There is much that we can do in the same vein: from the modes in which information is communicated between employees, informally and formally, across and within various work roles, to what the organization does to build and maintain teams, to basic issues of diversity sensitivity, to practical matters such as lighting, noise, and other sensory distraction.

Understanding where there is latitude for change and accommodation, and what the tradeoffs involved are, is critical.

This is work that organizations addressing employment issues for folks on the spectrum need to be doing.

And not just for the “high functioning”: many of these changes in attitude and conventions are about removing obstacles that hold back autistic people with more severe handicaps from a sustainable place in the workforce.

– Phil Schwarz
VP, Asperger’s Association of New England
Member, Board of Directors, Autism National Committee

Teaching at colleges has been ideal because, unlike high schools, there are no staff rooms, few common areas, et cetera. My office is currently in St. Paul, while my department is in Minneapolis. I don’t visit them, they don’t bother me.

I’ve done a bit of everything, from retail at K-Mart to overnight data center work. I have never “bonded” with coworkers and don’t really care to do so. Even now, in an academic setting, my interests aren’t similar to those in my primary department.

Honestly, I’m most content working at home. Teaching a “hybrid” online course next year will allow me to commute less, which I appreciate.

Yeah, my dad has working in low-paying jobs and in graveyard shifts for a long time (he is also autistic), and part of that is from not going to college, but one thing about my dad is he doesn’t put up with other people (like employers or co-workers) saying **** about him, and gets worn out from too much talking/socialization, and especially since he has to work so much and sleep so little to pay for my college, he can’t have very socially demanding jobs, like cashier work. He could learn how to work it, and in fact I think once they were training him, but it’s so much noise, and having to greet all the customers who go through, that stuff… not a job I could handle, either. That’s another thing; employee training people can’t get super frustrated when the person they’re training doesn’t “get it” immediately. Some people (like my dad and me) really need to do things a few times to get them down, or write down the instructions, and just saying them won’t cut it.