Asperger's on the Job: Must-Have Advice for People With Asperger's or High Functioning Autism, and Their Employers, Educators, and Advocates (13 page)

- LEWIS

One man who has a top level IT support job has done very well and was promoted to a management position. He loves his job, loves his work and has been given his own office so that he can focus, but he is expected to attend meetings, which is difficult for him. Meetings are often high-stress points for those with AS:

“I hate meetings: I can’t face the CEO properly or communicate effectively. I would love to be left alone to do IT Management and Administration and have someone attend the meetings for me.”

- GAVIN

The company values him enough to give him this position, but this ongoing battle with anxiety may continue as long as he is forced to attend meetings. The non-AS boss and coworkers could not possibly understand how uncomfortable these gatherings will make the AS person feel. One solution would be to let him receive the agenda in advance and to convey his contributions on paper rather than in person.

Because of the social and environmental difficulties that create anxiety for the person with AS, some have been asked by their employers to take drugs:

“He asked if there was any medication I could take to fit in. I wonder if NTs would be prepared to take mind-altering medication so that they got on better with AS colleagues.”

- DR. G

As we all know, doctors are prescribing medicine (some say rampantly) to help people deal with psychological issues that prevent them from actively participating in life, e.g., depression. The reasons that people with AS do not naturally socialize well are not psychological but
neurological,
although depression can and does occur as a co-morbid symptom of Asperger’s.

There is no pill to cure autism and many would not want to be cured of AS, which brings with it many gifts. While some may take medicines to offset the anxiety and other byproducts of Asperger’s, it also makes sense to work with and utilize one’s natural tendencies to foster a feeling of well-being and usefulness. Temple Grandin is a proponent of using a small,
¹
/
₃
to
¹
/
₂
dose of anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication and I know of others on the spectrum who concur with that. However, of all the people I interviewed for this book, only two were on antidepressants and finding them helpful. The majority had been on them at one or more periods in their life and found they created more symptoms than they alleviated:

“I’ve been on Effexor, Prozac, Seroquel, Depakote, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Concerta, Trazadone, Nortryptalene, Amitryptalene, Ambien... and more. Maximum recommended dosages on most. The last idiot doctor I had increased my dosages or added new medications about every other visit-even when I asked about other alternatives.”

- ALLISON

“I went through Ritalin as a child but was taken off as it didn’t work. I later was on Thorazine and Tofranil taken at night to help me sleep and control anxiety. I weaned myself off them by age 13-14. Later, in 2000-2001 I got an intense technical help desk job where I didn’t feel mentally adequate and restarted the med journey voluntarily, first seeking something from a general practitioner who gave me Welbutrin samples. They were horrible. I couldn’t focus on anything. Then I sought an ADD (attention deficit disorder) assessment from a semi-professional, who then referred me to an ADD med man who ran me through the “try this and see if it works” gambit. We tried various combinations of common amphetamines like Adderal. I eventually rejected everything due to side effects like jitters, speeding, and buzzing. I decided, that whatever my issue, I would perform, work through it, feeling the way I was meant to: natural.”

- SCOTT

I am certainly not advocating taking yourself off of medicine if you are finding it helpful and if the benefit clearly outweighs the risk. But, in this day and age of “take a pill for everything,” it is important to realize that people come in all varieties; we are all part of the great balance of this world (see the
next chapter
on Psychometric Testing). Instead of “taking the edge off” the square peg with drugs in order to make him fit into the round hole, would we not be better off making a square hole? Employers, counselors, job coaches, and others must realize that there are people who are not suited to certain things but who are still very strong assets in the workplace. Although it is good to test and stretch boundaries, working with what a person has rather than against it, is where you will achieve your greatest mutual results. Otherwise a person is always fighting an uphill battle and will never reach their potential.

“This isn’t a symptom I have, it’s a skill; a skill you don’t have. And because you don’t have this skill you see it as a symptom.”

- PHIL, FATHER OF AN AUTISTIC SON

• If you are currently employed, try to work with who you are and what you are good at. Share these thoughts with your employer as in “I really like research but I really don’t like dealing with customers.” Or, “I know I have to attend the meetings but I am not comfortable speaking in front of the whole group. I’d rather put my thoughts and contributions in writing to you personally.”
  
• It’s better to be upfront about who and how you are from the beginning and stress your positive points: “I keep to myself. Some might see that as shy or unfriendly but I’m a focused worker.”
  
• Some with AS have taken public speaking courses and find it does help with giving presentations.
  
• There
  are
  holistic alternatives to psychotropic drugs. Most of these, like St. Johns wort, 5-HTP, and gingko biloba can be purchased in supermarkets, health food stores and vitamin shops. Investigate natural remedies for depression, mental clarity, and anxiety if pharmaceuticals are not helping you, or if you want mood-elevators that don’t have addictive properties. Some do interact with drugs and some can have side effects so research these as carefully as you would pharmaceuticals.
  
• See “The Personal Job Map” and do the exercises suggested there. This will help you to determine whether or not you are in the correct field and help guide you into your “best fit” job or career.
  

• Observe and acknowledge what your employee is good at.
  
• Listen to him/her when they tell you what part of the job they feel comfortable with and what part they don’t. Perhaps there are some things that aren’t quite so necessary, especially those that involve contact with customers and co-workers.
  
• Don’t be frustrated or think that your employee is being stubborn, unreasonable, or lazy. There are simply some things that will be hard for them. As one said, “there is a big difference between
  can’t
  and
  won’t.”
  The more you take the time to understand Asperger’s the more this will make sense to you.
  
• If there are some aspects of the job that stretch the person’s boundaries (meeting with clients, giving presentations, making calls), try to support them in learning to do it properly (without scrutiny), or find a mentor they can work with (another supervisor or coworker) who will give them pointers and show them the ropes without being critical when they falter.
  

What are your/your employee’s particular strengths?

What can you do to use them to your advantage?

Examine resistance to certain activities–is it a
can’t
or a
won’t
situation?

“
W
e are unique and out of the box. We are the dreamers and the inventors. Without us the world would lose some of its music.”

- MARA, 37, AS WIFE OF AS MAN,

AND MOTHER OF TWO AS CHILDREN

I think it is safe to say that people with Asperger’s Syndrome are somewhat non-conformist. Social, group-think rituals like “the wave” or line dancing generally make us cringe. Think of Woody Allen’s character in the animated film
Antz.
If a DJ shouts “Let me hear you say
yeah
!” to a room full of Aspergians, he is sure to be disappointed. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to go to the party.

When a person tries to enter the world of work these days, they are going to find a guardian at the gate: the
psychometric test.
This, apparently, is acceptable to many people, but to Aspergians, the PT is like a bouncer at the door of a nightclub who doesn’t let us in because we’re unfashionable.

Psychometric tests were originally created and applied to measure intelligence. More recently they have been used to attempt to measure and quantify aptitude and personality.
Aptitude
tests usually have definite right and wrong answers, to determine if you have the correct skills for the job, for example, math skills. (This is not the same as a
Career aptitude
test.) A person with AS would likely not have any particular objection to such a test, and might even relish it.

Personality tests
have been created because there is so much more to a job than just
tasks
and employers want to make sure that the person they hire is compatible and cut out for “the Team.” They are usually multiple-choice with no obviously correct answer. Test-takers are often told there
is
no right or wrong answer, yet, somehow, mysteriously, they are scored on their performance. Personality tests can be given in person, online, or over the phone, where you give your answer by pressing a number.

These tests are being used increasingly by employers. They are created by various companies and sold for profit. Whether or not a candidate has AS, there is controversy over their use:

• Companies who create them are usually the ones responsible for “grading” the test and giving the potential employee’s score to the employer. They usually don’t tell the employer which answers are considered correct or functional and which aren’t, much less the applicant.
  
• There are no standards for these tests monitored by any governing body.
  
• There is little if any proof that they work.
  

In
Employing People with Asperger Syndrome
(NAS 2005), the authors state that unlike a practical test which gives the autistic person a chance to demonstrate their skills and knowledge, a psychometric test would be confusing because of the lack of a concrete right or wrong answer:

The world of psychometric profiling is unlikely to be one to which people with Asperger syndrome can relate to... it would be unfair to assess them on this basis.

Psychometric tests have been highly criticized throughout respected psychology journals, with regard to both efficacy and ethics. Most human resource web sites will mention the controversy in one breath but in the next, say
“don’t worry, there’s no right or wrong answer, only the truth.”
Following that, they will tell you how to prepare. These contradictions have an Orwellian odor and are anathema to the AS person:

“I have an issue with businesses expecting people to be ‘robots’ in any way, whether it be how people dress, their hair, etc. I feel the average corporation is like ‘the Borg,’ and we are all expected to assimilate, but then again, ‘Welcome to society: Resistance is futile.’ Businesses have so much to learn about productivity through building environments that foster a good morale through acceptance of diversity. I think we are beginning to see a taste of this, but that’s probably all we will see for now.”

- MIA

When I met Temple Grandin one of the first things she said to me was
“you have to sell your work, not yourself.”
The personality test asks us to sell ourselves first, in order to be given the opportunity to sell our work. As a person on the spectrum, my own experience counts. Having taken that test only once, I will say this: I will
never
subject myself to that again. Not knowing I had AS, I felt violated and confused. I had no idea if my answers were good or bad, right or wrong, and was appalled that I would never find out. I didn’t pursue that job. I stopped going into that store for months thinking that the manager now “knew” all about me.

The practice of personality testing is discrimination as blatant as a “whites only” drinking fountain. It makes no allowances for differences in thinking. It is not an employer’s business what I think, only what I do, and only in the workplace.

These are the types of “Crystal Ball” advertisements companies use to sell their tests to other companies:

Predict the Success of New Hires.

Free Employment Assessment;

Know Your Employees Before You Hire.