There are many different factors that go into successful employment for people with and without autism. As part of the ASF policy brief on employment, the US, Australia and Sweden held meetings with autistic adults, family members and employers and asked “what are the issues in your words”? Then they were mapped onto areas of functioning, not ability or disability. One thing that stands out is “matching interests and skills to job requirements”. This is important, but a complicated issue. This week’s podcast reviews what autistic people say, how it maps onto functioning and why we need to be careful about taking a one – sided approach to autism. Listen to the podcast here.
Podcast: How to get and keep a job – from those that know
This week’s podcast is dedicated to the “T” in LGBTQ – trans. Several studies over the past few years have linked higher rates of gender variance in people with autism and higher rates of autism traits in those who are trans. Why? Are they biologically or psychologically linked or both? This is important for understanding, not treatment or intervention. This week’s podcast celebrates trans people who are also autistic.
This week’s podcast is dedicated to the recently released INSAR – supported employment policy brief. This was a 2 year project by ASF, Stony Brook, University, Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Curtin University in Australia to provide a cross-cultural perspective on getting autistic people who want to work, employed, and stay employed. Thank you to all the participants in the surveys, community meetings, and GNF Marketing for putting together a document that is not just informative, but fun to read. Listen to the podcast here.
This year’s Day of Learning included two presentations on the use of technology among people with autism. As it turns out, technology can be great. In fact, a new study using Google Glass shows promise in improving socialization. On the other hand, sometimes technology can have a downside. People with autism spend more time than typical peers on their iPads, iPhones and other devices. What could be wrong with that? Well, problematic internet use is linked to autistic traits and suicidality. This link is NOT a clear line and obviously causes of suicide are multifactorial. However, new data demonstrate that obsessive internet use is not making things better for people with ASD. Listen to the podcast here.
This week is focused on what happens in schools, including classification, service receipt and new interventions. How an educational classification translates to a clinical diagnosis, how and what factors are important in receiving services, what teachers think about repetitive behaviors and finally, a new intervention that can be delivered by therapists in school or mental health settings. They all have real-life consequences for kids who are receiving services in school. Listen to the podcast here.
Children are not small adults, and this was illustrated this week in two papers studying features of autism across the lifespan. Their symptoms may change, which has implications for treatment – you can’t take an intervention designed for a child and give it to an adult. Hear more on this week’s podcast with an interview with Vanessa Hus-Bal from the new Rutgers University center on autism in adults. Also included is a new study from Julie Lounds Taylor about the stress response in adolescents vs. adults.