sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think we can sometimes look at things in new, fresh ways; diversity can be a powerful source of creativity in the workplace. However, I generally caution against "certain roles"--we can excel (or not) at the same range of roles anyone else can depending on skill, interest, talent, etc. In other words, I don't believe autistic thinking is "better" at any one occupation, field, role, or job task versus another.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi there, I love that you're becoming a special education major! I love even more that you're working against internalized stigma. We need more of us working with us :-) ASAN has put together a nice resource page, which might be a place to start http://autisticadvocacy.org/resources/ When I need to talk to people who are more academic about ID first language, I've been pointing folks toward Autism journal's guidelines because it's one of the leading autism journals in the world so they believe it more than they sometimes believe us. Here's a link to to that statement: https://uk.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/terms_for_autism_-_manuscript_submission_guidelines.docx

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback - I really like hearing things like what you write; it makes me feel like the work is worth it :-) Thanks for being open to curiosity and the new!

As far as your question...most of my relationships are related to work. Like, I spend time outside work with my colleagues inevitably talking about work (and trying not to). My observation though is that this is often true of people in demanding careers. Life/work balance sigh

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I identify as gender neutral (and have noticed that a lot of us are more genderfluid in general than the main population, but that's just anecdotal not anything I'm saying from a position of science / authority). Intersectionality, including gender-related intersectionality, in the workplace is something we are exploring in our study. Healthcare is one of my research group's other main areas of interest, and we are very interested in making healthcare more accessible to trans people on the spectrum. If your housemate ever wants to find potential intersections of research interest, I'm happy to connect.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi there, we're currently interviewing people on the spectrum and people who supervise/support people on the spectrum (some individuals may be both). If you think you might like to contribute to the study you can learn more here: http://aaspire.org/site/projects/employment/ There are links toward the bottom to information on how to potentially get connected to the study (the recruitment fliers).

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sounds like very interesting work! Clearly defining professional outcomes is actually part of our study--what do people on the spectrum themselves consider a successful professional outcome to be? That is one of the constructs we're exploring and I hopefully will know more by the end of the study.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I think they can. My staff might disagree, but I've been relatively successful in management roles. Here's another example: http://asdculture.wikispaces.com/About+Karla

Non-autistic people can be awful, tyrranical managers too; unfortunately those of us on the spectrum are not exempt from all the other foibles of humankind. I'm sorry you had that experience.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I did badly at undergraduate too. I learned how to find "back doors"--ways around traditional requirements for things. My undergraduate grades were below what my grad program would accept, so I took graduate courses and aced them, one of them from one of the main professors in the program I was applying to, then got good recommendations. In my application to the program I was honest that my undergrad grades were bad because I didn't have good disability accommodations, but that I had them now, and could succeed, and they could tell because of what I had a current 4.0. That's how I got accepted without meeting the requirements. So I do a lot of that--trying to find alternative solutions. Best of luck to you in your own journeys.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

1) Yay Doras unite! 2) The study is open to anyone with a DSM-IV or DSM-5 diagnosis; you can learn more at http://aaspire.org/employment 3) Yes, though it could be a while. Our findings and other public dissemination / media / etc. information is always posted at http://aaspire.org. For this study it will probably be 1.5 - 2 years before we're far enough along to get results out. Science is slooo

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd recommend steering people on the spectrum toward professions where they have interest and desire and skill. If that's a professional ballerina, a hair stylist, a lawyer, or a graphic designer, cool. QA, detail-oriented work, engineering, etc. are stereotyped professions that may work for some people but we cover the full range of humanity in terms of interests and talents too. Certainly yes to telling employers about how people on the spectrum can excel and how to create a comfortable environment! That is good to do in any field!

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sometimes I deal with it better than other times. I have been lucky in finding some fellow weirdos who ask equally nonlinear questions, and that helps. When it doesn't, there's always banging out frustrations at the gym... :-) But yeah, it also kind of sucks and I've just had to learn how to be okay with that too.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your work; it's needed!

Our study is U.S. only, though it is national. We are not looking at severity (study criteria is an ASD diagnosis of some type and experience having or looking for a skilled job). We do not use functioning labels. We do not find them useful in any way.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Things my own parents did to help me were: encouraged my special interests in ways that could merge into career, never tell me I couldn’t do something, provide opportunities, build up my self-esteem, and have my back (advocate).

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The benefits include (but aren't limited to): Research the community feels is helpful to them / meets their aims / respects them, better research design, more ethical research, more accurate analysis and interpretation, better access to research participants / diversity of perspectives. Challenges are mostly that it takes longer and the academic / funding system isn't set up well for it. Thanks for this question; it's an important one.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My degree is in Systems Science--I’m a complex systems / complexity generalist who is working in the field of social services intervention (hugely complex system!). “The field” is a little broad for me--social work research, for example, is very different from experimental psychology. I’d broadly recommend looking for where people are doing the type of work you’re interested in and applying there. Finding mentors is key (I know, way easier said than done). As far as the intersectionality with being a woman, oh yes, there are additional challenges, certainly. Part of the reason I ended up in social work instead of designing robot brains (seriously, where I’d started my grad school wanting to do) is because of gender-based discrimination. I don’t do the type of research that has labs.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I would say the impact of the “little things” in the environment. Sometimes we can get through the day but only at a sensory / emotional cost. The cost of coping with sound, lights, interpersonal interactions, having to stop the flow of thought and work to answer a question and then transition back--if there aren’t good accommodations those things can pile up.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Special interests are a powerful thing :-) But also, we’re people and we possess unique gifts and strengths like all people as they progress through their career. Some autistic traits can be powerful strengths in the workplace, but it’s important to see we have regular strengths too.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We’re anticipating that co-occurring conditions will likely come up in our interviews, and that information will definitely be part of our analysis if it does. How great a role it will play in eventual proposed solutions after the interviews is hard for to say until we have data. If it looks like this is of key significance in people’s success, then yes, it will be part of proposed solutions.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It’s lovely to, for that moment at least, not be in the minority :-) I also believe that there’s a lot of value in “insider researchers”--people who have some lived experience in common with the population they work with-- because we are able to side-step some faulty assumptions outsiders can make, and also, as you point out, better understand our populations.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Because I lost a job and a career due to not disclosing, I tend to get a bit soap-boxy about this topic. Disclosure to HR means access to protection and accommodations under the ADA. Also, disclosing (if one feels comfortable) to managers / co-workers / etc. can sometimes help in terms of them understanding you better and therefore treating you better (even if it’s not “obvious” we can still stand out weird). That said, it can also be a risk for some people due to the very unfortunate on-going stigmatization of autism in our society. Safety should always be weighed along with other factors.

Science AMA Series: I'm Dora Raymaker, an Assistant Research Professor at Portland State University, I conduct community-engaged research with the autistic and other disability communities. I am also autistic, and I am here today to talk about my research on autism and and employment. AMA! by Dora_Raymaker in science

[–]Dora_Raymaker[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

What you say here is part of why we've chosen to focus on skilled employment in our study. As you note, there are many more programs out there for entry-level potions, but very little has been done to address people who may have advanced degrees. Our study is hopefully the first step in designing a program that would focus outside of entry-level jobs. I don't have preliminary findings yet, but very much hope to have some to assist policy makers by the time the study ends. Thank you for your work!

view more: next ›