Khizar Gets Experience With His First Summer Job

October 11, 2022

Khizar is a young man diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

Working Together participant Khizar

When he joined Neil Squire鈥檚 Working Together program, he had no employment experience and hoped to obtain a summer student position.

He wanted to work on his time management, assertiveness, sleep hygiene, and general social skills. Khizar can struggle with communication. Though he speaks well, he can lose focus.

The Career Facilitator needed to be creative when it came to completing his resume. They decided to use a PowerPoint resume as a way to introduce him to a prospective employer.

Through working with the Working Together team, Khizar identified the learning strategies that worked best for him. He also discovered that he needs a quiet place to learn and that he responds well to direct communication and instruction.

Armed with good information to share with an employer, a local museum was contacted to see if there might be an opportunity for summer employment there. The employer was willing to hire him for two shifts per week. They needed someone to scan postcards and file them digitally to a USB.

Khizar was a perfect fit for the position. The job provided him with an opportunity to practice his time management skills and to practice good sleep hygiene to prepare for work. He developed a great routine and was prepared and ready to work his scheduled shifts. He also learned how to follow a schedule and manage breaks.

It was a great opportunity to reinforce what he learned at Neil Squire. Khizar is back in school and ready to face grade 9 with the additional skills that he鈥檚 learned. We wish him success in his first year of high school and can鈥檛 wait to see what he does next.