As we work with people who have autism it’s important to treat people on the spectrum as people, not tasks!  They have likes, dislikes, and interests, listen to them and help them to achieve THEIR goals. This becomes very important as people mature and become older.

One autistic man shared at a conference that he asked if he could quit his restaurant job over 10 TIMES! The case worker would not let him quit because she didn’t want to “place” him in another job. How would you feel if that were you?  Finally, the man was allowed to quit when he had a melt down in the restaurant.

So why didn’t this young man hate his job? He was in a kitchen sweating, it was loud and over stimulating. The man hated this job and he was being paid minimum wage. To him it felt like torture. The good news is that eventually with the help of another case worker this man found another job, and is currently employed.

We all have a lot on our plate. No one has enough time to finish everything on their to do list. But as we work with autistic people let’s not lose sight of the big picture, we are here to make the world a better place one person at a time.