Autism and Employment Issues Article

As of the publishing date of this article, only 4 individuals had been employed by this non-profit corp. Much more to do?

N.J. adults with autism undertake hardest job by entering workforce


by Karen Keller/The Star-Ledger

Thursday September 17, 2009, 9:40 PM

For an autistic worker, the hardest part of a job is often the easiest for everyone else: Joking with co-workers, sharing desserts on a special day, instinctively treating your boss with respect.

Being socially correct is grueling. And for some autistic adults, an impossible task.

Autism advocates are saying this is an issue more companies in New Jersey will have to start dealing with, as there will soon be a surge in autistic adults in the workforce.


A state-commissioned report due out this month is starting to tackle the problem. It's an issue that faces more challenges as unemployment reaches historic heights and as public interest and dollars still remains fixed on autistic children.

"A lot of public awareness has been around children with severe challenges," said Leslie Long, public policy director for Autism New Jersey. "You have to now look at John who's now 20. Putting him on a brochure for funding isn't going to work anymore. He has a right to work and wants to work. How do you help him?"

New Jersey's progressive special-education laws allow autistic children to receive a comprehensive education until they reach age 21. But after that, funding drops and many autistic adults today sit at home with little to do, Long said.

Graduating autistic students often don't find jobs on their own, said Jane Wilkie, adult services director of the Midland School, a special-education school in Somerset County.

"If we weren't able to put them in jobs they were going home not to do anything," Wilkie said.

One in 94 children in New Jersey is diagnosed with autism, compared with one in 150 children in the nation, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are no reliable statistics for the number of autistic adults in New Jersey because many have been misdiagnosed, Long said. The state recently launched an online registry for autistic adults, but the numbers so far are sketchy. Unemployment nationwide for disabled adults in general hovers at about 70 percent, Long said.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/nj_adults_with_autism_undertak.html