Autism and Interviews: Mindful!

The application process was slow.  I picked up the application.  Ryan and I read through all the pages.  We found the requirements, and Ryan and I agreed what the required steps would be.  We agreed what he could do on his own, and what he might need help to accomplish.  We set deadlines.  The plan was set.

Until deadlines passed.

One of the first items we addressed was who to ask for letters of recommendation.  We needed three, and those three had to fulfill different requirements set in the application form.  We obtained the first one easily as that was a family friend.

The second was given to a teacher.  I put a post-it on it with our personal deadline--three days ahead of the application deadline.  Our lives were busy, and the initial day passed.  I asked Ryan if he received the letter of recommendation from his teacher.  Nope.  I reminded him to get it.  The next day he forgot.  I texted him the following day, and I emailed the teacher.  Ryan received it.  We had one day left.

Ryan had to write a page describing several aspects of himself.  Having autism, he wrote everything within four sentences.  Four hundred words were required.  Elaboration was needed.  Ryan knew what that meant.  His little brother sang a song when he was in second or third grade.  The words to that song:  elaboration means tell me more.  Ryan understood that.  How can he write more?  Why was it needed?  He has expressed himself concisely. He answered each question.

The first question he answered--he answered with:  I have autism.  That means I don't like to talk with people.

Blunt.  Honest.  I wondered how that would go over to his reading audience.  Most papers probably described each applicant's career plans and how each will conquer poverty and achieve world peace.  Not my son's.  He just says he doesn't want to talk with people.  Hmm.

Ryan wanted to be a writer, but he couldn't elaborate about himself.  Oh yeah.  Lots of steps.  We worked on this like an English assignment.  We wrote out the who, why, where, when, what, and how questions.  We added prepositional phrases.  Then we wrote out clauses, and we expanded the ideas.  Talk about stretching.  Physically and mentally, it was a workout.

But we had it done, and we turned it in about two hours before the deadline.  Whew.

A few weeks later, we received a call, saying that he was a finalist.  He needed to schedule an interview.  YEA.  That brings us to his interview last Sunday.  And we await the results.

Ryan is hopeful.  So am I!

Autism and Interviews: Mindboggling!

Ryan with new shades--after the interview

Ryan had an interview today for a college scholarship.  He dressed up and arrived well before his appointed time.  Since the person scheduled before him didn’t show up, Ryan went early.  I think that was a blessing.  Less time to get nervous.

I prayed Ryan would talk.  Nothing like being in an interview when the applicant won’t talk!  My imagination cringed.  What was happening in there?  I worried about stupid questions that weren’t questions, like, “Tell us about yourself.”  Ryan can answer questions with no problem, but talk about generalities or relay a bunch of information?  Not so much.

Since I drove Ryan to the interview, I waited on a bench not too far away.  I tried to distract myself by reading.  I read a page.  Then reread it.  On the third go-round, Ryan plopped next to me.  Maybe ten minutes had passed.

I asked if it was done.  He replied casually, “Yep.”  I didn’t want to make too big a deal of this, but I was so curious.  Keeping in mind that this was probably mentally exhausting for Ryan, I asked one more question, “Did you talk?”  His response, “Yep.”

Now we wait for the results.