The Right Fit

Some statistics:

In 2014, only 19.3% of people with autism in the U.S. were participating in the labor force.

35% of young adults (19-23 years) with autism have not had a job or received postgraduate education after leaving high school.

To continue with my previous post: After not having any luck in her next job search, my daughter heard from the preschool teacher where she did her student teacher the year prior. They were looking for an assistant to help out once a week. My daughter was quite hesitant. Some of you may remember that her student teaching didn't go so well, and there was a concern that she might not graduate at the time.

I assured her that the preschool teacher would not have contacted her if she didn't think she was capable of doing the job. Plus, a job is a job, and it would give her some experience. With some trepidation, she took the job and went for her background check. Thanks to modern technology, she was cleared for work . . . after a month's time! (Honestly, it makes me wonder about national security.)

So, she worked one full day a week for four months (till the end of the school year). It went okay, as far as we knew (more on that later). Since the teacher/director wasn't able to tell her if she'd still have a job in the fall, I told my daughter that she needed to continue looking. We concentrated on very local places, as the preschool was a half hour away, which took two hours out of my day just to get her there and back.

Last September, she struck gold! She got an interview at the library branch in our town for a page position. She had interviewed at another branch the previous year, so she knew what to expect as far as questions and testing. Plus, one of the interviewers knew her from when she was a teen volunteer at the library in high school. Within a week, they called and offered her the job!

It's been six months, and so far, so good. The people are nice, it's a safe environment, and she's using her brain, which is what I had hoped for in a job for her. She started out with 9 hours a week and is now at 13 (max is 15 for this position). During her review, the supervisor told her that she thought this job was "the right fit" for her. What a huge blessing this has been! It's boosted her self-confidence and she seems to really enjoy the variety of tasks. Maybe I will post about the actual work in the future.

She was also called back to work at the preschool, on an as-needed basis. Unfortunately, that hasn't gone as well. Someone we had consulted with had suggested that she keep a work diary at home about what stresses her on-the-job. I had forgotten about it, but a month ago she showed it to me. My husband and I were very disappointed with some of the things that have been said to her by her supervisor, as well as the lack of understanding. They know very well all about her disability, as she had made a full disclosure prior to student teaching. We've also felt that they have taken advantage of her in some ways, such as contacting her at 8 pm to see if she can work the next morning at 8 am and sending home tasks for her to do without pay. As it has gotten harder and harder for her to juggle both jobs, we told her it was okay with us if she quit the preschool job at the end of the school year this May. It will actually be a relief for me to not have to drive out there.

For now, she will concentrate on the library job and we will try not to worry too much about the future.