AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me)
Service will show value of those with disorder: N.S. group founder
Cynthia Carroll, executive director of Autism Nova Scotia, stands outside her Halifax office on Tuesday.
Few people were smiling as broadly as Halifax’s Joan Craig at the launch Tuesday of the Autism Job Seekers Database.
About 14 years ago, Craig, the mother of an autistic child, founded Autism Nova Scotia. At the time, there were widespread misconceptions about people on the autism disorder spectrum and those with learning disabilities.
“Decades ago, there were few opportunities for adults with autism; we understand so much more about it now,” Craig said of her experiences dating back about 60 years and the birth of a son with Asperger’s syndrome.
“Once these young people were finished with school, there was really nothing for them, and that is a shame because they are capable of so much.
“Many (with Asperger’s syndrome) ended up on the street. Some are still there.”
The database is among the first of its kind in North America and connects job-ready people on the autism spectrum and those with intellectual disabilities with support networks and links to suitable jobs.
“The value of people with autism spectrum disorder in the workplace has repeatedly been demonstrated,” Cynthia Carroll, executive director of Autism Nova Scotia, said in an interview.
She referred to a national pilot program between October 2014 and September 2015 that established contact with 117 potential employers and led to jobs for 405 people with autism or intellectual disabilities.
In a three-month trial run of the database in Halifax, about 10 per cent of the people who signed up found employment, Carroll said.
National chains like Costco, Home Depot and Value Village are among supporters of efforts to bring people with autism into the workforce.
“People with autism can be employees with acute attention to detail. They can be very focused on the job at hand and also add a positive element to the workforce,” Carroll said.
The database provides a specialist who can help identify job opportunities created by program partner Ready, Willing and Able, a national initiative to support people with autism.
Carroll said employers can search the database for prospective employees. She said there will eventually be a network of 20 similar databases across Canada.
People looking for employment and interested employers can find out more at autismnovascotia.ca.
Craig described the database as a rewarding development.
“It is satisfying to think some people with autism will be doing what they are capable of and getting some satisfaction out of it.”
SOURCE: http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1332914-autism-job-database-hailed
Service will show value of those with disorder: N.S. group founder
Cynthia Carroll, executive director of Autism Nova Scotia, stands outside her Halifax office on Tuesday.
Few people were smiling as broadly as Halifax’s Joan Craig at the launch Tuesday of the Autism Job Seekers Database.
About 14 years ago, Craig, the mother of an autistic child, founded Autism Nova Scotia. At the time, there were widespread misconceptions about people on the autism disorder spectrum and those with learning disabilities.
“Decades ago, there were few opportunities for adults with autism; we understand so much more about it now,” Craig said of her experiences dating back about 60 years and the birth of a son with Asperger’s syndrome.
“Once these young people were finished with school, there was really nothing for them, and that is a shame because they are capable of so much.
“Many (with Asperger’s syndrome) ended up on the street. Some are still there.”
The database is among the first of its kind in North America and connects job-ready people on the autism spectrum and those with intellectual disabilities with support networks and links to suitable jobs.
“The value of people with autism spectrum disorder in the workplace has repeatedly been demonstrated,” Cynthia Carroll, executive director of Autism Nova Scotia, said in an interview.
She referred to a national pilot program between October 2014 and September 2015 that established contact with 117 potential employers and led to jobs for 405 people with autism or intellectual disabilities.
In a three-month trial run of the database in Halifax, about 10 per cent of the people who signed up found employment, Carroll said.
National chains like Costco, Home Depot and Value Village are among supporters of efforts to bring people with autism into the workforce.
“People with autism can be employees with acute attention to detail. They can be very focused on the job at hand and also add a positive element to the workforce,” Carroll said.
The database provides a specialist who can help identify job opportunities created by program partner Ready, Willing and Able, a national initiative to support people with autism.
Carroll said employers can search the database for prospective employees. She said there will eventually be a network of 20 similar databases across Canada.
People looking for employment and interested employers can find out more at autismnovascotia.ca.
Craig described the database as a rewarding development.
“It is satisfying to think some people with autism will be doing what they are capable of and getting some satisfaction out of it.”
SOURCE: http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1332914-autism-job-database-hailed
