I see that Ari Ne'eman and ASAN have gone into a new line and apparently started a job service for those on the spectrum. According to this article, in May, several large corporations have approached ASAN trying to recruit autistic employees. Before this ASAN has been tapped for persons in government and public policy positions. These jobs apparently want college educated persons in the Washington, D.C. Metro area.
A perusal of ASAN's website shows they fail to mention any information that was in this article. This seems odd, as I would think they would want to widely advertise this service if it had a chance of securing employment for those on the spectrum.
For those who complain that Ne'eman and company are only interested in the high functioning end of the spectrum, they also state that they are contemplating a job service for those with autism who do not have college degrees.
They state for parents that by the time their children reach employment age these services will likely be expanded.
The article neglects to specifically name which corporations these are so Gadfly can attempt to verify this information. I am also skeptical that large corporations would go out of their way to recruit persons with autism in the worst economic times since the great depression, particularly the young 20 somethings who are usually affiliated with ASAN who have little to no actual job experience and dubious qualifications for jobs in computer technology, biology etc., the article specifically mentions.
I am also wondering why ASAN would be contacted, given their low media profile, as compared to autism speaks or the autism society of America. I particularly question this as autism speaks has made an effort to encourage persons to employ autistics with their autism in the workplace public service announcements, yet has never employed any persons with autism in their organization nor, as far as I know contributed to the employment of a single autistic person, excepting this $25,000 grant they gave one vocational group. It would seem more likely that autism speaks would be contacted rather than the lesser known ASAN and AS would jump at an opportunity like this.
I also wonder what industries in the Washington, D.C. area would employ computer technology people or biology persons.
For these reasons, I wonder if these jobs really do exist.
If I can find out more details about this or any further developments occur, I'll let readers know.
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14 comments:
Sounds worse than VR Services, Jewish Community Services, Florida Workforce and a great number of "employment agencies" across the U.S., but somehow it's our "attitude" according to therapists.
I've dealt with a lot of unhelpful drivel from smiley people at VR services. I wonder why these employers who approached ASAN are only looking for autistics in one location, since they're large corporations. The same mindset seems to dominate the service providers and the ASAN. I saw that article and how naively and emotionally touched the author described this opportunity. I doubt that many of the autistics with the necessary qualifications for the types of jobs to be offered have trouble getting hired on their own.
@Lurker: Mostly good points. I guess the reason they are asking people in D.C. area is because that is where ASAN is. I was also treated badly by VR people. You might have read about my experiences here
The problem is that no one that is actually DISABLED by an ASD can get a real job. Who could get a 4.0 in their BS/MS degree, have good enough social skills to get through school, hold down a job and STILL claim to have an ASD? None. Zero. It's an employment agency for nerds, not for people with ASDs.
I guess Ne'eman and Co. have never heard of Voc. Rehab (or anything similar.) This is no different from Voc. Rehab. And for those that don't have a college degree...well, they can bag groceries at the local grocery store. Have a nice life! (And I'll be here with my Ph.D scamming people). Good luck!
@Anonymous:
That's why Ne'eman's idea of this employment agency business is worse than VR and other related services- it would be the SAME THING as an agency like VR, but only for people w/ an ASD who supposedly are deserving of a job related to their skills/talents.
Like Jonathan stated, what employer would hire someone w/an ASD who lacks job experience? VR and other related agencies would never create such an absurd and unrealistic goal to hire a nerd like Bill Gates, simply because many autistics believe he and all nerds are aspie, or some borderline aspergian who's good at programming because he/she sits in front of the computer all day and does nothing but practice computer programming? The rare autistic geniuses that are able to self-teach and learn like that are the most high functioning nerds who would benefit from that type of agency. Of course those people would easily earn a college degree and likely not have a problem finding employment unless there's a reason preventing someone from attending college or being able to complete the bachelor's degree program.
Other than that, the majority of autistics are pretty much out.
@JediKnight2
Exactly. It's an employment agency for nerds. And nerds, quite frankly, don't need much help with a job search because their B.S. in Hard Science from Ivy League speaks for itself.
"And nerds, quite frankly, don't need much help with a job search because their B.S. in Hard Science from Ivy League speaks for itself."
Even those nerds who spend far more time and money on role-playing games, comic books, Japanese cartoons, etc., than on studying academics and on bathing before interviews? Are you sure?
@Anon: if you can get a B.S. from an Ivy (or near) than yes, I'm sure. 99.999% of people with ASD will never get that far. Oohhh...comic books! RPGs! That must mean I can't get a job with my BA/BS from Ivy (or near) with my 3.4 GPA ir above that ny parents paid for. Wait, what do I even need to get a job for? I'll just live off my parent's trust fund and be lazy and immature even though I was able to graduate from an Ivy League (or near) and use my self-diagnosed ASD as an excuse. Good idea! Now I can claim to be "Neurodiverse!" That is so awesome!
Yeah, I can get a 3.4 or above from an Ivy (or near) but I can't get a job.
That makes perfect sense!
A job is easier for poeple with Autism than college? Why? BECAUSE THEY DO THE SAME THING EVERY DAY! But oh, I can graduate from Ivy (or near) with a high GPA but I can't hold down a job at an animation company since I collect Japanese comics. Makes sense...not really...and these people are "nerds" NOT people with ASDs because if a person really had an ASD they couldn't handle the chaos of college.
How do I know? Because I actually know people with a diagnosis of Autism, NOT self-diagnosed "Asperger's."
P.S. Voc Rehab has failed so many so why start something of the sane thing?
Jonathan
There are a lot of people who are having major problems finding and keeping jobs. I do not believe this is about autism and autistics anymore. Remember, we are in a horrible economy right now.
With Voc Rehab, I believe the problem is that they're overworked and understaffed. I've experienced the runarounds with them as well.
In the end, it is up to the employer whether one is hired or not. Voc Rehab and these organizations can only do so much. In my opinion, all they can do is to try to convince the employers to hire you.
What employers want in my opinion is to do your job as quickly as possible with little direction as possible. I believe the goal of employers is to make money. This is the reason why employers want things a certain way. I believe this way maximizes their profits and minmizes their losses.
IMHO, it does not matter what laws are in place. I do not believe laws will help us whatsoever. They'll just duck, dodge, and go around the laws. You all see it with the disability act.
I have looked at the bigger picture and asked myself why do employers make the most profit and minimize the most loss from their methods. I believe it is because of consumer demand. This leads me to ask what do consumers demand. They want their services and products instantly. Consumers want instant gratification. I do not believe making laws will work. You can't force people to do what they do not want to do.
Personally, I believe the best course of action is don't fight the system and don't figure it out. I believe we need to go around it and attempt to circumvent it. Starting a business is one way. I believe there are other ways as well. Maybe we can all try to work together to come up with many solutions? Deamus on wrongplanet did this and he is successful today. I believe Starrygrl is as well. They both can comfirm if they want. Let's try it and see what happens. I'm starting my own computer business and I'm going to see what happens.
Personally, I don't believe this American System can be fixed from the top down or the politcal way. I do not believe Barack Obama, George W. Bush or any of these guys is the answer. I believe the American People are the answers. I believe it has to be done from the bottom up. I believe the American people have to do things themselves and not just for themselves but for others as well.
For example, if you want people off of welfare, a person could start a non-profit to help people get back on their feet. I believe if we all as Americans could work together instead of having instant gratification and me,me,me,me I believe we can have a thriving nation again.
"'And nerds, quite frankly, don't need much help with a job search because their B.S. in Hard Science from Ivy League speaks for itself.'
"Even those nerds who spend far more time and money on role-playing games, comic books, Japanese cartoons, etc., than on studying academics and on bathing before interviews? Are you sure?"
"@Anon: if you can get a B.S. from an Ivy (or near) than yes, I'm sure."
...and if you're one of those nerds who spend *so much more* time and money on role-playing games, comic books, Japanese cartoons, etc., *than on* studying academics and on bathing before interviews *that you can't get a B.S. in Hard Science from the Ivy League in the first place*?
There's more than one way to be a nerd. Nerdiness does not guarantee academic success.
To clarify:
"nerds, quite frankly, don't need much help with a job search because their B.S. in Hard Science from Ivy League speaks for itself."
is wrong *because* some nerds do *not* have B.S. in Hard Science from Ivy League.
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