Why Do People with Autism Need Job Coaches?

People with Autism need job coaches for many reasons. It is harder for many people with this disability to find and keep a job. Job coaches can provide some of the soft skills for them to get and keep jobs. This can be done while also doing job shadowing or job sampling if needed.

Because communication is harder for people with Autism it is important to look for a job coach early in the process of employment. A job coach can help find a job or carve out a job for someone with a disability. They can also help negotiate shortened hours or fewer days if needed. Some job coaches can negotiate job sharing so an employer can get full time coverage by two or more trained employees.

When carving out a job a job coach can look at the job duties of several positions at one employer location. Then he or she can then select duties that other employees find repetitive. Combining those duties can make the perfect job for some people with Autism.

A job coach may be able to explain odd behaviors of their client to co-workers and employers. If employers know that repeating the steps to a particular job duty over and over is typical of some people with Autism they may not be as concerned when it happens. Particularly if the employer knows that they could remind the employee not to do that or to use a quieter voice.

Job coaches can also teach the specific job duties. They will also be on the look out for ways for the person to be able to do the job better or easier. Accommodations on the job are some things that the everyday person might overlook.

Job coaches do not stay with an employee with Autism throughout their career. Usually a job coach assists for a certain length of time and then provides periodic follow up. A job coach can be called back in if the employer wishes the employee to learn new skills or if a problem comes up.

Job coaches have success finding jobs for people with Autism for many reasons. The success may be because the job is boring and/or repetitive for the typical person. The success may be related to the fact the job is connected in some way to a subject that a person with Autism has an interest in or knows a lot about.