Now that graduation is right around the corner, many parents worry about their child’s future. Will Asperger’s affect their child’s ability to find and hold a job? The answer to this is both yes and no.
People with Asperger’s may have difficulty in jobs which require a lot of social interaction but they can often find success in jobs that require focus, high concentration and solitude. An example of this would be the world of academe.
In fact, many people with Asperger’s do excel in their pursuit of higher education. The long hours of study and the many days of alone time will seem like the perfect environment for your child. In addition, the demands of a good Ph.D. program will fit well with your child’s ability to absorb and retain specialized information. This is specially true for topics that are of great interest to him.
In fact, studies have shown that very often, a child diagnosed with Asperger’s will retain their interest throughout the course of their lifetime. Therefore, it is a good idea to think about what your child loves to do and encourage him to choose a field of study that would allow him to learn more about his particular field of interest. For example, if your child likes to collect rocks, you can encourage him to take up geology. If your child is interested in model trains, he can choose to study either engineering or industrial history.
You can get a good idea of what your child’s future career will be like by taking note of what he is interested in and likes to do when he was a child.
If your child is interested in developing a career in the academe, it is a good idea to ask a professor if your child can shadow him for a couple of days to give your child a feel of what a typical day looks like for a person working in the academe. It is important that he is fully aware of the other responsibilities required of him. He needs to know that he will be expected to create and make presentations to audiences, teach students and attend conferences. He needs to know what to expect so he will not be caught off-guard later on.
Great article, I have decided to do just this with my 12 year old son, who is xbox and pc mad. I am having a great deal of problems trying to limit his time, as he would go on there 24/7. When it is time for him to come away from the xbox or pc for dinner, shopping or visiting family he has an outburst. Take him anywhere and he needs to know what time he’ll be back to play and talk to his friends or talk at them I should say and boss them about. He is doing well at most things in school as he has very mild aspergers but he can’t deal with PE and when he’s in a social situation. He is often bullied because other kids don’t understand, why he has a different out look on life. I am really shocked that there is not a campaign within schools to make other children more aware of the types of difficulties AS kids have and to look out for these kids and have a buddy system to allow better communication and social awareness. Thanks Jo
Thankyou for the article towards older kids that are finishing high school and looking towards the future. I have an 18 year old daughter that is looking towards her future. Could you please send me more of these articles. Thankyou, Brenda and Bill Porter
HI I have 17 year old twins with ASD/Asperger’s Syndrome and am finding it really hard for them to work towards a career. my daughter is trying a course on Forensic’s but now she is studying it she has lost interest and has no idea what she wants to do but we are encouraging her to stick with it as she is achieving merits – my son just wants to game all the time on his xbox or pc; he is at college doing a IT programming course but its to stressful as he has poor English skills, and IT skills and really getting anxious – he wants to shut himself away from society and just play games and talk about them to people online…any advice