Published: Monday, March 11, 2013, 12:46a.m. Updated 3 hours ago
Patrick Lah is good at his job as a janitor at the local Giant Eagle.
But he doesn't know his supervisor's name, he isn't sure how to ask for days off and, even if he wanted to be promoted, he would say he's perfectly happy with his current job.
As an adult with autism, Lah, 23, is stuck in a Catch-22. He wants to work and be involved in his community, but he's having trouble accessing social services that would provide him with behavioral counseling and job training he needs to succeed.
I'm pretty well educated and on-the-ball and I have the ability to follow up on these things, said Carolyn Lah, Patrick's mother and a Freeport Area High School English teacher. You can get there, but it takes a long time and a lot of follow-up.
I don't know how people do it who have other things on their plate and aren't as good at working the system.
The social and communication challenges associated with autism affect all aspects of job seeking, including interviewing, creating a resume and filling out applications. That's according to the Pennsylvania Autism Needs Assessment, a 2009-10 survey of individuals and families living with autism.
The need for job training services for those on the autism spectrum has increased dramatically in the past 20 years. According to the autism survey:
One in three adults report an unmet need for transition services after high school.
More than two-thirds of adults are unemployed or underemployed.
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Autism services hope to make inroads in workplace