Employment is not something you would normally think about yet but your child can learn skills now that will prepare them. It can form the foundation for whatever job is right for them and for living as independently as possible as an adult.

For example self-determination is the ability to make decisions for yourself. This begins very simply with the idea of making choices like what your child prefers to play with or what kind of after school activities they are interested in. You can give your child the power and ability to decide what they want by giving them some choices when you can. Someday when they are an adult this leads to what kind of job they would enjoy.

A child’s first job is in your home where they learn this is what my responsibility is. It starts as simply as what I need to do when I wake up in the morning. It is important to start building these skills early.

A next step towards eventual employment might be doing small jobs for neighbors like yard or garden work, shoveling snow, raking leaves, feeding pets or watering plants when they are away. These provide opportunities for earning money, learning how to take direction, communicating with a "boss," and connecting with someone in the community. If your child is not ready to take these on by themselves, have someone do it with them until they have learned the tasks.

Learning how to do simple chores that gradually increase in level are the first seeds of employment skills for when they are older. They teach organizational and other critical life skills while giving your child the experience of taking responsibility. These steps build to what a person needs as a teen and young adult to reach their full potential and live in the appropriate housing setting for their needs.

Working on life skills like hygiene, self-advocacy, money management basics and social communication are important building blocks to prepare for employment. You will find more information in the related articles in the Milestones Autism Planning (MAP) Tool.

Executive Functioning Skills Set Foundation

Executive functioning skills are often challenging for autistic children and adults. Executive functioning refers to a set of brain functions for managing your daily living including working memory, organizational skills, flexible thinking and self control. Helping your child work on these skills will prepare them for jobs in the future. You can include goals for executive functioning in their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and with therapists. Read more about it in the Assessments, IEPs and 504 Plans article in the MAP.

Help your child identify when they're getting overwhelmed and learn coping strategies, so they have that self-awareness. Teach them to ask for help when something is difficult, and that it is OK to say no to something that they do not want to do or that is uncomfortable for them.

Especially for autistic children, we want to be careful to not inadvertently imply they must say yes or be too compliant, putting them at risk for victimization or bullying. In the workplace they will encounter different kinds of people and bosses and they will need to learn how to handle it.

Using Patterns, Routines and Reinforcement as Preparation

If our children are great at following patterns and routines, then we need to help prepare them for how to set patterns and routines that will help them as adults for having a job and living in the housing environment that is right for them.

Consider using reinforcement, which is having a token or reward system that tie payment for doing a job they get payment for just like happens as an adult with a job. Payment could be an allowance for doing certain things, or the reward could be something like screen time. This is what essentially happens when you have a job - you do things and then you get paid.

One way to approach getting your child to do their homework is to share that going to school is their job. In order to get "paid" at the end of the day would be to complete their homework for the night. Their "payment" can be screen time, or another activity they enjoy.