So, my son is looking for a job. For those who don’t know us, my son is a 17 year old home schooled boy with high functioning autism and hypoglycemia. Most people upon meeting him cannot tell he is autistic unless he is having a very bad day. He is, through years of our working with him, able to make and maintain eye contact. He’s a bit on the over energetic side, and has an issue with volume control when he’s nervous or excited but not to the point that he’s yelling (more talking or laughing loudly). He still has some language and vocabulary delay but again, he’s 17 and it’s not so bad that he stands out and we’ve been working on improving it. He’s only looking for part time work, about 20 hours a week max, but his hours and days can be a bit more flexible because we can work his school schedule around his work schedule. This will be his first job search, and hopefully his first job. He’s decided his first application will be to a grocery store, either for stock or bagger/cashier, mostly so he can get used to a work schedule and dealing with people in a public work setting (and because it’s close enough he can walk to work).
So my question is: At what point in the hiring process is it best to bring up his disabilities and accommodations? Also, for those of you who are on the Spectrum, what accommodations or issues have you had and needed resolved? Is it better for me to go with him for the initial contact or for him to do it on his own (I don’t remember if my dad went with me when I applied for my first job or not)? Maybe I could go and be shopping in the store so I’m there if he is nervous or needs advice or if they want to talk to me about his schedule/schooling?
This is new territory for us, so any advice or experience you all have had would be appreciated! I thought we had another couple of months to prepare for this, but he mentioned to a neighbor that we were saving up for him to get an ID so he could get a job, and she handed him the money to get it so he could work! So we’re going next week to get his first State ID, and then he’s going to start looking. So he’s going to have some impromptu learning to do this weekend. I have some job interview information for him to read and watch, etc. It’s been 26 years since I applied for my first job and a lot of things have changed since then, plus he has both his hypoglycemia and his autism to deal with as well. I’m feeling a bit out of my depth here, and so, I turn once more to my friends for advice. And yes, he will be reading this and all responses.