Asperger Syndrome and Employment
Asperger Syndrome And Employment: What People With Asperger Syndrome Really Really Want
By Sarah Hendrickx
Again, perhaps a more open-ended forum that discusses employment issues, including NT/AS issues in the workplace? That might draw more activity. Even a "strange or humorous work stories" thread might be fun.
I want a job related to my graduate degree. I have a history of successfully obtaining jobs -- but those are always far below par, so to speak. I never was able to obtain employment relative to my undergraduate degree, and am not having any better luck with my graduate one, which is highly disappointing (especially considering how much it cost!).
I'm working with a counselor from my state's Vocational Rehabilitation program, but it's SLOW going. So far, it just seems that I get an IPE with my employemnt goal on it, and some direction of where to look. But, I already knew my goal, and I've not been given anywhere new to look. They did renew a membership for me, which is associated with what I want to do, and I appreciate that... but I'm still stuck in an extremely poorly paying job: a grocery store cashier with her BA and MBA (specialised).
All the jobs I've looked into that match what I want to do want me to have a minimum of 5 years experience. I have the degree but not experience .. but I need the job to get experience. A real catch-22.
I don't do real interviews well, and I don't know what to do about that. I've aced every mock interview I've ever done, so those (and other forms of role play) do not help me.
For the most part, I do fine with my co-workers, patronizing folks aside, but interacting with so many customers is exhausting! Surely there must be some job in my field that focuses on research (something I generally excel in) and not on phone/customer interaction?
I know what I want, I just don't know how to get it.
If I could design a job for myself - this is what I would REALLY, REALLY want.
I would want to use my education (psychology), my past work experience (social work), my parenting experience, and my unique brain - all together.
I would want to interact with people 1:1.
I would really get to know people with autism, over time, and do the small nice things for them that matter - like send the kind of special birthday card that would make them happy, or send an extra email on a difficult day, or remind them that they are special for no reason, or encourage them to follow their dreams.
In this fantasy job that I have created in my mind, a very wealthy individual set up some sort of trust, or grant, that is accessed to provide my "support" services - and all I need to do is get to know people, support them - online preferably - and receive a paycheck so that I can pay my own bills.
That is what I REALLY, REALLY want.
I like the way you think. 
Your fantasy job sounds really cool.
I ALSO can't imagine working right now.
I have given up on all my fantasies at this point. I wanted to go to med school and be a doctor. Like a neurologist or something like that. But that wasn't possible so I went to grad school in psychology because it was the only grad program I could get into. I didn't make it through the program because of the clinical part and basically went nuts and became totally disabled. Now I really have no idea. I have been able to get jobs that are minimum wage but never been able to keep them. Too many sensory issues. I would have meltdowns at work etc...
I wish I could be a researcher or work in some sort of lab or something. I wish I could be a neuroscientist. But my LD issues make it so I just get Cs or Ds in pretty much every science class I take. Oh well that's life I guess.
Unfortunately, I *need* a job to pay bills, but the only jobs I'm able to get are on the LOW end of the pay scale, and I can barely pay the bills I have (sometimes not quite) ... forget about saving any money! I just don't know how to get a job I am actually qualified for!
I get that. I need a job to pay bills too obviously! BUt I am unable to work. Been fired from those low paying jobs due to sensory stuff and melt downs. So I am on disability now. It's sad. BUt it's all I could do. I am not able to work enough to pay bills even though no one is paying them for me! So I'm homeless right now.
Squirrel12356, I feel for you. I wish I could help. I hope things turn around for you, but this economy certainly doesn't help.
I'm badly underemployed, but it isn't entirely due to Asperger's. I'm an experienced copyeditor, but at newspapers and magazines, when they started to struggle financially, one of the first things they did was to fire copyeditors, and they aren't hiring us. It's frustrating because I see real demand for my skills, because there's such glaring sloppiness in the errors I see. I'm very accurate and I pay close attention to detail. I get very good feedback from the little work I do have, for a monthly nonprofit publication. They tell me I save them money because I catch mistakes before they go out to the vendor, when it would cost them to make the corrections. I just can't find copyediting work.
I do have other work, with medical students as a standardized patient. In their training sessions and tests, I play the part of a patient. Again, I only have part-time work in this, but the hourly rate is good. It's very hard to get into. I got into it because I had connections at my alma mater. It's intense because it involves interacting with people, but for much of the time I'm playing a character, and I'm not myself, so it isn't quite so intense. And after 50 minutes of work they give us a 30-minute break, so I have quiet time to recharge. But it's a dream come true. In the past I've had jobs in traditional kinds of places and companies, and after a time, when I got branded as "weird" and "goofy," the trouble started. I would be shunned, avoided, ridiculed (to my face and behind my back), set up to be humiliated, and driven out of jobs. In this work, sometimes they want me to be quirky and offbeat. They tell me to "go over the top" and "take it and run with it, have fun with it." And I'm thinking, wow, instead of being abused for being quirky, here, it's actually a marketable skill! So if I can manage to piece together enough hours at enough medical schools in my area (I'm hired to work with three of them), then I can make a decent living at this.
I have to go. Stay well, everyone!
In my Asperger’s Woman’s group we are at different places regarding employment. I’m retired, one woman with 2 masters’ degrees is vastly underemployed as a clerk, and another worked for 10 years as a live- in governess and now is unemployed. A new member has started teaching women’s studies and geography at the local university.
My question: Are there other women out there who are working at professional positions? How do you cope with issues that stem from your AS like managing the intense interpersonal interactions that go with professional jobs?
Mary
Yeah, this room IS pretty lonely. I can't fathom employment now, any more than I can fathom how anyone goes to college. I'll get back with you after I check out the book you've mentioned, which might take a while. I got so frustrated with Roger Meyer's Employment Workbook, I cried for two days straight. My suggestion might be to try to find some way to take the sting out of my lack of education and steady work- and when you've done that, maybe you could make me three inches taller, too...