Nonverbal jobs really an impossibility?

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Alita
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18 Jun 2017, 10:46 pm

BetwixtBetween wrote:
I like it.

All in favor?


I!


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Alita
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18 Jun 2017, 11:08 pm

BirdInFlight wrote:
For the plant watering jobs, from what I gather, that worker would have a contract with multiple office buildings or something, and would spend the day traveling from one "gig" to the next, watering the plants in each. I don't know much more about it but theoretically if a person were able to get fully booked with a regular roster of rotating appointments with all these different locations, that could fill an eight hour day and five day week -- though that's only the theory, I'm not sure how it really works out for someone pursuing that.

Many jobs that involve doing a service like this for a client, involve creating a roster of clients to visit each day of the week, similar to landscaping/yard work businesses: you don't just cut the lawn once a week for one family, you get hired to be the regular yard guy for multiple homes and have a different one for each day or morning or afternoon.

I just had another idea for a job where you don't need to talk much to anyone -- are there still guys that contract to go and refill vending machines for snacks and cold drinks? Again I don't know much about it but apparently that can be a lone wolf kind of job where you just drive around multiple locations refilling the machines.


This all makes me wonder how many more people in the past would have been diagnosed as autistic if the following jobs hadn't existed:

farm hand (which was most people in the Agrarian Age)
lighthouse keeper
smith
stable hand
street lamp lighter
factory hand (now most have moved to China)
scribe
chimney sweep
toy maker
street sweeper
knight
ship builder
etc...

But there is still hope. The following jobs do not require talking:

janitor
stained glass window maker (I knew someone who did this and loved it)
designer (clothes, houses, goods)
model (if you're hot enough)
masseur/masseuse (clients prefer you not to talk)
artist
meter reader (sadly, these jobs are going too)
driving tester (you sit in the back seat and score the driver as they take the test while their driving instructor issues the instructions from the front passenger seat)
baker
writer
Youtuber (you don't have to talk, just have something interesting to present. I've seen videos of falling rain that got millions of views)
optician (or that guy that makes lenses for glasses)
blogger
transcriber (I do this; you get to listen to people but don't have to talk)

I think the best jobs are the ones you search out for yourself through approaching people in novel ways or the ones people create for you because they see your potential. The worst jobs are the ones that are advertised online; steer clear because they're the ones nobody else wants, i.e. high pressure, filthy, around bad management or annoying colleagues.


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BetwixtBetween
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19 Jun 2017, 12:50 am

Model is not a job I'd list as Autie friendly. They have to deal with bright lights, bright flashing lights, disturbingly uncomfortable garments, they need to have a ballerina's sense of balance, they need to convey a lot of emotion with their face/body/movement, a makeup artist and a hair stylist do their makeup and hair (which means a stranger poking eyeliner at your eye and gluing lashes on and otherwise applying makeup to your face with an array of brushes, a stranger dying/cutting/touching/brushing/arranging/applying product to your hair), they are expected to keep themselves in a camera ready condition to model clothes of unknown cut (which includes a lot of hair removal and exfoliating), they are used in crowds and are expected to socialize with clients, part of how they keep themselves in the limelight involves partying (crowds, noise, lights, etc.) and if they're successful at all that enough to make real money, they need to talk (for interviews).

Frankly the whole thing sounds like a nightmare.

Quote:
This all makes me wonder how many more people in the past would have been diagnosed as autistic if the following jobs hadn't existed:

farm hand (which was most people in the Agrarian Age)
lighthouse keeper
smith
stable hand
street lamp lighter
factory hand (now most have moved to China)
scribe
chimney sweep
toy maker
street sweeper
knight
ship builder
etc...


I've often wondered that too.



Last edited by BetwixtBetween on 19 Jun 2017, 1:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

ZachGoodwin
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19 Jun 2017, 1:14 am

Acting and modeling can be a Dante's Inferno, but like in Dante's Inferno you overcome so much that not the everyday person has that you can overcome many social difficulties with autism, and learn each day to do better.

Probably not the best advice from someone who wants to work with cameras, but if you can overcome a harsh crowd and a harsh director as an autistic actor then you can overcome a lot.

If you are going into acting... Try to best please not look at it like it was David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" and all of those CourtTV documentaries. The CourtTV documentaries especially since they even make getting mail from your mother scary, or Cops, or whatever is on E!, and all of that other nonsense.

I tried stage acting for a while, and yes it was frightening, but after overcoming the demons on the stage I overcome more and more of my social difficulties in autism.

Unlike some people breaking down with criticism, I took it, and kept on building and building until I found my family and friends cheering me for what I am facing.

I bet with acting that if you get to Hollywood by the time you are on the silver screen most of these social anxieties would vanish.



Alita
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19 Jun 2017, 5:48 am

BetwixtBetween wrote:
Model is not a job I'd list as Autie friendly.


I don't know; I wouldn't mind having a bash at it, if I had the goods. :P


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BirdInFlight
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19 Jun 2017, 6:25 am

I too suspect that many of the jobs that used to exist before technology, automation, the corporate culture or even before the industrial revolution, probably did fulfill the needs of people who were in fact on the autism spectrum, and were more readily absorbed into the workforce because there were indeed so many jobs that could be solitary, without a high social element, etc. such as lighthouses, etc.



kraftiekortie
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19 Jun 2017, 9:55 am

Yep....forest rangers, lighthouse keepers (per Birdie), assembly-line workers, many others.

Many have been rendered "obsolete" because of the "new technology."

However, there are many jobs which people of autistic mindset could do which involves computers and a relative lack of day-to-day human contact.

And the new technology, most importantly, has enabled "locked-in" autistic people to finally communicate to the outside world. And to make a living.



C2V
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19 Jun 2017, 10:17 am

Quote:
But there is still hope. The following jobs do not require talking:

janitor
stained glass window maker (I knew someone who did this and loved it)
designer (clothes, houses, goods)
model (if you're hot enough)
masseur/masseuse (clients prefer you not to talk)
artist
meter reader (sadly, these jobs are going too)
driving tester (you sit in the back seat and score the driver as they take the test while their driving instructor issues the instructions from the front passenger seat)
baker
writer
Youtuber (you don't have to talk, just have something interesting to present. I've seen videos of falling rain that got millions of views)
optician (or that guy that makes lenses for glasses)
blogger
transcriber (I do this; you get to listen to people but don't have to talk)

You'd think so, but lots of these jobs would definitely have "hidden" speaking required. Even janitors would be required to speak to their customers if out and about (even just to set up the job) or a supervisor if working a building. There may be conversations needed around rostering, complaints, requests from tenants, etc. All jobs seem to have these hidden "negotiation" stuff in them which requires speech. In any job, there are going to have to be some verbal communication with coworkers or bosses.
And do bloggers and youtubers actually make any money these days? I know of some that do through affiliate marketing - but in order to have something to blog, you're probably going to have to talk to create content. It's insidious. Even the most isolated things these days require speaking - farm hands are required to talk to their ranchers / farmers, process workers to their foremans, designers have to discuss the project with their customers or financiers, etc. Massage therapists definitely have to talk to their customers a bit, to explain what they're doing, direct the customer, and make sure the person is doing ok during the massage (aka "is that too much pressure?")
I'm interested in the transcribing though and have come across this before - do you make money off this? How do you get into it? I thought these jobs were also on the way out because there is software you can buy which does this without being paid :wink:
I am a writer just as a hobby - I'd love to be able to turn this into a career, but it's VERY tough to make enough to live on as a writer, especially a nonverbal one. You could write fiction, but unless you're a best-seller it probably won't support you. And people like travel writers or journalists have to do a LOT of talking.
I was always interested in long-haul trucking, and try negotiating with the dispatcher to communicate via text rather than radio. But then again, unless you had satellite phone or something, remote areas may be out of range.
I know it probably reads negative but I have given this a lot of thought lately, and every idea I come up with, there are these "hidden" parts to the job which require speaking. Things you wouldn't initially identify, which make the job not completely nonverbal.
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I think the best jobs are the ones you search out for yourself through approaching people in novel ways or the ones people create for you because they see your potential.

Agreed, which is partially why I was fishing for ideas. You won't find a job advertised that pitches "completely nonverbal ! Suitable for autistics !" But with some creative thinking, maybe you could find one, or adapt an existing job for a nonverbal approach.
Quote:
Yep....forest rangers, lighthouse keepers (per Birdie), assembly-line workers, many others.

But would these jobs entail that hidden speech component?
Quote:
However, there are many jobs which people of autistic mindset could do which involves computers and a relative lack of day-to-day human contact.

And the new technology, most importantly, has enabled "locked-in" autistic people to finally communicate to the outside world. And to make a living.

Such as ???
Still searching ...


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kraftiekortie
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19 Jun 2017, 10:39 am

The Internet, for one. Communicating via the Internet, obviously, does not require direct face-to-face contact.

And please read what I wrote: I wrote RELATIVE lack of human contact.

Many times, one can stay at home for days and days on these computer sorts of jobs---without any face-to-face contact of any type.



BirdInFlight
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19 Jun 2017, 10:47 am

Just had another idea -- people get hired to provide closed captioning for TV broadcasts.

About most of these jobs I think C2V is right about the hidden verbal requirements though -- just having to do any kind of set-up regarding the work usually does mean you have to talk to someone about something, at some point.



kraftiekortie
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19 Jun 2017, 10:54 am

It's probably a virtual impossibility to obtain a job which would absolutely preclude one from conversing with a live person at some point. Though the possibility is increasing as time proceeds.



BetwixtBetween
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19 Jun 2017, 11:09 am

Quote:
But would these jobs entail that hidden speech component?


It would be a scriptable one. At least for forest ranger. As for lighthouse keepers, they really could remain silent unless there was a wreck. They might have to speak during inspection. If they had a speaking assistant, they could get by with no words though.

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I!

All against?
:crickets chirping:
The Ayes have it! Motion passes.

Re: Knight
Not sure that one was really non-verbal. Also limited to nobles. They were expected to say things as well as do things. Armor would have been sensory hell. They were expected to go to feasts and parties. The eye-contact thing would have come in the way too- it makes us seem shy//cowardly/untrustworthy depending on which NT is looking at us at the time and whatever feelings they're bringing to the "conversation". A lot of stuff that went on between nobles, including (especially?) Knights involved the usual NT social jockeying. Also, don't forget about the whole Page-Squire stage. A lot of the stuff Pages and Squires witnessed and were part of would have required a certain degree of social diplomacy.

If I had to venture a guess as to where Autie men and women of the noble class ended up back in that era, I'd guess probably the monastery or nunnery. With a hefty donation.

Re: Models
Social jockeying is another problem for them, as well as maintaining one position in adverse conditions. They also get rejected and yelled at a lot. One model position of the past that would have probably been Autie friendly was in-store models. Shops used to hire girls to model fashions for clients. Right up through when my parents were children or so. It seems to have died out by the time I came into the world. As a shopper, I wish this service was still offered. Just provide measurements and an idea of what you want as far as fabric and color and occasion, and you get to see someone or several someones of similar measurements wearing the clothes that some other paid professional (personal shopper or maybe store/department manager) has picked out for you.



Last edited by BetwixtBetween on 19 Jun 2017, 12:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.

C2V
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19 Jun 2017, 11:56 am

Quote:
The Internet, for one. Communicating via the Internet, obviously, does not require direct face-to-face contact.

And please read what I wrote: I wrote RELATIVE lack of human contact.

Many times, one can stay at home for days and days on these computer sorts of jobs---without any face-to-face contact of any type.

I'm seeking details :) About how one could use these means, such as the internet, to tailor make a purely nonverbal job. I suppose a RELATIVE lack of human contact automatically = not a nonverbal job. Unless the other people at these jobs understood sign. Maybe working for a deaf organization could suit both parties? They'd know sign, and though many deaf people can lip-read, I doubt many rely solely on lip reading, so would not require coworkers to speak.
It seems people just can't shut up. You come into proximity of a human, and you're required to say something.
A combination of a practical solitary task complemented by communication in writing seems like the most feasible thing I can think of so far.


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kraftiekortie
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19 Jun 2017, 12:17 pm

In the future, I believe we will have much more "virtual" contact with people--rather than face-to-face contact.

It's possible that people, in business, will at times be represented by their avatars, rather than a picture of their actual selves, like it is on the Internet at present.



BirdInFlight
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19 Jun 2017, 12:39 pm

E-bay selling!

Or any other online marketplace where you can sell. You communicate entirely via the internet, in e-mails or direct messages, and there is no other contact with the buyers except for that online communication, and sometimes not even any at all.

You do have to maybe have some speaking interactions with your local post office, unless you can have everything you're mailing picked up from your home.

Also, if you are curating vintage items to sell, you will have to go around estate sales and such, probably having to speak to someone at some point, about an item.

If you hand-make a product and sell that, no contact necessary -- buy your supplies online, and start "making." Post online and ship when a sale arrives.

Selling anything online can become a business and is all done by "virtual" contact.



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19 Jun 2017, 12:46 pm

^ You know, if one could actually get this going and find a product in steady demand, that is a bloody fabulous idea.


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