Students with autism navigate job hunt with help from campus groups

A job interview is a daunting task. Pressure builds. Stress looms. The handshake, the nods, the eye contact — it feels like a test.

For people with autism, the stress can linger long after the interview is over, as they grapple with hindered social skills that make the job-hunting process more difficult and hamper interactions in the workplace.

At TEACCH, a North Carolina-based autism advocacy organization, advocates are working to smooth the path from the interview to the water cooler — helping people with autism not only get jobs but keep them, too.

More than 85 percent of people in TEACCH’s supported employment program, founded in 1989, keep jobs for more than a year.

People on the autism spectrum often have excellent technical and academic skills but can have difficulties interpreting social cues, leading to issues in the workplace.

“It may be that a person with autism has the skills to do a particular job in a company but doesn’t know the social expectations,” said Laura Klinger, director of TEACCH.

“We have an outstanding ability to place individuals with autism in positions and then help them keep those positions.”

Interviews can be particularly challenging for job seekers on the autism spectrum, said Mike Chapman, director of supported employment services at TEACCH’s UNC center.

“In many ways it’s a personality contest, and sometimes people with autism have trouble selling themselves,” he said.

“It’s hard coming across in person as good as they do on paper.”

David Moser, a TEACCH accounting technician and a UNC graduate, knows the challenges of the autism spectrum firsthand — but he wasn’t diagnosed until he was 28. His parents saw an interview about autism on “20/20” that gave them some unexpected answers.

“My mom and dad looked at each other that night — luckily, they were watching — and they said, ‘That’s our son,’” Moser said.

Moser now works full time for TEACCH, where he said he gets the support he needs.

“I have an incredible array of support, as well as a really good job,” he said. “It’s just been a pleasure working here.”

Still, the job search for many college students with autism can be full of social hurdles as they adjust to professional expectations.

R., a UNC student with high-functioning autism who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, has found success in his career field.

But at first, he said he faced a dearth of specialized on-campus support.

R., who is earning a master’s degree in computer science, said many of the career resources on campus are too generalized to meet the specific needs of students with autism.

Eventually, he said, he received help from University Career Services, where he honed his interview skills and fine-tuned his resume, later landing an internship at IBM.

“Until recently, one of the more difficult things was networking,” R. said. “Getting my foot in the door was the most difficult thing for me.”

R. has used his programming skills to help others with disabilities, producing and editing accessible games for visually impaired children in a project with computer science professor Gary Bishop.

Autism advocacy efforts often focus on children, but adults with autism need community support services throughout their lives, Klinger said.

Tracey Sheriff, CEO of the Autism Society of North Carolina, said support for people with autism declines sharply after high school — a high-risk period known as “the cliffs.”

Sheriff said only about a third of young people with autism attend college in the first six years after high school, according to a 2012 study.

The data signals a need for transition programs in high schools to help students with autism adjust to adult life, he said.

The Autism Society offers employment support programs around the state that teach skills such as managing money, building a resume and networking.

“Diagnosed autism doesn’t mean that their potential to have a successful career isn’t there or should be limited,” Sheriff said.

Senior Writer Jordan Nash contributed reporting.

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