The fabulous (employment) story of Youssef and Arnaud

People with autism don’t usually fare very well in job interviews. In the story that follows, the protagonists have decided to do things differently. Here is the story of Youssef and Arnaud, two high-level autistic young people who were looking for a job that suited them and matched their skills.

A library is a high place of reading, knowledge and culture. And a library is calm, clean, orderly. Things are even listed there. “It’s really a place where our young people feel good,” summarizes Céline Aillerie, seated in a meeting room of the Grande Bibliothèque, in the Latin Quarter, in Montreal.

Céline Aillerie is a counselor for the non-profit organization Autisme Sans Limites. Its “young people” are autistic adults aged 18 to 35 who have one thing in common: they all have a high level of cognitive and social functioning. They are quick-witted (often very, very quick-witted), but they need support to develop their skills and autonomy, which the organization provides. And who says autonomy says… employment.

The Autisme Sans Limites team therefore saw the Grande Bibliothèque as a potential super employer. She visited it twice, in the past, and knew one thing: when her young people went there, the magic operated. Would the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec (BAnQ) team accept to offer an internship to some of its young people to check whether, yes or no, they would do the trick as employees?

Skip the interview

Autism Unlimited prefers the internship to the traditional job interview, which requires good social and communication skills. Which is not the great strength of autistic people. “Very few are doing well and it’s a bit of our frustration,” says Céline Aillerie. Employers don’t get a chance to actually see the skills of our young people. »

Arnaud Roy-Johnson, 21, agrees.

Youssef Fishere, who had a diagnosis of Asperger in the last years, notices it too. “A lot of people tend to sell themselves in interviews, but it’s not a skill that I have or that I learned,” summarizes the young man of 28 years.

Fingers crossed, the Autisme Sans Limites team attempted an approach at BAnQ last spring. And the stars were devilishly aligned.

“Our human resources department contacted me to ask me if I was interested in integrating interns into my team,” says Stéphanie Quer, head of the subscription and borrowing department at the Grande Bibliothèque. His answer ? Yes. Absolutely. At BAnQ, she said, discussions were underway to see how to get more members of diversity. It should also be noted that the organization may well offer good unionized jobs, but it is not immune to the labor shortage.

BAnQ had one wish: that Autisme Sans Limites interveners offer awareness workshops to its employees, which the organization hastened to do. Because that’s also the crux of the war: giving the employer the tools to communicate well with young people and to use their skills well. The watchwords: benevolence, transparency, clarity. “These are young people for whom everything that is implicit is not well understood, so you have to be clear, not to be left unsaid, in the expected social conventions”, summarizes Céline Aillerie, herself a mother of an autistic child.

Review procedures

An employee produced memory aids for future trainees, detailing step-by-step procedures, with supporting photos. The team took the opportunity to clean up its working methods (which, in the end, was beneficial for everyone).

Library clerk Stéphane Courtois volunteered to mentor the interns (with the support of a worker from Autisme Sans Limites). “A little voice said to me: go ahead, do it,” says Stéphane Courtois, who did not know anyone with autism and who did not know what to expect.

In May, the three new interns – Youssef Fishere, Arnaud Roy-Johnson and Marc L’Heureux – arrived through the front door of the Grande Bibliothèque, ready to learn the job of library clerk.

Learnings and surprises

Stéphane Courtois, library clerk, admits it: at the start, he was a little stressed himself. He especially wondered how his jokes would be received by his proteges, knowing that people with autism can have difficulty grasping double meanings. Marc L’Heureux is of a more serious nature, but Stéphane Courtois discovered in Youssef Fishere and Arnaud Roy-Johnson laughing young men. “That was my big surprise: I make them laugh, they make me laugh too,” he says.

They started with tasks outside the public, such as emptying bins in the sorting room and activating reserved documents. When passing from The PressYoussef and Arnaud were precisely harnessed to this task: it is a question of scanning books and discs, of inserting a sheet there according to a precise technique, and of classifying them in alphabetical order on a trolley.

This task may seem simple for a neurotypical person, but it presented challenges for the trainees. For Arnaud, it was a matter of fine motor skills: he had trouble folding the paper according to the expected technique. No problem: Stéphane Courtois broke up the steps of folding the paper, and Arnaud ended up taking the trick. As for Youssef, he initially had difficulty seeing the alphabetical order in his head. At first he used a plug. “Because singing the alphabet each time takes a long time! laughs Youssef.

Youssef and Arnaud were both excited and stressed to begin the final stage of their internship: user service. Arnaud was in his very first work experience. Youssef, for his part, had had “not so good” experiences in the past. “I was a little worried, I was a little scared,” he says. He also had several questions. What are the usual greetings? How long do you have to talk to a user? Youssef took the bull by the horns: he borrowed a book on customer service… which taught him a lot.

progress

Stéphane Courtois observed with pride the progression of his protégés. “Youssef has this ease of talking to people that still surprises me,” he says. Arnaud is also doing very well. “He is polite, gets along well with his colleagues…”, observes Stéphane Courtois. “But I wasn’t saying goodbye!” “Says Arnaud, laughing too. (We like to think that on the inside, he also laughs a bit at all those social conventions that neurotypical people impose on themselves.)

Stéphane “fell under the spell” of his three interns. He is even considering getting more involved with autistic people, perhaps through volunteering. “What I like is that they don’t play games. They are genuine,” he says.

After their six-week internship, Youssef, Arnaud and Marc replaced employees for the summer holidays. Subsequently, Marc’s availability did not correspond to the offer of the timetable blocks of the Grande Bibliothèque, but Arnaud, who is doing a technical in documentation, continues to work on weekends. As for Youssef, he obtained a permanent post in the fall. His progress has been “dazzling”, notes Stéphanie Quer, the head of the service.

Do they want to stay and pursue a career at BAnQ? “I want to work here for a few years, but how long? I don’t know,” says Arnaud, who immediately turns to Youssef. “Are you here for 40 years? Youssef smiles and nods. Everyone around the table burst out laughing.

“That’s what I like about the Grande Bibliothèque, it’s that it’s very concrete. The tasks are specific. This book, I give it to you, you give it back to me, I put it on the shelf, ”says Youssef, who studied sound engineering. He discovered a keen interest in… customer service. “Now I would say it’s my favorite task. Because it allows me to learn the nuances, to expose myself to the world,” says Youssef, who had trouble making friends as a teenager. The lessons he has learned in recent years, particularly through Autism Without Limits workshops, have made him progress, both socially and professionally and in love, he says.

According to Céline Aillerie, autistic people want have social interactions, but what makes them hesitate is that they are aware that they do not grasp everything. Social intuition, she says, they don’t have: they have to learn it, build it.

When she looks at Youssef and Arnaud, who are now flying on their own at the Grande Bibliothèque, Céline Aillerie sees two young men in their place. “I just feel confident in them. Same thing for Stéphanie Quer: “Each time I meet Youssef, he has a lively wanderlust and a big smile. I look at him and I think to myself, “That’s a happy employee.” »

The initiative will spawn. The subscription and loan service now wishes to welcome new super interns. Other BAnQ departments, which have heard of this great integration, are also showing interest. “We’ll meet soon,” said Stéphanie Quer, smiling.