Job Interview with Asperger’s

Today I had an interview with a local school system.  I was interviewing to become an instructional assistant.  This was an interesting position to me because of my background and knowledge of autism and other disabilities.  I was somewhat nervous about the interview because this is a big time environment. I suspected I’d be interviewed by the principal and the special education director.

I woke up this morning and prepared for my interview. I did a refresher course on eye contact, body language, and appropriate conversation.  I then preceded to plan ahead and get directions off of mapquest so I knew exactly where I was going. If there’s one thing I have to do it is being prepared. I’ll put time and effort into preparing so that things go smoothly and I avoid speed bumps.

I drove to the interview and got there about 10 minutes early. They were busy doing administrative duties so I waited patiently.  As I walked into the interview I found 3 people. The principal, assistant principal. and the special education director, just as I had thought.  It’s one thing for people with asperger’s syndrome to focus on social interaction in a one on one setting but it’s an entirely different story when more than one person becomes involved.  

I wasn’t sure to to look at most of the time but knew I should look at the person talking or directing a question to me.  I am proud to report that the interview went really well and I am anxiously awaiting to hear back from them.  I think finding successful and meaningful employment opportunities for people on the autism spectrum is something we should really focus in on.  People with Asperger’s are great employees if given the chance to thrive in a position they like. I’ll report later if I get the job.