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Considering eccentricity a qualification._

The Australian story of the first autie-run global not-for-profit 
employment service for all people on the autistic spectrum.

by autistic author, Donna Williams.

I don't do phone calls much, but a year ago a well known autistic man, Lindsay Weekes and I were chatting on the telephone about the fact that 
everything in the autism world was geared towards charity and employment opportunities for non-autistic people to come and change people with 
autism. With one in every 160 people now diagnosed on the autistic spectrum the job opportunities a booming for non-autistic people to make money from families of people with autism and government funding set aside to help those with autism. If you type in 'autism and employment' on an internet search you get masses of advertisements for often attractive highly paid work opportunities for non-autistic people to help 'us'. 

Even employment services for people on the autistic spectrum seemed to be waiting forever for those in the non-autistic world to throw their clients a few crumbs of work. There are very highly qualified people on the autistic spectrum who have had never had a full time job or have been waiting for years. Largely it comes down to a few missing social skills; a lack of eye contact here, an oversupply of it there, a handshake that never initiates or never stops, the social impact of 
being unable to read body language or facial expression or having learning or communication differences, sensory hypersensitivities or being so single minded one is almost too brilliant at what one does to be an all rounder. Autism Spectrum conditions are strange that way. We are as vastly different from each other as you non-autistic lot are. Yet mention autism spectrum conditions in the community and you still hear twaddle like 'aren't they in wheelchairs?', 'they're all on 
medication aren't they?', 'oh, like Rain Man!' etc etc... I won't pain myself to go on. And if you tell them you are autistic their head falls off because you actually spoke or smiled or else they suddenly change to sounding like a kindergarten teacher or acquire that nose-upper lip thing that reminds you of someone taking out the rubbish. I might not read social stuff too well but I know these things.

Yet many people on the autistic spectrum have abilities of all kinds, sometimes hidden, something not so hidden. I knew of one so called 'low functioning' functionally non-verbal autistic man who had a vast knowledge of homeopathy, another who could read in several languages, another who ran in charity runs, another who mowed fields and another who delivered the local paper. I know of a young autistic girl without functional speech who designed autism-friendly dolls which then got made. There were those who loved to shred paper and could offer to recycle the contents of your wastepaper bin. There were those who typed 
beautiful poetry and some who had done beautiful abstract and traditional artworks. There were those who loved to dress up in costumes and others who liked to wash dishes, dust or polish things. If these people weren't employable in conventional jobs had anyone ever thought of setting up a service where they could list a skill and charge per task or by donation instead of languishing in residential care, often with no occupation to fill their time?

And there were those we never hear of because they are considered too 'able' to really be noticed; an under-employed taxi driver, a book keeper in a regional town, a mime artist in a remote area, a cartoonist, an experienced but self taught actor and comedian, a scriptwriter, a music producer, a piano teacher, a technical writer dreaming of writing for travel brochures and of course those who had tertiary qualifications from engineering to psychology and teaching but who struggled to get more than a part time job at KFC.

Well, Lindsay and I were talking about these people and the way they spend their lives 'waiting' and trying where possible to build their own opportunities, trying to get their goods, skills and services looked and or hired in a world hooked on magazine personalities and a myth of one-size-fits-all normality in which eccentricity is a disability.

So Lindsay with his high IQ and me with mine in the mildly mentally retarded range of under 70, joked about how we could start our own employment service. Ever one for a wild manic surrealist bender we rapped about how we would showcase people's own goods, skills and services directly to the community and start an on-line employment shop so people were at least doing something. We mused over whether it would be for Australians only or everyone on the autistic spectrum. Then we hung up after a chuckle, knowing neither of us had the skills to make it a reality. That's where Chris came in.

My husband Chris is a system's manager working in IT and essentially an autie-friendly techy guru capable of small technological miracles. After mentioning my telephone musings with Lindsay, Chris pondered whether this idea were actually possible to make into a reality. That was a year ago.

We formed a team, a motley, diverse, talented and eccentric collection of people on the autistic spectrum and met face to face (strange for our group really) to discuss the concept of auties.org . Everyone agreed on the appalling state of underemployment for those on 
the autistic spectrum as one of the most underemployed groups in society. After that Chris worked for a year to make the site happen.

In September this year we were ready to launch and began a our new website _www.auties.org

 It was exciting because it has been made by people with Autism Spectrum Disorder and it seemed from all our searches that it was the first website of its kind dedicated to the self employment of people across the whole of the autistic spectrum world wide in every working field. 

We decided to expand the site to businesses which considered themselves 'Autism Friendly' as part of trying to make the mainstream world more accessible to people on the autistic spectrum. We were hoping to provide a very practical way to promote abilities in those with disabilities.

We emphasised that we had sections for people with ALL kinds of unusual skills at ALL levels of functioning and that nobody should ever cancel themselves out. We made a category for advertising/promotions for anyone who likes to dress up in a chicken suit and stand outside a shop (flapping and noises optional)! If people could mow or sweep or dust but didn't do the whole gardening or cleaning thing we wanted to list them too even if this was only for two hours on a Friday once a month in their local area and charged per task or by donation. If they shredded paper they could go under 'recycling'! People whose greatest skill was running, skating or trampolining could even list themselves under 'sports' and use their skill to raise money for causes they believed in... it was all still an occupation and occupation gives people a sense of self, of belonging, of inclusion and equality. If someone liked to spin things we encouraged them to consider whether they 
could use their skill to entertain at autism-related events where they'd be accepted and appreciated. We provided a work experience section for those seeking experience leading to work and a category for 'seeking a work partner' for those unable to work alone for a variety of reasons. 
Then we waited. 

Soon we had our first international listings and the word was spreading. We provided autism-friendly literature for people to print out and put up in the community in the hope it would make people think about the ability within disABILITY and familiarise people with the people behind the conditions that are today believed to affect around every 160 people. 

We may fail in our dream but at least we will have dared to try. If nothing else we will have inspired people to think a little more broadly 
than how they can employ themselves looking after us. 

Donna Williams *)
autistic author, artist and idealist.
www.donnawilliams.net

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