By Nicole LeBlanc
I was sixteen when I got my first job as an ice rink clerk for a local recreation center. In this job I supervised ice skaters, handled the concession stand and shoveled lots of snow. The accommodations that I got at the ice rink were assistance in handling cash and operating the concession stand. My job support at the time came from the Vocational Technical Centers at my high school. They helped me develop an easy system for handling money.
My parents both work at Shaw’s Supermarket. I decided to give it a try and got a job as a bagger. That experience was not so pleasant because I had a manager who was “hardnosed” and difficult to deal with. Within the first 2 weeks I had an “energy release” after getting yelled at for not always greeting the customers. I was supposed to say. ”How are you today?” and “Have a nice day.” My parents had to intervene a lot and one day I went home crying and came down with a stomach ache. This is how I eventually learned more about having autism. I also found out the hard way that it is important to find a job that is a good match with your skills and interests. A job in customer service requiring constant social interaction was not the best match for me.
I learned from these early jobs the importance of having a strong self-awareness about my strengths and challenges. This is central to helping your employment team work with you to find the right job. Having a supportive environment that allows people to be able to speak up during difficult times can reduce anxiety and can make people with autism or any other disability feel much more welcomed. As I know from past experience speaking up to authority figures is often a challenge.
Self-advocacy in the workplace is an essential skill for people to learn because it goes a long way in helping your supervisor figure out what you need in order to succeed in the world of work. Speaking up has been critical for me to succeed in reaching my career goals. Well I decided I wanted to be somebody. In other words I wanted to take charge of my life because I saw that if I didn’t control my destiny someone else would!
I am now 29 years old and have been involved in the disability rights movement since October 2007. I work for statewide self-advocacy organization run by people with developmental disabilities. My current job title is Advocacy Coordinator. I help the organization educate policymakers and advocate for disability rights.
The accommodations that I have at my job include a support person 50% of the time to assist in completing difficult paperwork, driving me to meetings and taking notes at meetings. My assistant helps me prepare for and stay organized when presenting to large groups of people. She has also taught me how to use an iPad. The things I like about using the iPad are that it is smaller than a computer, which makes it easy to carry anywhere I go like attending policy meetings or visiting a local self-advocacy group. There are also many Apps that assist me in being able to carry out the functions of my job.
Finally addressing your dietary and physical needs are important because when it comes to things like business meeting and conferences people will know what kind of food to order for you. It is also important that you make people aware of any allergies to things like Gluten, MSG or dairy that one might have. In the area of physical needs or accommodations it is important to give people a heads up ahead of time if one is going to need an accessible room, shower, entrance or sensory friendly, single room and an accessible building.
The accommodations that I find the most useful are having large print handouts at meetings, an IPAD to take notes with, and meeting preparation ahead of time so that I know what is going to be discussed. In conclusion, I hope that you find this information helpful in learning how advocate in getting your needs met as a person with a disability.