My son with Asperger's

[SheilaT]

recently had his contract job extended another month.

He's 29, and we did not figure out until halfway through his senior year in high school that there was a name for how he was different from others. And I must say, that I think it was much better that he didn't get a label early.

Anyway, he had trouble in college because of his difference, and eventually earned a CAD (Computer Aided Design) degree from his local junior college. Since interviewing is understandably difficult for him, he didn't find employment in his field immediately after completing his degree, and wound up working in the CAD lab at his school.

After the school year ended, he resumed his job search, and very quickly landed an entry level CAD job with an engineering firm. They REALLY liked him there, because like so many of his ilk he simply does his job. (He's not very chatty, unlike, for instance, his mom.) His original six month contract has been extended twice, because the local people (the engineering firm is headquartered in a city on the other side of the country) really, really want him as a permanent employee and have extended his contract in the hopes of getting him on as a regular permanent employee.

At his point, his current contract extension will end at the end of this month (Feb, 2012). Who knows what will happen next. His original recruiter has told him that he's heard very good things, and will have no trouble placing him in another position.

The whole point of this post is that people with Asperger's can be successful. They are not like us "normals". Some years back I asked my son if, in effect, he'd like to be like the rest of us, and he more or less recoiled in horror. He is who he is. We are all different. I, for instance, am okay at math and I'm very good at grammar -- it's all I can do not to post nasty comments about grammar errors here. This son is amazing at math and science -- if you want to discuss the conditions of the universe in the early seconds after the Big Bang, or if you have a question about what you see in the night sky, he's the one you should call. Son two is working on being a stand-up comic, and I'm convinced that someday you'll all know who he is.

We are all unique individuals. Isn't that amazing, and isn't that wonderful.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. I am so glad that he is doing well. That is wonderful news! (Not just because of the

Aspberger's, but also because of how hard it is these days for anyone to land a job!)

[SheilaT]

2. He had several things in his favor

when looking for work.

One was that he is an entry-level employee. He told me that in the job interview the comment was made that since he hadn't worked anywhere else yet, he'd have no bad habits to unlearn.

Also, the Kansas City area where he lives has a large number of engineering firms -- one of the largest concentrations of such firms in the country, I understand. So that helped.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Isn't that something! So many places will skip right over people if they haven't got some amount

of prior work experience. Nice to know not all workplaces are like that.

[SheilaT]

4. Update on my son

just in case anyone cares.

His contract job finally ended March 14, and he's had one interview with another engineering firm. I encouraged him to get back with the recruiters since he hasn't heard back yet.

I really hope that he lands a full-time permanent job in the reasonably near future that he can keep until retirement, even though I realize that life time employment isn't very common any more.

[Odin2005]

5. Good luck for him!