria for evaluating someone's job performance. Then autistics will be able to be employed and do just fine. Gee, Ari, why didn't someone think of this before? Wonder what other clever ideas this pristine gentleman will have while serving on the NDC in order to better the lives of people with disabilities (though he does not seem to believe autism is a disability).

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG, Ari doesn't have any qualifications! At least I know more about the autistic spectrum. I bet he doesn't even know what MRELD is. Even my parents are far more qualified than that ignorant and naive fool.

Unknown said...

Ari Ne'eman's appointment is not a good day for autistic children and adults. And it does not reflect well on the Obama administration's understanding of autism disorders.

Anonymous said...

88% is the accepted figure here in the UK.

Ari is particularly polite and softly spoken - a far cry from the Straw Man you've constructed from your the ghosts of your own workplace behaviour.

Having completed school, and college and managed an internship at Congress, it is difficult to gauge just how disabled Ari is.

By my standards, not at all.

I think he and the majority of his fellows in ASAN can rightly claim to be Autistic, in a thinking-style kind of way, but it is difficult to see myself, or you or Stephanie reflected in their expression of Autism.

ASAN appears largely to be a finishing school for inflating the CV's of Grad students seeking employment.

Socrates.

John Best said...

Obama could make Ne'eman useful by stuffing the fat bastard into that oil pipe.

Anonymous said...

"Having completed school, and college and managed an internship at Congress, it is difficult to gauge just how disabled Ari is."

Gee, thanks for reminding me of how much more disabled I am as a true autistic compared to that kid who still has a long path ahead of him and gets to be referred to as "autistic" like me and everyone else here. Heck, he's lucky he's never had a problem standing up for himself or defending himself unlike this twenty-seven-year-old guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty4bLUifoaw&feature=related

Notice how he didn't explain to his father in the video that he's working on trying to get people to get COPIES of his stuff (such as copies of his Youtube videos) off the Internet even though he likely made it clear earlier to his parents. Then of course his father, who seems to be ignorant of how the Internet and other popular features relating to it work, ends up misinterpreting what his son meant when he said it's out of his control for him to take EVERYTHING offline and he's doing everything he can to have others take all his stuff off.

This video, of course, likely demonstrates one of the main causes of people who join Neurodiversity to blow their horns on how great autism is when deep down they resent moments they experienced in their lives.

John Robison said...

I don't know what the actual unemployment figure is for all people on the spectrum but I don't doubt it's high. So what do we do about it?

I think one likely answer is workplace evolution. As we move into a world where more people can work online from home the autistic differences that may disadvantage some of us in a regular workplace will be less of a handicap.

I don't think legislation or more government rules will make much difference.

I think greater societal acceptance of people who are different and visibly disabled would help too, but I don't see how the government could help with that, either

Best wishes
John

jonathan said...

I think one likely answer is workplace evolution. As we move into a world where more people can work online from home the autistic differences that may disadvantage some of us in a regular workplace will be less of a handicap.

though this did help me somewhat in the days when I did medical transcription from home, it was far from an ultimate solution. 99.9% of us are far more impaired than you are and again we can't get an engineering job without a formal college education and earn 100K a year as you have. You still don't understand this and seem to me to be rather naive about others on the spectrum. Workplace evolution does not solve the fact that autistic people are indeed impaired and cannot make a living the way a nonhandicapped person can.

I don't think legislation or more government rules will make much difference.

We agree here.

I think greater societal acceptance of people who are different and visibly disabled would help too, but I don't see how the government could help with that, either

Another pipe dream! I think you and your son have been spending a bit too much time with Alex Plank as of late and you are listening to his garbage.

SM69 said...

A positive attitude towards disability, tolerance and greater inclusion will only be make a difference if some true and effective support in the work place is available, irrespectively of where that work place is (home or elsewhere). Yes there are many “jobs” some ASD people can do and yes, there are many ways to be creative in employing these skills. But we are talking about a supported non-competitive economy here, with support coming either from independent or government funding. This concept should be straightforward in some cultures, less so in others which are more centred around individualism and self-enrichment.

John Robison said...

Jonathan, I am aware that many on the spectrum have greater impairment than me. However, what I said is still pretty much the only truth in terms of workplace today. Working via the Internet and from home has helped many on the spectrum, to varying degrees of success.

There is not much other help that I know of.

So it may be that I got more form that than you, but that's kind of all there is for now.

And as to Alex Plank . . . both he and my son have those executive function and organization issues to such an extent that I can't really see either of them in a regular job. If it were not for the Internet I worry where they'd be.

SM69 said...

Job Success for Persons with Developmental Disabilities
David B. Wiegan
Foreword by Ron Rush

In the United States alone, there are roughly three million individuals living with a developmental disability, but less than a third are active in the labor market. This book provides a comprehensive approach to developing a successful jobs program for persons with developmental disabilities, drawn from the author's extensive experience and real success.

The majority of persons with developmental disabilities are unemployed, underemployed, or still work in sheltered programs where it is almost impossible to reach their full potential. Job success is possible, but it requires a system based on a business model based on proven economics, rather than the traditional social services model. By employing a step-by-step procedure for gaining insight into the client, analyzing market opportunities, matching the client to a job, and supporting the client after placement, service providers can help individuals make a successful transition into good community-based employment.

Job Success for Persons with Developmental Disabilities will be essential reading for profit and non-profit rehabilitation service organizations, private job development businesses, government funding agencies, special education job placement programs, transition specialists, and families of persons with developmental disabilities.

http://www.jkp.com/

QuoteDaAutieNevermore said...

Johnny. Worst, I may be biased but I personally believe that while the oil pipe is a major problem, your pie hole being shut should be a higher priority.

QuoteDaAutieNevermore said...

Sorry for the typo everybody, I meant to call him Johnny B. Worst.