TSA May Have Perfect Job for Autistic Workers, According to Study

Think of the times when you've had to carry out a repetitive, boring task. Now recall how quickly your mind began to wander.

That is a significant problem in many real-world jobs, and is a special challenge for Transportation Security Administration baggage screeners at airports, who have to look at hundreds of X-rayed bags, trying to pick out dangerous objects from jumbles of hair dryers, toiletries, socks and shoes.

It may be, though, that one group is naturally better suited to this task -- people with autism.

Opinion: Look at the Person, Not the Disability

Peter Ripley

Peter Ripley wrote this column for the Peninsula Daily News. Ripley, 52, has arthrogryposis, a congenital joint disorder that makes him unable to walk. 

 As we commemorate National Disability Employment Awareness Month this month, we need to reflect on far we've come, and still need go, to overcome barriers to employment for the disabled.

My story is about how I overcame adversity, the challenges I was born with ­— and the challenges which were placed on me by others because of underestimation and ignorance of not knowing how to treat someone with a disability in regard to employment.