• Extreme difficulty in learning language

• Problems with verbal and nonverbal communication

• Impaired social interaction

• Inappropriate response to people. May avoid eye contact or seem tuned out

• Extreme resistance to change

• Extreme hyperactivity or unusual passivity

• Unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests

• Repetitive body movements; i.e. pacing, hand flicking, twisting, spinning, rocking, or hitting oneself

• Unusual attachment to inanimate objects

• Abnormal responses to light, sound, touch, smell, taste, movement

The extreme diversity of people with ASD and the enormous variations of features and behaviors among people with ASD do not provide vocational rehabilitation professionals with clear diagnostic criteria with which to understand a particular individual with ASD. Autism ranges in severity from a handicap that limits an otherwise normal life to a devastating disability requiring institutional care. Autism is a broad spectrum disorder with the range and grade of symptoms varying from one individual to another. One cannot assume that one person with ASD is just like another.

An adult who has not had the benefit of treatment, therapy, and/or social training will often be unable to work or hold a job. An adult with ASD, even mild autism, may have reclusive tendencies and not want an association with others. They are unable to comprehend the intricacies of social behavior and relating to others in a work environment. They may want relationships with others, but they lack the ability to enter into personal relationships.

They may be obsessed with one subject or object. They may repeatedly bring a conversation back to the subject of their interest in inappropriate situations or stare for hours at an inanimate object or thing. If they are forced away from a routine or schedule or put in a social situation without preparation, they will often panic or become angry.

An adult with ASD may experience great anxiety in situations that would be acceptable to people without ASD. It may be something as simple as moving an object they have designated as its "place" or taking them to a different location from the one to which they are accustomed.

They may have repetitive body movements that are disruptive to their fellow employees. At times they may act as if they are deaf, unwilling to react to the spoken word. An adult with ASD may be unusually sensitive to light, sound, touch, smell, taste, or movement.

More than likely the person you will be interviewing will have mild autism with normal to above average intelligence. They will probably have had some special education, behavior modification therapy, and/or speech, physical, or occupational therapy (this will be particularly true in younger adults). These treatments may have allowed the person to develop fairly normally and may have reduced some of the undesirable behaviors. However, the person may still be reclusive and unable to relate to others. They may also have problems with verbal and nonverbal communication.

You may consider breaking the interviews into several sessions. The person may not be able to handle during one session all of the questions you will want to ask.

The person may be unusually sensitive to light, noise, smell, or movement. For this reason, you may want to conduct the interview in a room with dim lighting. The room should be buffered from ringing telephones, employee chatter, and other noises that may impact the person. It would be best if there were no windows so that sunlight or movement from outside does not draw the attention of the interviewee. The interview should probably not be conducted in a coffee room, in or near a cafeteria, or other places that emit strong smells.