Aspire Works: How it benefits Autistic people professionally

Aspire Works is a program run by Massachusetts General Hospital that helps young adults that are high-functioning on the autism spectrum with the development of professional work skills. Autism affects anyone that is diagnosed with it in different ways, so the career counselors who work with the participants do their best to place the clients in an internship that is best suited for the participant’s needs and skill levels. I am a client of Aspire Works and the services this program provides are very useful to assist the people on the spectrum with learning how to communicate and advocate for themselves in a workplace environment. 

At its core, autism is a neurological condition, meaning that it impacts how the brain processes information, that makes it harder for people on the spectrum to read non-verbal social cues and hold back-and-forth conversations. Since effective communication is very beneficial for success in the workplace, Aspire Works supports their clients in learning how to appropriately interact with co-workers and supervisors while being aware of the clients’ social challenges. The program also considers aspects such as the participants’ sensory issues, their personalities, the environment of the workplace and what the participants are looking for in their careers.

Aspire Works uses a social communication model that they call the “3S” model to keep track of the clients’ progress. These skills consist of Social Competency, Stress Management and Self-Awareness. The Social Competency portion includes the program working with clients on working and communicating with co-workers while being aware of the social norms of the workplace. The Stress Management portion includes improving the clients’ ability to cope with stressors while completing tasks and projects. The Self-Awareness portion includes working with clients on self-advocacy, as well as awareness of personal strengths and areas to improve.

The clients in Aspire Works’ Internship Program can start receiving services at age 18, need to have graduated from high school and are very intelligent. They should have the ambition to be independent and while they may be adept at certain tasks in a job, they have difficulty understanding the social world, which carries over into the workplace. Fortunately, this is where Aspire Works comes in and helps the employers they work with in understanding the clients’ struggles and how to best assist the clients in reaching their highest potential as interns, and possibly, employees.   

The program includes a service called Aspire Seminar where the counselors meet with a group of clients to discuss the interns’ experiences, progression and areas to continually work on skills. This seminar also goes over resumes and cover letters, interview skills, priorities, organization, managing time and coping techniques for handling stress and unexpected changes. 

I sent in an application for the Summer 2019 cycle of internships and had an intake interview that went well enough. I was offered an opportunity to interview at a Bank of America building in Boston to be a data-entry contractor and I was ultimately passed over for another candidate. I was given very good feedback regarding my interview skills, the Bank of America employee told my career counselor, who then told me, not to change anything about my conversational style in an interview. I did not end up securing an internship this Summer through Aspire Works, I might in the Fall though. Regardless, it felt very good to get that type of praise about my interview skills, which I will remember in the future.

Aspire Works is a program that is assisting a community of people who likely would have more struggles without its existence. People that are high-functioning on the autism spectrum can be good interns and employees with enough positive support and constructive criticism from the career counselors and an empathetic supervisor. As a client of this service, I feel very blessed and self-assured that I will be able to make a good impression on an employer and going from the feedback I have already heard, I feel confident in my social skills as it relates to the workplace.