How can employers accommodate autism

My last post was an e-mail about my employment history, in the response e-mail the woman replied that it is very hard for aspergers in the workforce because employers, CEOs, managers and co-workers need to be more informed of the situation.  She then asked how I heard about all the jobs that I have landed, how the interviews went and how I felt during the interviews and what kind of accommodations should be made in the workplace for person's with Aspergers/autism.  This post is a copy of that reply.  If you agree or disagree with what accommodations I suggested please feel free to comment and if you have any other suggestions please submit that too.  This is a woman presenting a case for all persons with Aspergers/autism in the workforce and the more power she has going up to the plate the better chances she has of knocking it out of the park.  Please work with us.

This is my reply to her questions:

In High school a lot of my other friends had jobs in the fast food business and restaurants for extra cash so I put in my application at Burger King because that's the easiest start when you are sixteen.  While I was starting my senior year I was recruited by an Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps recruiters due to my high ASVAB scores (92 of 99) and I chose to go the Navy route because the recruiter told me about many jobs that interested me, one was as a nuclear engineer but at that point I didn't want to spend the time to endure the 6 years of training and schooling so the second choice was as an Operations Specialist in which navigation (electronic and celestial) was part of the primary function.  I have always enjoyed looking up at the stars and triangulating to find out where in the world I was so that was my obvious choice of job.  When I ended assignment with the Navy I found out about the sub shop from my friend and Target was in the same mall.  Also while working at the sub shop there was a security guard that was a regular and got me an application.  As far as KraftMaid, my brother in-law and about 20 other people that I went to school with were working there so I got an application.  Home Depot I just walked in and Therm-O-Link I answered to an ad in the paper.  Minerals Technologies (Minteq Intl.) was a job that my dad got for me and Johnsonite was through a temp agency.  With Minteq I was not interviewed, the shop supervisor said that if I was anything like my dad then I should be alright.  At the other interviews I felt very nervous because I didn't know how to respond to any of the questions and always felt like I did really horrible at them.  I am terrified of interviews because I think there is always one question that they ask and I am going to answer it wrong because of my honesty.  I agree with the education and quiet room.  A lot of the jobs the reason that I fail is because co-workers are not on the same page as me due to a lack of education and the people that I can hold conversations with are the engineers and persons higher up that are more educated and those are the kinds of jobs that I need to get into because then I would be in a field in which everyone thinks the same way that I do however I do not have any degrees because I can not afford it and aspergers is not seen widely as a disability so I can't receive grants.  I believe people with aspergers should be able to be assessed for positions that fit their physical and mental strengths and then match that along courses they would need to pursue a job based on those strengths and receive grants to obtain those courses.  Also all employers should be required to understand autism/aspergers and have posted somewhere near where the labor laws are posted a description of the syndrome to get the other employees acclimated to the disability so they can adjust how they speak with that individual and provide punishment for anyone that antagonizes an autistic/aspie person to see a reaction.  Also there should be a card that the individual with aspergers should be able to carry with them that states their diagnosis that they can present to possible employers such as medical cards that are carried by persons with AIDS, diabetes, deafness and other disabilities that cards are issued for.  It should also be equally recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as someone that is deaf, blind or missing an arm.  Employers should also allow for a person a quiet area to vent or stim (spin, jump, yell, etc.) when they feel an overload as many of us get an overload with bright lights or crowds.  Also tinted glasses should be allowed for aspies to help filter out the artificial light and take off some of the sensory overload.  There are many more accommodations that can be made and if I think of any other useful ones I will let you know.  I know a thing that works for my son in school when he has sensory overloads is a rubber band that he snaps and color sheets.  If there are more questions please just ask, for that is how I communicate.  I am not good at volunteering information unless it is asked, however I am not good at stopping my answers so I am sorry for making these so long and I appreciate you taking the time to read it and care and take concern but sometimes I just don't know when to stop.  Thanks again and feel free to ask anything else you need.