Customer Reviews

How to Find Work That Works for People with Asperger Syndrome: The Ultimate Guide for Getting People With Asperger Syndrome into the Workplace (and Keeping Them There!)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The author of this book is a vocational consultant and the founder of an employment agency for people with Asperger syndrome, so it does contain lots of practical advice and useful information. It is intended, not for people on the spectrum themselves, but for those who are helping people on the spectrum to find work, such as other employment advisers, teachers, parents, friends etc. However, it does contain things which you still might find useful if trying to find work for yourself, even though you might find it just a little patronising. This book is not about finding a career, it is about simply getting a job. It's strategy for getting people with Asperger syndrome into work is helping them to be what employers want, and it explains what that is clearly and well.

This book is addressed to the person working on finding work for someone with Asperger's Syndrome (AS), assuming that is someone different than the person with AS (Aspie). Hawkins has a relatively modest definition for "work that works." She just means "a job that someone can get and keep," which would be a very nice thing indeed for a lot of Aspies. This book doesn't really address the subjects of work as mission and vocation, finding work where one's deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.

What's good about this book? It addresses some issues that might predicably arise within the family of the Aspie. It talks about how a "job coach" could be use to help an Aspie at a job. It gives some good nuts-and-bolts advice on how a consultant might assess an Aspie for jobs they could do successfully. It gives some tools to help an Aspie negotiate their predictable difficulties. It gives some tips on conducting an interview.

What's not so good about this book? It gives the impression that it would be a good book for the Aspie, as opposed to being addressed to the consultant. I propose the title should be something like "Putting People with Asperger's Syndrome to Work (And Keeping Them There)" An Aspie would look at the cover and wonder "Why are those two women holding that man down? And why doesn't the woman on the right have her shirt tucked in, if they go on and on about Aspies dressing like slobs?" The book could say more about leveraging the obsessive-compulsive aspect of AS in preparing for an interview, acquiring knowledge about the employer, etc.

There is a issue brewing as to whether AS should be considered a disability under the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This book doesn't address that, but I'm not expecting it to. However, the next book on this subject should.

Knowledge of AS is growing significantly, so to call anything about AS "ultimate" isn't accurate. All the material in this book is valid, and the only reason I don't give it five stars have to do with the comments above.

For people on the Autism spectrum seeking employment, be sure to make this book your best friend. This much-needed work contains a myriad of practical suggestions and approaches in job-hunting, resume writing and interviews. It also encourages people with autism to recognize that part of themselves with pride and dignity.

I really like the way this author addresses the needs of adults on the spectrum. This book is one that many people can identify with and put to good use.

I found this book to be extremely practical and very useful in guiding me through the work finding process for my 21 year old son. It gave realistic strategies that actually worked. My son now has a job! If you want to help your kid or anyone else with ASD find a job, get this book!!

I bought this book to try to help a family member with AS. I have developed quite a library of these books over the past few years, and this is one of the better ones.

The book does a nice job of laying out the spectrum, and gives a good jumping off point to start thinking about a specific action plan for an individual. As some other reviewers have commented, the book is probably not going to be much use for the affected person, but is aimed at caregivers and support troops.

Someone suffering from AS once explained to me that "If you have met one Aspie, then you have met one Aspie", and it took me a while to finally realize what that meant. There is no one book or strategy that will help with a particular person, and unfortunately this book is no exception.

However, it is a useful guide in seeing some specific ideas for dealing with individual aspects of the syndrome, and how to coach around individual problems. It was certainly a great attempt to compile a helpful list of what issues others have dealt with, and how they managed those issues.

I am not a trained professional, but IMHO the problem is that AS symptoms are not independent, but rather combobulated into a total package. What works for a specific problem with one person may or may not work with someone else. Therefore, I found the book most useful as a list of techniques to try rather than a blueprint for success.

Having said that, this book as good as any book I have read on the subject, and I would recommend it as part of the toolkit for anyone dealing with the late teen AS person.

I found this book to be exceptional in that it provided me with a few new ideas for workforce strategies for individuals with Asperger as well as some individuals on the Autism Spectrum. It also contained guidelines for approaching training that are very clear and helpful to employment specialists or job developers. In the future, I would like to see some literature that addresses specific challenges for individuals with Autism who might have more significant barriers, as opposed to practices that address high-functioning individuals with Asperger.

I found this book very positive and encouraging! After I read this book, I was very pleased to see that there is somebody out there who realizes that people with Asperger's Syndrome are capable of learning the skills they need to become successful members of society, if they are given all the help that they need. I wish that there were a lot more people who realized this! I hope that there will be in the not-too-distant future!

I borrowed this book from the library and had to get my own copy. There was so much helpful advice that was offered in manageable pieces. A sometimes overwhelming situation was presented with real step-by-step solutions to help put an anxious mind at ease.

This valuable resource provides direct service approaches for job development and placement supports. It will be useful for staff training and self-empowerment for those with high functioning autism.