Rudy Simone is the author of three books on Asperger syndrome, all best-sellers. Asperger’s on the Job: Must-Have Advice for People with Asperger’s or High-Functioning Autism, and their Employers, Educators, and Advocates (Future Horizons 2010) has a foreword by the legendary Temple Grandin and has recently won ForeWord Review’s Book of the Year Gold medal (career category). Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger’s Syndrome (Jessica Kingsley 2010) foreword by Liane Holliday Willey, credited with being the first ‘handbook’ for females on the spectrum, has just won the Independent Publishers’ Gold Medal (sex/relationships category) and received honorable mention from Foreword Review in the category of women’s issues.
22 Things a Woman Must Know if She Loves a Man with Asperger Syndrome (Jessica Kingsley 2009) has been translated into Japanese and Ms. Simone is now writing another 22 things book about females on the spectrum in relationships.
Rudy also penned My Life with Puddleglum, an essay published in the book
Voices of Autism (LaChance NY 2008) and the foreword for both Asperger’s in Pink (Julie Clark, Future Horizons 2010) which is a mother’s story and a guide for parents with school-age girls with Aspergers and HFA and the Aspie Teen Survival Guide (JD Krause, Future Horizons 2011).
Ms. Simone has been interviewed by Time Magazine, the NY Times, the Sunday Times (London) the Telegraph, the London Daily Mail and other publications and radio stations. She blogs professionally for Psychology Today, and her column has had a quarter million hits since she began in October 2010. Rudy uses a grass-roots approach to reaching her readers through her websites and online social networks. Her books are known for cutting to the real issues facing people on the spectrum, through thorough research and a lifetime of living with the syndrome.
Rudy is an engaging, informative and entertaining speaker at autism conferences and workshops, and can speak on a variety of issues, from managing sensory overload to career choices to social skills.

She promotes a ‘cultural exchange’: understanding and acceptance of differences between the autistic and non-autistic population as a way of getting people with AS into work and into the world.
Prior to making Asperger Education and Awareness her personal calling, Rudy was an editor and journalist. She is also a novelist, standup comic and jazz singer. Her music and comedy can be seen in an upcoming Asperger’s documentary called Too Sane For This World, a film by William Davenport and Sean Paul Sullivan.

Presentation Topics
Asperger’s and Employment:
People on the spectrum comprise an underemployed population and this has consequences on their mental and physical health as well as their families and communities. This workshop discusses:
• The three main hindrances to finding and keeping gainful employment: Understanding the social, sensory and cognitive issues in the workplace…and their solutions
• The highly marketable traits inherent in Asperger Syndrome
• Avoiding the cycle of numerous stops and starts common to those on the spectrum
Choosing the right career path: (45 min – 1 hour)*
• Using the Personal Job Map to choose the right career: understanding the significance of special interests (obsessions) and triggers in career choice, job satisfaction, and longevity
• Navigating the challenges of, and choosing options for, higher education
• Managing the interview process
• Making and keeping professional commitments


How to Have a Successful Relationship When One or Both Partners Has Aspergers:
Relationships are never easy, but when one (or both) is on the spectrum, there are different needs, behaviors, expectations and norms when it comes to such things as dating, touching, intimacy, shared activities, living together, having children. Women in relationships with AS men often feel frustrated that they are not getting the communication they need while the men may feel equally frustrated at the
demands placed upon him. Men in a relationship with AS women may find them demanding and critical, highly strung and sensitive. AS women may find that while they may want love and companionship, they want it on their own terms.
This workshop is for partners of AS people, and AS people looking to improve their relationship skills. It is also appropriate for supportive family members and professionals.

Female Aspergers: How it is different and why it matters
Three things make it very difficult for AS females to be diagnosed correctly and to have that diagnosis taken seriously.
• Being good at adapting and mimicking acceptable social behavior
• Possessing a high level of ‘fluid intelligence’. This gives AS females the appearance of being ‘capable.’
• Being compared to spectrum males Female Asperger’s syndrome can be much harder to spot than male AS. Sometimes the deficits are latent until the onset of puberty. Some topics discussed include:
Early savant skills, learning deficits, giftedness, obsessions, mutism, puberty, emotional vs. intellectual maturity, soothing behaviors, tics, the school experience, friendships, bullying, stomach issues, attraction, gender roles and identity, guilt, dealing with change, sensory issues, socializing, relationships, having children, gender/identity issues, marriage/cohabitation, ritual and routine, bluntness, empathy, being misunderstood, depression, anxiety, stress, meltdowns, diagnosis, medication.
A life without the correct diagnosis and follow up support, can be debilitating and discouraging and makes it difficult for us to maintain the basics—jobs, home, relationships, family, etc.


Costs
EarlyBird Registration
$150 per person
$195 per person after 19 November

Presentations are suitable for
people with Asperger syndrome, parents, employers, teachers, clinicians, psychologists.
All material presented is relevant to both males and females.

Venues

Auckland      21 November 2011 -  Waipuna Hotel
Wellington    30 November  2011 - Mercure Willis Street
Christchurch 28 November 2011-   Venue to be confirmed


Time
9am - 4pm

Email info@solutionsnz.com for a Registration form