Use this toolkit that is intended for jobcoaches who guide people with autism in their steps towards work. Based on this, the coaches receive more tools to better guide people with autism in their trajectory to work and/or in the workplace!
By completing this questionnaire you can discuss what makes the person with autism feel good. The questionnaire explores factors from different domains such as sensory factors, social factors, communication, activities, rituals, etc!
- Communicate autism friendly:
- Transparent: say clearly what you think and do. Ex. If there is silence for a while “I'm just thinking” (provides a feeling of security because they don't have to fill in anything themselves)
- Congruent: aligning verbal and non-verbal communication (again for safety reasons).
- Short and clear (without abstract words, eg soon). This video explains why this is important
- Literally. Try to avoid sarcasm, irony, idioms and metaphors as much as possible. Be clear when you mean something sarcastic or humorous.
- Avoid open questions if possible. But work with questionnaires or closed questions
- Apply the 6-second rule: wait six seconds after asking a question. For some people with autism, it takes so long to process the question and formulate an answer.
- Watch this video to understand why this is important
- Use visual aids, for example to explain a task or to draw up a daily schedule. People with autism often learn faster through visual information rather than verbal information. Refer to that visual information repeatedly.
- Be aware that it is especially important for people with ASD to have a realistic picture of what the work entails. Text alone is not enough to get a good picture, experience what the job entails by doing it or else by seeing someone else do it. TIPS:
- Suggest the jobseeker with autism to join an employer for one day on the GTB-DUO day
- Use internships as an 'experimental period' to see what you can do well and what not so well, especially do not experience it as 'failure' if something does not work out
- Don't just assume that what you say was understood by the person with autism. Ex. be careful with echolalia: the customer sometimes repeats your last sentence, making it seem that he has understood the assignment. Check if this is the case. Do not do this by just asking a closed question, but ask whether the person can repeat the agreements made in their own words, for example: e.g. what did you remember from this conversation, what will you work with first, etc
Read about this specific autism approach of follow a course!