Spectrum Chats: Seeking Meaningful Employment as an Autistic Person
Join AutismTN for a Spectrum Chat on Seeking Meaningful Employment as an Autistic Person. This engaging online discussion will feature a panel of Autistic professionals sharing their firsthand experiences navigating an employment landscape not designed for Autistic folks, and their strategies for finding jobs that align with their Autistic strengths and passions. Gain valuable advice on the job search process from an Autistic viewpoint, learn about effective self-advocacy techniques during job hunting, and discuss how employers can dismantle barriers to enable highly capable Autistic people to contribute fully to their missions.
Panelists:
George Brown credits his artistic orientation to his father, a fine artist, himself the son of a creative craftsman known for his ability to make plaster Wall Street bank lobbies indistinguishable from marble. George began piano lessons at the age of 6. The cheap piano kept breaking, so George became adept at fixing it. He also took apart his record player and put it back together.
At 7, he changed his instrument to clarinet and began study at The Brooklyn Music School, a conservatory for children. At the age of 8, George began hanging around a TV repair shop where the two Sicilian brothers taught him the basics of electronics. Meanwhile, although beset with irreconcilable school difficulties involving rote memorization in math and foreign language, he felt anchored in his music studies, representing the Brooklyn Music School in recitals and on radio broadcasts.
After graduating high school, he attended college at two conservatories, changing his instrument once again to oboe, specializing in baroque music and music of the renaissance on recorders. He apprenticed with a harpsichord builder, becoming the leading harpsichord tuner in New York for the next three years. His work, much of which was in the arena of popular music, was heard on major record labels, motion pictures, and all four TV networks. His tuning was praised by two famous harpsichord recitalists and he also tuned for The New York Philharmonic and The Hague Philharmonic orchestras. Of special significance, George was present during many recording sessions, observing how recordings were carried out, watching how challenges were overcome. He also performed as a musician on a number of recordings.
He then earned two music degrees at The University of Connecticut, between them becoming an announcer-operator at classical music radio station WCRX in Springfield, Massachusetts, with 20,000 listeners in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
While at UConn, he developed a position, effectively taking over the maintenance of networked custom-designed audio instruction systems. He designed a listening facility for the music library to overcome the $16,000 annual cost of replacing damaged phonograph records. A student film sound practicum lead to a commercial gig as Assistant Director for a documentary film about antiquing for the United States Information Agency, for which he contributed concept work and assisted with lighting. George was a teacher for Project Headstart, in an impoverished community in eastern Connecticut, but lacking a teaching credential, could not continue when the summer project "went legit" in the fall.
Moving to California, he created a performing arts event series at The Sausalito Arts Center, then taught oboe and recorder at San Francisco's Community Music Center, where he was given a Rockefeller Foundation grant to develop a unique course in music appreciation for an audience of senior citizens. Then, building on his instructional audio experience at UConn, George became the language lab director at City College of San Francisco for the next seven years, re-designing all systems at the impacted facility to improve instruction.
Apprenticing again with a custom stereo expert, George founded a business aimed at a "semi-custom" stereo market, offering repair, in-home solutions, and some sales. This business was not successful.
In his last career move, George produced technical documentation in the high-tech arena of Silicon Valley, writing descriptions, explanations, and procedures, mostly for software at the industry level. He was involved in the birth of internet commerce at two dot coms. "Looking back over my work history, it has been exciting to have been part of the team in launching each technology out into the world." These deployments involved the change from mono to stereo in commercial recordings, instructional audio, the change from mono to stereo in FM radio broadcasting, the development of procedural standards for radio broadcasting of classical music, and finally, the development of commerce over the Internet.
Along the way, George was a client at Project Hired, an employment program for people facing physical and developmental challenges, and Experience Unlimited, a California State employment program for seniors, in which George taught the popular job interview class.
Throughout his life, George has been praised as an outstanding teacher. He sees his lifelong role to have been an explainer, a hander of knowledge to other people. And to help people to find and nurture the talent and ability within themselves. "My most-fulfilling work was teaching children for Project Headstart. One of my happiest work moments was, as member of a woodwind quintet performing for an audience of children, replying to a boy who asked me, 'Mister: which end does the sound come out?'"
He was appointed member of the Contra Costa County Managed Care Commission, to help oversee and guide The Contra Costa Health Plan: the first public Health Maintenance Organization in the United States. Independently-ranked as the best HMO in the San Francisco Bay area by its own member-patients, George chose the CCCHP for himself and his son. So volunteering to help steer his own HMO was a no-brainer. More than 50 years in business, with over 177,000 members, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Alameda Counties have now modeled HMOs of their own upon the CCHP.
Desiree Dyer is an autistic self-advocate, a graduate of Partner’s in Policy Making, and is presently serving on the board of AutismTN. She is an enrolled citizen of the Upper Mattaponi Tribe (Tsenacommacah, now present-day Virginia) and serves as the At-Large Representative and Upper Mattaponi Constitutional Scholar for the tribe’s Legislature as well as sitting on the Governance and Administration, and Economic Development Steering Committees. When not involved in advocacy work, Desiree goes to work at the Nashville Symphony as their IT System Administrator. In her non-existent free time, she trains as a powerlifter (key in managing autistic burnout), is a stepmom to Ben’s teenage daughter, and smashes the patriarchy at every opportunity. She also sleeps, like, a lot, because recovery is no joke folks.
Meghan Gragg is an autistic self advocate, has their Masters in Public Policy, and is currently (until April 26th) working as a tutor at the College Living Experience, a Post-Secondary Support Program for Neurodivergent adults. On May 6th, Meghan will transition to serve with Americorps at the Tennessee Office of Refugees as a Refugee Youth Mentoring Program Coordinator VISTA. In the near future, they plan to apply for the Fulbright in Morocco and then go on to get their PhD in Sociology in order to become a professor focusing on the Sociology of disability. In their free time they enjoy studying languages, watching shows from other countries, and reading fanfiction.
Michael Orozco-Fletcher (he/him) was born and raised in Miami, FL and moved to middle Tennessee in 2019. He graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelors of Business Administration (majoring in Finance) but now happily works as a programmer and software tester for EY, where he has been employed since September 2019 (and even got promoted in 2022). About a month after starting work at EY and moving to middle Tennessee, Michael joined AutismTN’s adult CONNECT group, where he is still happily a member. In his free time, Michael enjoys bicycle riding, working out, contra dancing, spending time with friends and family, and writing his coding tutorials blog that has been active since 2018.
Ashley Seay is the owner of Relief Printmaking Studio, which offers original art with a focus in woodblock printing, custom logo woodblocks, wood sculpture and design, pattern design, and fabric printing. The studio's motto is to produce "relief you can see and feel." She has over 10 years of experience in the printmaking medium. Woodblock printing is how the first newspapers, books and bibles were produced. The artwork is inspired by history, culture, nature, Ancestors, Universe, and family and friends. Recently she was an artist in residence with Metro Nashville Public Schools. She led a course at Cane Ridge High School and two classes at the Nashville School of the Arts. Ashley has also won third place at the Best of Tennessee Craft Exhibition, featured and taught at the Frist Art Museum, National Museum of African American Music, Tennessee State Museum, Belmont University, and Cheekwood Mansion. Ashley was professionally identified with Autism and ADHD at age 34 and has just now received accommodations. As a young child, she was given a misdiagnosis of a cognitive math and learning disability. As she got older, she dealt with depression and PTSD but used art to aid in her mental health journey. Finding and keeping a job, housing and managing everyday life has always been difficult, even now. After failing multiple college classes and running out of financial support, she had to stop going to school. She has never been on any medication for AUDHD but is now considering it. After years of being job to job, she decided in summer of 2023 to get formally test and go back to college at Tennessee State University to finish her Studio Art Degree. After graduation she will pursue her master's degree and become an art professor. As of now she is currently looking for autistic employment that works with a college schedule but is having issues. Ashley is very passionate about advocacy, helping others and being creative in every way possible. In her free time, she enjoys creating art, retro RPG gaming and console collecting, roller skating, watching anime and movies, and being active outdoors. Her favorite season is summer, and gold is her favorite color.
