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Temple Grandin Speaks on Autism and Employment

Submitted by Landon Bryce on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 08:24
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Temple Grandin spoke at 3M's forum on "Autism and Employment." She explained that autistic people like herself need support, but can  be valuable employees:

"When you disconnect some of the social circuits, the geek circuits (flourish)," she said. "Autism is a true continuum. There's no difference between Asperger's and 'geek.' "

For employers, she said, that may mean having to give an autistic employee explicit instructions such as "Don't call customers fat."

"Don't be subtle," she told the audience, recalling how hard it was for her to function at her first few jobs. "It's got to be specific. There's a scene in the movie where an executive slams down deodorant on a desk and says, 'You stink, use it.' ... That actually happened."

Buy Dr. Grandin's book about careers for people with Aspergers at the thAutcast bookstore.

The advice, delivered tactlessly, stung. Nevertheless, in terms of improving relations with her co-workers, she soon became grateful for the lesson.

Grandin said that because the autistic learn differently, it may be important for parents to do the thing many of them least want to do: loosen the reins a bit and allow kids to amass their own archive of experiences to learn from, whether it's ordering by themselves from a restaurant menu or holding down a neighborhood job mowing lawns.

Other sucessfully employed people with autism took part in the forum:

Larry Moody, a board member with the Autism Society, said in an interview that he was successful enough as a chemical engineer to survive waves of staff cuts at various jobs and retire at age 50 with a sizable nest egg.

"I required more management than others, but I produced at a higher level, faster and more accurately," he said.