Why are only 12% of us employed?

Post Reply New Topic

this is what I keep trying to tell people. I supported myself since I was 17 years old, have had three careers and put myself through college. I didn't know I was AS until I was 56. I am no less AS than anyone else here. There are so many people that have no idea they are AS, that will never know.

Okay to begin with what is HFA the acronym for?

I'm only going to say this once congratulations to those of you who have/had successful careers in fields relationg to your interests/strengths/fixations(and I really don't give how bitter, cynical, and whatever other negative manner this comes across as) and specualations that problems with so few aspies being employed/maintaining employment being for lack of experience, inility to integrate socially, et cetera, the truth, for me, is the only place I can succeed at is a trailer trash work place like Wal-Mart where I'm just a peon pushover, which I refuse to ever apply at one after my experience at Sam's Club before ShitMart pulled it out of canada last spring in favour of going with Stupid Centers, which is why I'll never have another job as long as I live and come June I'm damned to live on disability of $500 a month and have it become consitently more pidly for the rest of my life.

The statistics are probably strongly skewed to focus on the most severe cases. Members of this forum are higher functioning. Unless there is a formal diagnosis, most of us wouldn't be thought of as autistic.

What kind of Psychometric testing do they do? is it Aptitude or personality testing?

The Hell it is!




Your argument against this statistic is based on one person, your husband, who most certainly has a VERY MILD case of asperger syndrome which places him in the 12% who are employed. I have no doubt that there are people with cases of AS so mild that they are able to integrate themselves into mainstream society without any assistance and so there's no need for them to seek professional help and obtain a diagnosis. Unfortunately though, many of us, including myself, aren't so lucky as your husband. For me my AS is rather severe and it has hindered me from finding long-term employment so far and surely I'm not the only one.

I think that many aspies are unemployed not because they're incapable of functioning in the workplace(regardless of job), but because they lack the social networking skills which are CRUCIAL for getting hired for the first time in today's job market. Some might happen to have a special skill that is marketable/in demand but even many of those still have difficulty. An NT friend of mind who's programmed since childhood and obtained an MS in computer science had a hard time finding an IT job despite being qualified cuz he didn't have a lot of work experience under his belt. When he finally found a job, it was through his friend who works at amazon who invited him to a tech set social where he was introduced to a recruiter. I mean, when it comes to getting a (decent)job, the rule of thumb is that It's all about who you know.

100 percent of me is employed

First of all, I think that 12 percent stat is a little bit way too low in my opinion and I think they might have surveyed specifically the younger crowd, like the high schoolers and the 20 somethings. I'm sure this statistic is a little higher and all I can say is don't let this statistic bring you down. What counts is your attitude about life and not your disability. Remember, your disability cannot make you force yourself to have excuses. Because there are people who can grow out of their AS traits, I mean I am right now in college and I feel like I have more mild AS related issues nowadays and I feel like all i need to is just deal with more NT related problems. I mean I feel like I have came a long way from the AS issues, I can socialize well with others, I can get A's and B's in my classes, I get along well with many people and I have very high self esteem about cocerning life. Oh, and also, I won't settle with an 2-year degree in college, because if you go up to 4 year degrees or graduate degree, you can increase your earnings and successfully get a good paying career and live a good life.

Well I commend you on valuing a good education, but BE AWARE that having a bachelors degree, or even an advanced degree, is NO GUARANTEE that you will get a job! Let alone a good one!!
I know people who put themselves through 4 years of college via student loans and one poor friend of mine who lives in Oregon is making only $4800 anually!! !! I'm tired of all that think-positive hype, having a good attitude is just not enough to get you a job in America today! YOU HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING TO *OFFER* because for every job offered there is almost always at least 1 other person applying and right now there are more people looking for work than jobs that need to be filled. Since you're still in college I would strongly encourage you to start NOW when it comes to networking and if you can, dont wait until graduation to start looking for employment.

Do bear in mind that not all Aspies have genius IQ's. Those of average IQ and poor social skills are unlikely to find jobs. On the other hand you might argue that those with average IQ's are more likely to share interests with NT's. If that's the case, they may have more opporunities to socialise, leaving some brilliant but clueless minds out in the cruel world of natural selection.

Agreed. Bachelor's Degree is the new High School. In the town I'm from, we have people with Master's Degrees flipping burgers for minimum wage. Most people coming out of school with a Bachelor's now can't even find work. If they can, it's usually some part-time low-paying job that has absolutely nothing to do with what they majored in. I know one person who double majored in Spanish and Journalism, and she's working part-time at the local community college computer lab...

hm I'd say problems getting past the interview or requirements.

this come to a shock to me as well

It's like, if you flood the market (with graduates), you force prices down (employees are ten a penny and employers love it).

19 year old Australian here, currently looking for a job in IT, have a cert 3 and 4, going onto a diploma and i have yet to get a job interview. the only form of work that i am doing right now is refurbishing computers for a non for profit organisation.

I believe the statistic… I’m unemployed due to my disability. I worked at a materials engineering firm for 3 years making just about 50 grand. I quit just 6 months ago due to the stress…. I’m still welcome to go back to my job. My higher ups actually understood my problem… which is extraordinarily rare considering most employers are absolutely ignorant too AS/HFA . My doctor isn’t real keen on me going back to work though. The psychiatric issues that have accompanied my spectrum are unfortunately pretty severe. And so I’m on SSI “basically welfare” until I can get my head together.

LoL… College for me was a joke. I spent 99% of my time in the general and theology library’s. I cant stand kids in their early 20‘s they can be so cruel, and so I avoid 20's year old kids like the plague. Heck even when I wasn’t enrolled I practically lived in the two library’s at school for about 3 years. Yeah… graduating school and keeping a job is kind of hard for many people with autistic spectrum disorders considering the conformity factor.. I think a lot of it has to do with support too. I have practically no support system in my life so maintaining an education and living is difficult. I can barely take care of my self and going to school is like walking to the gates of hell for me. Not because I despise an education. Its the people who make it hard for me. Few understand and or can identify with functioning autistic people and they have the tendency to be quite cruel. You would be amazed at how many adults will tease me as if their in 5th grade… so basically the stress of NT people can be extraordinarily taxing to ones soul and psyche… so to me 12 % is no surprise.

END

I would says its because there are only 3 positions in the workplace.

1: Owner
2: Ignorant bully
3: Obsequies moron

And we dont "fit" in any of those.