Takeaways from CAN conference

The three day College Autism Network concluded today in Nashville TN. 

I managed to attend some of the sessions, I was especially interested in the sessions around employment.

Other than some very disquieting, very disappointing and very disheartening remarks at the Plenary session in this post, there were some great suggestions around focus on the rocky road to employment. 

NOW FOR THE BETTER PARTS of the CAN conference

The Thu morning session by Helen Rottier was my favorite, followed by Coaching the Coach and Peer mentoring.  I also attended the Thu plenary session by employers, and the World Cafe on Friday. Blending ideas from all these sessions. Missed Eric's Garcia's opening remarks on Wed (tornado alert got in the way). 

What can colleges do to help the rocky road to employment (often due to perceived lack of experience)

- encourage internships and campus employment. 

- get students in front of employers as career fairs don't often work (crowded/sensory overwhelming), smaller networking events to increase student confidence.

- its not just about knowing the door (resource) and getting to the door, its also giving the confidence to walk into that door and staying inside. For example in a college context, not enough to let the college student know there is a student writing center, need to encourage (gentle bump) to go in there, maybe make a few introductions and get them comfortable with that resource. Else it will just remain a theoretical unused resource. 

At the employer end - I think these are good starting points. 

- Better job descriptions by employers

- Matching interview to actual job skills. 

- Augment traditional interview. Applicant first consideration. (Look at the amazing tech being developed by Frist Center @ Vandy on this)

- Joining a large company can feel like being tossed to the wind. Assign a buddy and career coach for each new hire. 

- On a path of Awareness acceptance advancement

- Virtual safe space to get support.

- training managers "to be a human being". How to manage diff forms of communication. 

- sustaining employment by understanding what it entails eg: transportation, time taken to wash uniforms

- self regulation in the workplace with OTs etc..... 

Helen had us all start by stating something that should be taught to middle schoolers. such a relevant question as really a lot of ideas gets shaped at the school level itself.  

I feel its teaching middle schoolers self-esteem so they don't "settle." 

It really starts with elementary and middle school itself. For instance a majority of special ed kids are pushed into the non-diploma track in middle school IEPs (deemed not capable of being on the diploma track - the actual wish of the child be dammed). That in itself closes the college track for you - that is a choice the autistic should get to make well into high school, that choice should not be taken away from you by "well-meaning" educators, which ties into coaching the coaches. 

I think school educators need to be taught to get out of unconscious bias mindset of the end goal of special education being to create a good patient. That outcome is a dead end for the autistic. At the same time college guidance counselors struggle with motivation in autistic students.  How can a good patient be motivated if their life is one of compliance. There needs to be wholesale mindset shift of educators. 

 A student who likes himself, is liked for who is he -->  self-esteem and self-confidence -->  he can think about what he is passionate about which in turn may drive his motivation -->  that is the student who will succeed in life and in college. 

Maybe college is not for everyone. A good trial I feel is junior college, a smaller environment where you can get your feet wet and try out college expectations and it also gives you space to think and explore what you really want to do. What junior colleges lack in resources they seem to make up in terms of support and encouragement. Junior colleges are a very under appreciated resource for autistics. 

Helen also brought up accommodations. My experience has been that accommodations is only the beginning. Accommodations are like a very necessary but not at all sufficient for actual success. You can get all the accommodations in the world on paper but that alone will not make you successful.  Ultimately, it's the people around you which make those accommodations translate into success. In college it's the empathy of faculty and peers and disability counselors. It's those little tweaks and workarounds. 

Another point Helen brought up was around planning for any gap year. So true. Else your gap year will turn out to be a year long daze in front of the TV and you waking up bewildered and frustrated.  I know I would not do well with gap year without a clear structure of its beginning, in-progress and end -  it would like derailing a running train and it would be hard to get the train back on track. 

I was curious about what peer-to-peer mentoring entailed and how it was being  implemented so went for that session, I think this slide below captured my attention the most,  with many of the issues facing college students.

For instance - At Vandy,  I have weekly check in's with Dave Caudel (ND) at Frist Center which I find very valuable. For instance, Dave gave me valuable tips on how to read a scientific paper quickly which was like yay. 

The first 2 boxes, I will eventually will get down, the last two will be the continued challenge especially box 3. 

There was also discussion on whether the peers would be NT or ND, I think there is value in both.  The latter would definitely lend to more empathy. What helps even more is if peers are trained in all the campus resources so can at least point you to resources. 

What I was not so certain about was about peers getting paid a hourly rate for their "peer-ship" as in my mind it turns them into a sort of therapist vs a friend.  I have been surrounded by "paid" therapists/staff/respite_workers/aides pretty much all my life and part of me longs for people who are there not because they are paid to be, but simply want to spend time with me (my definition of friendship).  I don't to be a job for someone - paid people last a year or two and leave for the better paying job. I want connections with actual peer friends. 

At the World Cafe small group discussion on employment during the Friday session, I was able to reference back to this slide as really these "soft skills" is often the more challenging part for the autistic even in the employment arena. They may have all the skills in the world for the actual job but it's managing these other "fluff" around the job that makes the difference in job retention and job satisfaction.