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By MELISSA PIONZIO, mpionzio@courant.com

7:49 AM CDT, September 25, 2010

WINDSOR — – Almost no one has an easy time finding work in this economy. But those with an autism spectrum disorder have a unique challenge in any job climate.

People with the disorder generally lack the “soft” skills required to fit into a work environment: the ability to connect with co-workers, to read people’s signals, to understand their own place in the overall work operation and to behave accordingly.

Lois Rosenwald, the mother of an adult son with autism, is familiar with these challenges, which is one reason why, 15 years ago, she founded the CT Autism Spectrum Resource Center in Wallingford. Rosenwald is one of many advocates who say we need to figure out now how to help people with autism, in large part because their numbers are growing.

The national Centers for Disease Control estimates that one child in every 110 today falls somewhere on the autism spectrum.

“One in every 110 people, that is beyond significant!” Rosenwald said. “We are not looking at this, and we are not planning for the future.”

The smattering of state programs that focus on adults with autism are helpful, but inadequate in both numbers served and help provided, Rosenwald and other activists say. “Our folks, like most folks with disabilities, are not getting the services that they need,” she said.

People with autism “are coming out of high school not prepared to work,” she said, “and the [state] … gets them and doesn’t know what to do with them.”

The recent experiences of two Windsor men, both of whom have Asperger’s syndrome, a mild variant of the disorder, underscore how hard it is for adults with autism to navigate this economy to find jobs that can help them find their place in society.

Patrick Walsh

As a child, Walsh, now 49, relied largely on his parents and six siblings to protect and advocate for him. They were not easy years.

“Grammar school was tough,” his father, Jack Walsh, recalled. “Kids tied him to a fence with a rope, they picked on him and made fun of him. I went and watched recess time and saw what happened.”

At Windsor High School, Walsh took auto mechanics and engine-repair classes and he gained the respect of his classmates, he said. But those skills didn’t immediately lead to employment after graduation, and he didn’t consider college to be an option.

Walsh got a job in a mail room at Aetna, where he worked for 13 years before he was laid off. With the help of his sister, he obtained a position at Raytel, a medical-equipment company, working there for another 13 years before being laid off in the spring of 2009.

He was a good employee.

“He was dependable, he was there every day, the kind of guy that helped out no matter what you asked him to do,” said Dennis Conroy, Raytel’s former human-resources director. “In all the years that I worked there, I don’t remember him missing more than a day or two. As far as Patrick was concerned, he was a great employee and a great kid.”

Walsh lives with his parents, both in their 80s. And even with the help of a mentor provided through a small state program and employment counseling through the state’s Bureau of Rehabilitative Services, re-employment has eluded him.

His father tries to help his son with mock job interviews. “A few times I’ve gone out with him on job interviews,” said the older man. “They just kind of give him the runaround. There are so many people looking for work.”

Read in Full:  http://www.the33tv.com/health/hc-autistic-adults-0925-20100924,0,4883945.story