Hachette India

Teaching Pre-Employment Skills from Age 14 to Young Adulthood

Susan Osborne

Joanne Lara

Based on the?Autism Works Now!® Workplace Readiness Workshop, this interactive and updated resource helps individuals with autism from age 14 to adulthood develop the necessary transition skills for getting and keeping a meaningful job, with accompanying downloadable worksheets and templates.
Structured around 2-hour weekly sessions over an eight-month period, the program is ideal for teaching to groups of autistic students. It covers essential topics such as organization and time management, interview skills, appropriate workplace attire, and networking, and provides an updated corpus of information and career resources from the California Department of Education. This second edition now includes vital additions such as online career resources, mock interviews, guidance on personal and professional references, small talk, telephone etiquette, and social media, as well as worksheets and questionnaires to help track progress and explore which jobs would best suit an individual based on their skills and interests.

Joanne Lara

Joanne Lara, MA was a professional dancer before becoming a classroom education specialist and university professor. She was the founder of the nonprofit organization Autism Movement Therapy®, based in Los Angeles, California, which certifies, trains, and licenses dancers, educators, parents, and professional service providers in AMT. Joanne was a Core Adjunct Professor at National University in LA, California and taught weekly Autism Movement Therapy classes in Van Nuys, CA, where she had a private ABA behavioral consultation practice. She produced the documentary Generation A: Portraits of Autism and the ARTS, was the executive producer of the LA musical event Temple Grandin & Friends: Autism Works Now and was a columnist for Autism Asperger's Digest and Sensory World.