"Employment support for people with developmental disabilities"

Some people with adult developmental disorders and gray zones have features of the autism spectrum that are less pronounced, personality disorders, and social phobia.

Personality disorders and social phobia are mental disorders and are subject to medical treatment. The goal of medical treatment is to eliminate the person's bad points (cure) so that the person can lead a normal life. The therapist (doctors and therapists) asks the patient to lead a regular life, accept disability, and deal with it. The idea that problems and disabilities exist within the individual, and that he or she will find it difficult to lead a normal life unless he or she tackles the problem by himself or herself (therapy) is called "medical model".

At the other end of the spectrum is the "social model". The social model is "Disability is caused by social problems". I had an experience in Germany where I could not get on a train and buy a ticket because I didn't understand German, and I almost got lost. An elderly man passing by bought me a ticket and gave me a ride on the train. I repeated "KORUUN (SMILE)" to tell the man where to go. The only German I knew was "Kolun (Köln)". In the medical model, I have a problem because I can't speak German. In the social model, there is a problem with German stations that don't have English signs.

The autism spectrum itself is not a disease. In other words, the autism spectrum itself is not a mental disorder. Do many autism spectrum supporters see the medical model, the problem, as the person? Does the caregiver require the person to follow the doctor's instructions and deal with his or her problems?

People are generally known to overlook negative behaviors and traits. This is called negative bias in psychology. For a person, negative behavior is not following the rules of the group: A negative characteristic is that the conversation doesn't respond as you expect. When people are faced with autistic spectrum people, they tend to focus only on these autistic spectrum problem behaviors and characteristics. At the same time, many people may not be aware that people are overlooking the positive behaviors and characteristics of people with autism spectrum disorders.

Group homes run by the NPO Mind.Recovery are apartments with private rooms, where each person lives alone in a single room or a private room in a condominium. Many of the people living here have been diagnosed with autism or developmental disabilities and are seeking employment. At the meal meeting at the platform, each person voluntarily serves and tidies up. We enjoy chatting and eating while taking care of myself without anyone else's instructions. Many overlook the spontaneous and positive behaviors and characteristics of people with autism spectrum disorders.

"In my experience, what they need most is an opportunity to prove their value." Richard Bremer, Goldman Sachs International. ("To hire people with Asperger's syndrome" - An Autism Society Guide to Practice - Introduction.)

Companies around the world are moving away from CSR, which is a social contribution based on the employment of disabled people, and are making profits by taking advantage of their high abilities in the autism spectrum. Companies that create jobs that focus on the positive features of the autism spectrum are making money in the midst of a recession. Focusing on the positive features of the autism spectrum may be a negative bias that goes against human psychology. It takes effort to focus on and utilize the strength of autism. Companies that continue this effort and challenge will be able to take advantage of people with autism and make a big profit.