I am here today to talk to you about my employment journey. Although I have only been working since February, it has been a bit of a long process to get to this point. First, I’d like to tell you a little about myself and my autistic experience.
I have always been autistic. Having this atypical brain as long as I can remember has been a source of both pride and frustration. Let’s start at the beginning: I went through a lot of therapy. ABA, speech, OT… You name it, and I was probably subjected to it. That period of my life was not terrible, but I didn’t get any say in what was done to me. How different was it, really, from other kids my age? Well, not many get to make life-changing decisions or know that they are constantly learning, but I did. I knew it all the time through the clipboard that the team scribbled notes on and the bimonthly clinics where they discussed my progress on goals. I knew I was different from other kids, but it wasn’t until I was older that I realized how much. Most people get to play when they’re little, but my play was tracked. Most kids end up with memories of school and their peers, but I remember only playing with college students. It was truly the most bizarre childhood. Now I think I would have been fine without all that therapy, but it’s not something that’s readily accepted – to go without therapy when you’re little and autistic. However, it’s in the past, and I bear no ill feelings towards anyone because I know they were only trying to help me.
About the time when I started attending a private ABA program, I discovered Trader Joe’s. It’s our Saturday stop, and where we get most of our groceries. It’s a place that appealed to my love of order and lining things up. When I was there, I felt understood. My need for order was met with its calmness and perfectly lined products. Let me explain: there is nothing in this world that brings me more satisfaction than really organized rooms. That’s not to say that I can’t handle disorder: you should see my school setting! But my autistic brain gravitates towards order. It’s how my autistic brain navigates and creates rules that make sense of the world.
Getting to the point where I am able to understand how to deal with all the illogical aspects of people and society as a whole has taken me years. I used to be so overwhelmed by all the sensory stimulation and noise from the people around me. They would talk too loudly or wear too much perfume or have a distracting habit which would prevent me from being able to pay attention to what they were saying. And don’t get me started on eye contact! That was painful, almost a physical revulsion. We autistics use so many different ways of picking up cues that such a direct line of communication feels like a straight shot of heroin into a vein. Not a high, but more like an electric shock to the system. How I hated the drills where I would have to make eye contact for seconds at a time! I used to be so resistant to that work, but couldn’t tell them why. Now eye contact is no big deal for me, and I think I use it pretty well.
Finding a way to communicate has made all the difference in the world. It made it possible for me to attend school and get a job, only I have to have more supports than my peers. But is that so terrible? I think it makes for a more interesting world. I mean, I think we need to make space for everyone who wants to work and has a special interest or skill. It takes some coordination and a lot of patience from everyone, but ultimately, it’s so worth it. I wish I could have started at the age of twelve in what was the start of my Trader Joe’s obsession!
Having an education means nothing if you don’t use it in your professional life. At least, that’s what seems logical to me. Why go to school in the first place if you can’t do something later in life that interests you?
I remember a video I watched about Fairview Training Center in Salem and the people who lived there. I think that place was like hell on earth, yet the people who were eventually placed in community housing when it was being closed still managed to be positive and hopeful about their futures.
This is our strength as a community. We often don’t get the education that our non-disabled peers get; we don’t get the jobs that are meaningful to us; we don’t get to live on our own and experience what that feels like. But we still keep hope that things will get better. I think this comes from having heard the message of not being good enough all our lives. I mean not being good enough students to belong with the other students in a regular class; not good enough athletes to play on a regular team; not good enough friends to be invited to someone’s birthday party.
When you hear that message enough times, of course, you start to believe it. And a hope springs from that place – a hope that someone will see past those imposed limits and move with you into a new purpose. One that values you as a person and sees your disability as a part of who you are but not your entire identity.
Nothing feels better than having someone value you as a person rather than a disability. It is remarkable that in this day and age, we still have people who don’t feel like first class citizens in this country. My biggest fear is that we are returning to a time where people with disabilities are relegated to the outskirts of society and have even fewer choices of where to work, live, or go to school. This would be disastrous for millions of people with disabilities and their families. Leaving us out of the conversation about our futures has to become something our community no longer tolerates. People with disabilities need to inject themselves into discussions on every level: local, state, federal, and even internationally. We are the largest minority group in America – let’s start acting like it.
It is so important for us to be visible in the community. I like to think of being at work as an act of rebellion. You might wonder about that description… Just think about how many disabled people you see in your community – I mean, those of us who have serious challenges that impact our ability to be independent adults. I bet you don’t see them very often, do you? I know I don’t, and I look for them constantly because I am a striped unicorn surrounded by horses. I want to be part of a herd, any herd, but especially part of one that knows exactly what it’s like to be a unicorn. That feeling of belonging is the main force driving me onward and motivating me to try new and uncomfortable things. I want so desperately to belong to a group of people who, in turn, have my back. Not out of pity or because they get paid to care, but people who love me and value that which I have to offer. I bet that those of you here who have a disability feel the same.
I am so glad to be able to share my thoughts with you today and connect with other advocates around disability issues. Yes, I mean it when I say advocates. Because that is what you are when you live the life you want without apology. That is who you are when you are out in the world where your disability is on display, and you are totally fine with it. I have days when I wish I could blend into the herd and not be the most autistic person in the room. Totally normal, and with a girl by my side! Alas, that still hasn’t happened, but I am a patient guy.
It seems like I should be satisfied with what I already have, but I am not. I want to have what my peers take for granted: a good job and the white picket fence where my wife’s planted some beautiful flowers that we enjoy on the way to taking our kids to school. I am no different from you in my desire to be loved and offer love to someone else. I ask each of you here today to dream that dream for yourself or for the people you work with so that they may attain it someday. It is incredibly important to believe in the future of people with disabilities and that they be given a chance to have the very outcomes that we all desire.
I’d like to share a story about a time when I felt the normalcy of that dream. I was fifteen, and a lot of my fellow classmates had started experimenting with drugs and getting romantic with other students. I wanted so badly to experience both of those things, but also worried what pot would do to my autistic brain. I had a good friend who was also a bit of a troublemaker and smoked cigarettes at the time. We cut out of class a bit early to go to a nearby park and hang out. I felt so normal and accepted, which was foreign to me, actually, but I loved feeling like I was someone’s confidante. I loved it so much that when we finally returned to school, I told Stormy, my paraeducator, that I’d smoked cigarettes and not to tell my mom. Of course she did, and the blow up I was expecting never came. Instead, my mom was, bizarrely, excited and proud. She thought it was a great milestone of sorts! Like her, I was pleased to have a friend who accepted me for who I was and didn’t try to make me normal.
That’s how I feel about Trader Joe’s. They’ve known me for years and know I’m autistic, and hired me anyways. I believe I was hired because the company respects the diversity of its employees. They have taught me new skills while keeping in mind that I may need more time and different roles from other employees. The thing is, this approach works! After all, we are not robots, and possess different skills and interests. A business is smart if it recognizes that and plays to people’s strengths. Trader Joe’s definitely does that! On any given day, you’ll find me stocking orange juice or facing granola bars, two of my favorite activities. My team knows that as long as I can do these things, I am happy and willing to do almost anything else. For example, I really don’t care about the tea section, but if I had to, I would organize it so that I could do the orange juice. Again, it’s all about what motivates you to do your best.
Earlier this month, I learned an important lesson about flexibility. With it being the start of school, suddenly I could no longer work Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. There was a miscommunication with work, and when I showed up for work on Friday, I wasn’t on the schedule. They said I couldn’t clock in, and I lost my shit. With every cell in my body, I wanted to work, to return to the place that celebrated my consistency, especially after a long and hard week. And I couldn’t. For a while after that, my reaction was one of feeling like I’d done something wrong. And my mom put it this way: while it sucked, it also gave me the chance to experience when stuff like that happens, and in her work experience, it happened a lot. So now I will probably react less harshly when snafus occur, and will hopefully take them in stride.
So there you have it: the start of what will be a long and prosperous work experience. Charging forward is my modus operandi, and I will make my workplace a better place for autistics. Most importantly, I will change the tone of the conversation about the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. I was part of this conversation in the beginning as a marginal player – now it’s my turn to lead it forward and shape my future into what I want it to be. Please join me in making this possible by advocating for fair and appropriate jobs for everyone. Thank you.
niko boskovic 