It's a struggle for adults with autism to find jobs

It's a struggle for adults with autism to find jobs

Like many other 24-year-olds, Kenneth Parker loves playing computer games. The young adult from Orlando, Florida, wants to become a game developer himself. He has a simple reason for his ambition: to make a game that hasn't been made yet and see people play it.

Kenneth is currently unemployed. But he is not alone. More than 57 percent of autistic adults have been employed at some point in their lives. The unemployment rate for young autistic adults is significantly lower than for people with speech and intellectual disabilities.

But people like Kenneth are stuck in the middle. He will not be satisfied with low-skilled or menial work, or a job that feels like it was given to him out of charity. He also has to deal with several issues getting organized, which often deter most potential employers.

Kenneth's mother, Florence, understands the challenges of engaging adults with autism. Florence, a nurse by profession, employed her son and several others with developmental disabilities at the health center she ran. Kenneth worked first in the maintenance department and then in other activities, entertaining senior citizens with scientific demonstrations.

According to Florence, her goal was to run a quality health center that would provide good service to patients while being financially independent. She tried to help all young adults, including her son, succeed. She had to work hard with all managers and supervisors to ensure they understood each employee's needs. Kenneth admits that he did things that a "normal" employee won't do, like leaving work unattended. He just couldn't organize things. Activities that were important to others had no meaning for Kenneth. At the same time, people didn't understand what he said or meant.

But Kenneth wasn't alone. There was another young adult with autism, a woman who finished her work and then sat idle for hours, not knowing what to do next because she was not given clear instructions.

Things that are obvious to most people are usually not as such to people with autism. Dealing with autistic adults requires much more specific instructions and a lot of patience.

Florence retired from her nursing home business about a year ago. She now plans to start another business where people like her son can find employment. She looks to various nonprofit organizations that educate adults with autism for inspiration. In fact, she created a social group online to help autistic people develop professional skills. She now dreams of building a building for people with autism.

Florence says there have been some amazing friendships she has made with these special people over the years. She believes it is an extreme mistake for most of us to believe that people on the autism spectrum are not social.

However, there appears to be no easy solution or immediate solution to changing public attitudes towards creating jobs for people with autism. It will take some time.

Inspired by Kevin Carter