We at Repploy have put the call out to companies ourselves to pick up the challenge, have a close look at the structure of your workplace, current employees and job roles.....

Are they meeting your industry, budget, skills,workforce and competency requirements?

 I have personally found that  the resources to support families and individuals diagnosed with an  ASD in those early years tends to greatly diminish as the individual approaches early adolescents and really seems to be non-existent by the time  they are adults.

In my opinion some  of the challenges are not and cannot be met under the current governmental disability services, mainly due to the vast numbers requiring support and the intense level of support that is required; especially under the employment sectors.

In my experience by the time many individuals on the spectrum reaching the ages of 14 years upwards can be struggling with the social, practical aspects of secondary school;   Now depending on the school, the teachers involved it can and is suggested to many that attend main stream school may not be an appropriate fit for them, or by the time they are 16 years and heading into approximately year 10 of the scholastic system, it has been suggested on occasion that maybe “it would be best to remove the student from school as they are not coping”.

Yet nobody seems to be able to advise where or what they should be doing instead!

What options are out there for the unskilled individuals who are struggling with the work, expectations, social impacts of secondary school, who are already lacking the supports they require?   There arn’t many that are free that’s for sure, so these individuals   start to slip through the cracks and fall into the cycle of “unemployment” with all those additional extras that comes with it.

Now looking on the other side of the coin....

Those on the spectrum who have survived and thrived in the academic sphere; face many challenges of their own.

For example you may have an Individual who has achieved certification and or higher education in their specific field of interest, who are then put through the “job hunting” employment process without the “ social, life and diagnostic”  support services.  These services are required for positive corresponding employment opportunities and or positions that reflect, utilise an individual’s  true potential, skill, passion and supportive credentials.

Bridging these gaps and supporting those transitional steps are the “best tools” to assist individuals on the spectrum in overcoming these challenges.

If as parents and carers these  skills are not taught step by step or mastered at an early age then the barriers tend to increase for many individuals on the spectrum  thus  making it more difficult to form  successful strategies to support  the individual to become the productive, functioning member of society that we all wish for our children to be regardless of NT or ASD.

These barriers for many can seem  incomprehensible at times and yet to most of us NT (neuro typical) they are skills that we don’t even have to think about to perform, really when actually  asked to break tasks  down into steps we struggle to do this). 

By breaking everything down into step by step actions we allow the individual on the spectrum to see the processing thoughts, communication and behavior required to successfully complete the task.  Adding to this the opportunities for  practice, repitition and  to perform trial and error we can form the first stage of supporting individuals on the spectrum. 

The second stage of support is then incorporating and teaching the art of “ flexible thinking “ which then enables the individual on the spectrum to be able to adapt the tools and strategies taught to many different situations.

Being on the spectrum can present many challenges to gaining substantial employment, how we face these challenges really identifies whether we are successful or not.

So what are they and how do we combat them so that it’s possible to gain the employment that best “harnesses” our skills and abilities that makes for the most valuable employee?

First and foremost a vast percentage  of individuals on the spectrum can and do successfully complete certification and or college degrees within their chosen fields of passion and yet struggle to gain employment.

Why?

Research shows us that knowledge and skills of those on the spectrum can and often meet the “Key “criteria of a job application for employers, yet many fail on the “Desirable” criteria required from the employer for a positive “fit” for a vacancy.

This is where we as a society and community “fail” to provide the social support required for successful employment.

Repploy staff understands, identifies and combat these challenges providing the skills, strategies and tools for long term employment engagement that is beneficial to both the employer and the employee.