Transition from School to Work: Preparing Autistic Students

Although in the past, some believed that people on the autistic spectrum should not enter the workplace, many people today understand the benefits of having autistic students in the work force. After all, one of the common symptoms of autism is the ability to focus for a long time on something and to give it your full attention. In the workplace, this skill is often sorely lacking. Autistic people can make great breakthroughs because of their ability to concentrate fully on a problem until it is solved, and to solve it well. They can be an important addition to the workplace, assuming that they are prepared appropriately.

At the same time, many autistic people struggle with the transition between school and the workplace. One of the main areas in which they struggle involves the social aspects of a job site. After all, autistic students may have spent years studying how to speak with their peers in a classroom, or even with their teachers, but socializing with coworkers is entirely different. An important part of preparing autistic people to enter the workplace is teaching them workplace etiquette. Role playing situations that might come up in a workplace – between coworkers, between a boss and an employee, or between a client and a vendor – is one extremely helpful tool that you can use to prepare students sufficiently.

In addition, people with autism need to be able to identify and develop certain skills that they can use in the workplace. Many students with autism have worked through each year in school without necessarily considering future plans. In order to fully prepare students for the working world, schools need to help students identify their strengths, discover possible jobs options that would interest them, and help them find a way to learn the skills they will need on that job.