'Agricultural specialisterne': rural employment revolution for those with Autism

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“…Accommodations made for people on the autism spectrum tend to be good for everybody else. What we need to do is find [the strengths of each Autistic individual] and figure out how to use them; how Society can use them.”

• Dr. Stephen Shore, Assistant Professor at Adelphi University in New York State and distinguished writer, advocate and consultant on Autism-related issues
  (source: http://www.dps.missouri.edu/Autism/2012AWNC/Shore.pdf)

I mentioned Belgium-based psychologist Peter Vermeulen and his term, ‘context blindness’, in an earlier post. Vermeulen is, of course, referring to the fact that the Autistic brain thinks in an absolute way, rather than a relative, contextually defined way. ‘Pushing the context-button’ is the way he proposes that society deals with communications with Autistics…

“Understanding autism as context blindness is the cornerstone of an autism friendly approach.”

• Peter Vermeulen

…Pushing the “context-button” helps people with [Autism Spectrum Disorders] to understand the world around them and to cope with its demands. How can we “Push the Button”?

**- Ensure that we explain our actions and choose words carefully to avoid misunderstanding

• Teach emotions in context. We never see facial expressions without the context that helps us to understand them.
• When teaching social skills it is not just teaching the what and the how to do it; it’s teaching the where and the when to do it.
• Begin with what a person is familiar with and what they will recognize and teach at a slow enough place to ensure understanding.**

To bring this back to the person-directed-planning process, context blindness is one of the reasons that pre-planning preparation is so vital to success. Becoming familiar with an individual and how they interact and communicate can provide insights into how they see the world and may help to prevent misunderstandings or missed opportunities. People who are close to the individual should be able to help establish a clear context for the planning meeting so that the person at the centre of the plan can participate to the fullest extent possible. Think carefully about how things are presented, avoid ambiguous meanings and check with the individual to ensure that he or she is comfortable and understanding the context and what is being said…

At Specialisterne, founder Thorkil Sonne emphasises directness in communication…

…Make sure people appreciate the importance of directness. “Say what you mean and mean what you say”, advised Mr. Sonne. At [Specialisterne,] everyone stays away from irony and sarcasm so as to not confuse employees…

An analogy could be made to wheelchair ramps to accommodate people with physical disabilities; the non-physical barriers that various individuals with Autism face in the workplace and elsewhere (including lack of normal social understanding) may require some kind of extra effort/‘ramp’ on the part of employers and others to allow Autistics full access to what the world has to offer …

…So, “just like we have built wheelchair ramps to accommodate people with physical disabilities, we need to provide accommodations for people with autism so they can be part of our community and share in the activities that other people enjoy,” [Katie] reasoned…

(sources: Context Blindness - Geneva Centre for Autism; http://autismbeacon.com/blog/post/on_the_job..._highlights_from_a_great_conference;http://news.healingwell.com/index.php?p=news1&id=659338)