Job for Asperger’s Teen

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Hi all, my AIBU is.....AIBU to ask for your advice as I am clueless?

DD18 is very academic, passed GCSES with A’s and B’s. However this was due to her ‘environment’ changing from mainstream, to a special autism unit, although she accessed mainstream subjects she had a lot of emotional support. She has been a self harmer and has had suicidal thoughts and has been in counselling of some description since age 6. (Finally diagnosed Aspergers when 12).

She tried 6th form - disaster and moved to
College to study art (she is very creative) she is in her second year of interior/furniture design.

Here is the issue, the uni courses near us aren’t great for these subjects, and due to her needs/ financial reasons we would prefer her not to go away to uni. (She needs a lot of emotional support/breakdowns etc).

So she has aspirations of being a furniture designer, and this is where we are stuck - we can’t find any apprenticeships specifically for this, and no jobs within the north east.

She does work part time (her employers are quite frankly amazing and have coped with her bad days/sick days better than most would). So we know she is capable (although she can only handle 1 shift per week as the interaction with people is high and she needs a break afterwards).

I want to give her good advice about the future but knowing so few autistic people gain employment I am not sure what to suggest?

She has a little
Creative business from home which she is great at (when motivated) but it won’t bring in a big enough income for the future, another option is to encourage her to apply for the civil
Service where she would have a chance at her disability being more understood (myself and husband are CS) but that’s not where her interests lie.

I just want to help her have a future or a direction - anyone else with autistic children who have gained employment? Any advice or help - or anyone know how she can try and work even part time in the field of design, specifically furniture?

Any advice appreciated!

I would get her to build on her business. If she's artistic does it have to be just furniture or could she do interior design also? Trying to be a but broader in any line of work can make it easier. I follow a lady on facebook who does wall murals in people's homes and she's highly in demand. I also have a friend who makes doll house furniture and small wooden toys. She also does really well. There's that programme on tv with the lady who upcycles furniture (can't remember the name of it) and some of the stuff makes a lot of profit so there's a definite market.

You could help her set up social media accounts and get her 'out there' and see how it goes. See if there are any local craft groups etc that she could join for contacts.

Best of luck to her.

Could she possibly do a carpentry course and also an upholstery course maybe...with a view to making her own things?

I think that for a young woman with aspergers, the ideal would be working for herself if possible but at the least, those qualifications would open up other employment opportunities as well as arm her to use her design skills on a practical level for her own designs which she could then sell online and in local galleries and spaces.

A lot of furniture designers (in the sense of people who make bespoke, individual furniture rather than Jasper Conran types) start out as joiners. Apprenticeships for that should be coming up soon.

Or what about fine art in terms of a degree course?

I agree that learning how to make her own things could be good if that's possible? Or perhaps art rather than furniture as a start, if you think her work is good enough to sell. Then she could find a gallery or online seller to deal with the sales for her, maybe?

My friend doesn't have aspergers but she's quite eccentric so working in an office or closely with others was never going to be for her. She paints and did a course in furniture renovation and now runs her own online gallery selling it - she sells for other people too and takes a small commission. Would something like that work, do you think?

What a bright young woman. A friend of mine does interior design for restaurants / bars / small hotels etc. Usually these involve hand painting the walls (similar to Nancy's post above). She does have to interact with clients during the early stages, but then is left with an empty room and a radio and has no one there to bother her! Agree with CheapSausages - does your local authority have any courses available to her? Ours offers excellent and reasonable priced courses on interior design, woodwork and upholstery. Perhaps this is something she could consider to add another string to her bow? Good luck to her.

Check out local craft workers in your area, see who is making stuff she likes and find out if any of them would offer a work experience placement for a few weeks. If she’s making, interaction with multiple people will be limited and perhaps she could handle a day a week.
I know a number of adults with AS who are in craft/applied arts work and thriving in small workshop environments.

Would she consider something like furniture restoration or set or prop building?

It would be good if she could gain a portfolio of practical skills so she might be able to do a number of one off jobs and commissions.

Thank you so much, some great ideas here,
Expanding her business is doable, she has recently done a corporate order of £500 so has a good start for advertising.

Carpentry is something I thought she could do, I am just concerned about the expectations of the employer, she does need a nurturing understanding manager in order to thrive.

Thank you so much for your ideas and insights, really grateful! X

I can't advise at all in a a creative area, but I'm asd trainee teacher. It's difficult, but the world of work is certainly not closed to us, just harder to access. If I could be self-employed I definitely would be, so maybe that direction would be good if you can support her.
Sorry I can't add much, just wanted to say that with support I'm sure she'll do great, I really only have my husband and I'm doing pretty well.

My own dd would prefer an employer as she finds the idea of organising pension, NI etc herself and chasing up invoices indimidating. I suppose everyone is different but for her low-key interaction eg 'pass the gasket' is ok even if frequent but high-significance awkward stuff like 'you owe me 7000 quid so I don't go bankrupt' would be daunting even if only once a year.

There are some apprenticeship programmes for big companies with lots of pastoral care. My dd has found one that looks great to her and fingers crossed she gets in.

I feel like it might help you ahd her to think that asd is a way of being that does have drawbacks but also brings advantages to her workplace. Those advantages will vary depending on the person but eg she might not be going out 4 nights a week getting drunk and coming into work in a work vehicle still smelling of booze. She might be quite conscientious. She may have good attention to detail. She's likely to have a passion for what she does.

Some apprentices or young people new into work are quite tough to employ. They might be unreliable, sleep in, sit on their phone all day, quit in a huff etc. It's not a contrast between a model wonderful employee and your dd with asd. It's a contrast between your dd and any other young person who will have pro's and con's.

Any employer should be aware of their duty in supporting someone who needs time off now and again but it's likely to be clear with your dd that they will get their money's worth.

I would look at working in computer assisted design, where she would get to work a lot on a computer and not interact with clients too much.

My Aspie would like to remind everyone that some are crap with computers. Which surprises a lot of people when he whips out a pencil instead of a gadget.

A carpentry apprenticeship sounds like a good idea.

The open uni do a degree in design and innovation. It could supplement her business quite well as well as give her formal design principles experience.

Thank you again for the additional replies,
It’s great to speak to people with a great insight into this and those who understand the difficulties.

Super loud I hadn’t considered that she may be better placed than some young people, she doesn’t go out often, and is good at time keeping. I don’t want to wrap her in cotton wool but would love her to have a supportive employer (as she has in her part time job - this isn’t a career job for her unfortunately)

Thanks again, I am looking at apprenticeships and also courses so thanks for the heads up - looking for placements in local businesses is a fab idea too!

I'd encourage self-employment - it's less stressful being your own boss if you set things up from the start to fit your way of working & contact with customers etc. If I'd had my diagnosis when I first went self-emp I'd have gone with email-only from the start & saved myself a lot of stress.