How Childhood Jobs Prepared Me for Success as an Autistic Adult

Anita outsideBy Anita Lesko, BSN, RN, MS, CRNA 

I have the good fortune to be a friend of Dr. Temple Grandin. We have a lot in common. We are both autistic, and we share a very similar youth that played a big factor in our adult life. We both started having jobs at a very early age. Temple often talks about her early days, when her job was to greet guests at the door for her mom’s dinner party, and take their coats to hang up. Yes, it was a job. She was given a responsibility to carry out.

Among her numerous other childhood jobs was the one I, too, did for many years — mucking out horse stalls. In conversations with Temple on the phone, we’ve talked about those days of our teenage years spent shoveling out one stall after another. We both love horses and being around them. It was peaceful and it was also a form of therapy. In essence, it was our occupational therapy.

All the childhood jobs we did prepared us for the day when we’d start our careers. We were used to working, showing up on time, following orders from a boss, figuring out how to get a job done. It was just a regular part of our life. So, when the day came to embark into our careers, we really didn’t have to transition into anything. We were already there.

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Jacksonville Speech & Hearing Center Becomes First Certified Autism Center

Jacksonville, FL (Sept. 16, 2015) – The Jacksonville Speech and Hearing Center(JSHC) has earned its certification of autism care from the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES).  This designation means that at least 80% of the JSHC staff has undergone a rigorous training process that will assist in providing speech pathology and audiology services for those who have autism.  It is believed that the nonprofit is the first healthcare provider in North Florida to undergo this training for its staff.

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Benefits of Hiring People with Autism

July 8, 2015 (Newswire) – Of 50,000 adult individuals with autism, just over half who have recently turned 18 in the past year hold a salaried job. Recently at a lunch & learn organized by Autism Speaks and Special Counsel, the disturbing question of whether America is fully prepared to provide employment support to the differently abled was the main topic of conversation.

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