Dear Liz,
Congratulations on your successful appointment to the position of "Autism Parent." We understand you may be confused by this appointment, as you never actually applied for the post in the first place. You may also be concerned that there are no contact details in this letter, so you cannot write, call or email us to turn the position down. Your concerns are to be expected and will lessen over time.
However, we would like to make clear right away that being an autism parent is a mandatory post with a lifetime contract. There is no option to refuse the job, negotiate terms and conditions or take a career break. It is a financially unpaid post with no paid sick leave. You may be able to job share your role with a partner or family members. You must make any such arrangements yourself.
Qualifications
As this is a training post, the only essential qualification required is to be a parent of a child with autism.
Essential personal qualities and experience
None. Autism parents are not special people. You may look at your fellow autism parent colleagues and think, "Wow, they are amazing." It is important to remember that they, like you, do not have the option to suddenly stop being an autism parent. THey persevere, they laugh, they cry and they celebrate. They do the job because they have to. They become "special" because of the extensive on-the-job training they receive as part of being an autism parent (see below).
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To finish reading the full letter, visit The Mighty website: http://bit.ly/1QK8RiB.
