Special interest jobs and social skills

Page 1 of 1 [ 5 posts ] 

Balbituate
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

Joined: 13 Nov 2017
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 207
Location: New Zealand

16 Feb 2018, 1:56 pm

Does getting a job related to your special interest mask your social issues? My driving instructor is an aspie. I strongly suspect driving was his special interest at one point. He’s the best instructor in the school and most people consider him a favorite. He’s very upbeat and fun.



ZombieBrideXD
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Jan 2013
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,507
Location: Canada

16 Feb 2018, 10:41 pm

Social Skills are complicated. i think getting a profession in a area of special interest is definitely worth shooting for and can only help in improving socialization. meeting people with similar interests and such. however this doesnt resolve issues like eye contact, appropriate behaviour, scripting and having difficulty picking up on social cues.

in short i think it can help people make friends but i dont think it will improve social skills persay (however maybe through experience it will indirectly help social skills,)

Im a cashier at a family run gas station, i wish i could work involving my special interest.


_________________
Obsessing over Sonic the Hedgehog since 2009
Diagnosed with Aspergers' syndrome in 2012.
Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1 severity without intellectual disability and without language impairment in 2015.

DA: http://mephilesdark123.deviantart.com


Dear_one
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Feb 2008
Age: 75
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,717
Location: Where the Great Plains meet the Northern Pines

17 Feb 2018, 9:36 am

If your special interest makes you a master at your craft, people will find a way to work with your personality. Ferrari used to keep millionaires waiting for hours, and expected to see a full crew working on Christmas afternoon. Your friend may have a combination of a deep understanding of driving combined with a knack for one-on-one instructing. I also heard of a wildly popular driving instructor who had been the "safe adult" - someone that a teenager could confide in and ask advice without risk, and reasonable odds of better understanding. I don't know why, but many people have told me rather private things - aspies may make other weirdness feel less strange.



Embla
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

Joined: 4 Oct 2017
Gender: Female
Posts: 490

17 Feb 2018, 6:33 pm

It depends a lot on your interest and your job.
For me, working with my interest is absolutely perfect, because in this job I work from home, and the standard mode of communication is via email, so poor social skills does not matter as long as I can express myself through text.
For someone else I know, social skills are highly appreciated at her workplace, but not actually a demand. She is awful socially, but great at her job, so she is still a highly valued employee.
As for another person I know, it's a guy who's only way to work with his interest is by teaching, which demands good social skills. Unfortunately, him being absolutely fantastic at his interest does not make him a very good teacher. He knows all about it, but is not good at passing that knowledge onto others.



aspieff14
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 22 Jul 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 29
Location: Pennsylvania

17 Feb 2018, 9:51 pm

I work in my special interest and the common ground helps with the conversation part of social skills, but for me the other aspects have been learned through cognitive training. The interaction with people and patients is easy in that I know what to say most of the time just from previous experience.

Best advice is have a job you enjoy and the rest will fall in place over time.


_________________
Andy

Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 127 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 87 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)