Hello all. I am wondering if people on the autism spectrum are able to find a real job, that is a job that pays well enough for the person to live on their own from their parents? I always wonder if they are able to do jobs that normal people could do?
I Googled some typical jobs that are suitable for people with autism and while just a few are professional jobs like computer programmer, others are more on the low-end like janitor, retail, etc. I always wish that they could live a life of prosperity and happiness and not be working a low-paying or minimum wage job for most of their lives.
I suppose it's a matter of the type and severity of the autism and, just as importantly, whether or not the person was raised in a context that assumed that some day he or she would be expected to make a living.
I've known several people with autistic children very well, and only one seemed to be preparing their child for a life of dependency. That child is now an adult, and not surprisingly, is still dependent on his parents (as well as an alphabet soup of government agencies).
The irony is that he's actually very intelligent and is very high-functioning within his areas of interest. I think he could make a living in any of them, especially music. He's a very talented sound engineer with a good ear and mastery of whatever software it is that sound engineers use. That software was provided free from the publisher, however, at the request of his mother (who told them she thought it would be "therapeutic" for him); and although he's frequently asked to run the sound at volunteer events, his mother and father forbid him from taking it up as an occupation.
I asked about it once, and his mom told me it was because he becomes fixated on that one task and ignores pretty much everything else that goes on around him when he's running the board. But that describes most people I know who work in that field (as well as more than a few computer geeks I've worked with). I used to work at a TV station, and pretty much everyone in the control booth fit that description -- and no one cared. As long as they did whatever their jobs were proficiently, no one gave a rat's about anything else.
I think it comes down to defining a person by their their "disorder" rather than accepting them for themselves, and then encouraging them to find meaningful work within their own set of abilities and talents.
Rich
