Meltdown while volunteering

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I currently volunteer at a local city zoo while trying to make network connections with the zoo so that I can try for some internships while going to school. I am also currently trying to volunteer in multiple spots so that I get lots of experience hands on. One of these places happens to be the comissary where they prepare food for the animals on exhibit and behind the scenes. I have only been volunteering for a little over a week and I have been preparing food for apes and also some maintenance work in washing bins, wiping down counters, and sweeping floors.

Long story short, I went there today where they had me do mostly cleaning of the different bins, sweep the floors and wipe counters down. I kept asking if they wanted me to do anything else but they kept telling me that it was under their control and so they had me do the cleaning.

I ended up having a meltdown by crying lightly because of what has happened in the past on previous jobs. I have often been hired to work somewhere and I am meant to do a certain task. Yet, when it came to learning the work, it would only be for a short time which often led to utility work while other NT type people took over. No one has bothered to communicate or let alone take the time to teach me the line of work one on one. I have often had meltdown's before about ending up cleaning instead of performing other duties.

Has anyone else had the same experience if so, could you give me some good advice about how to tackle situations like this one?

having been a volunteer co-ordinator, i've heard this story many times. had to deal with it myself. when volunteers are working side by side with, doing the same work as, paid employees, the paid employees get worried. they are worried they may no longer be needed. so they treat you like crap and hope you leave.

i've got about 18,000 to 19,000 hours in animal shelters, rescues, sanctuaries.....lots of different places. once was helping at an elephant sanctuary in kenya. taking care of baby elephants. wonderful experience. way sorry i left.
i've also been in some places that i did not last a day.

not everyone who works for money at animal organizations does so because they care about the non-humans. they do it because they need a job. you are an obstacle to them. they may think you're weird because you work for free.

having meltdowns in a situation like this is bad. need to avoid if at all possible. if you find yourself getting stressed, immediately go to the volunteer co-ordinator if it does not put an animal in danger. if the organization does not have someone in that position, you need to find out from an overall supervisor who you should go to.

there are other possibilities as to why they treated you like they did but this sounds like job envy to me.

you may need to a different job with humans who are not jerks and bullies. as you know, lots of different things to do in a zoo! i wish you good fortune and please keep volunteering. i found a wonderful place and was there for 6 years before it had to close. worked alongside some great people. gotta keep trying.

having been a volunteer co-ordinator, i've heard this story many times. had to deal with it myself. when volunteers are working side by side with, doing the same work as, paid employees, the paid employees get worried. they are worried they may no longer be needed. so they treat you like crap and hope you leave.

i've got about 18,000 to 19,000 hours in animal shelters, rescues, sanctuaries.....lots of different places. once was helping at an elephant sanctuary in kenya. taking care of baby elephants. wonderful experience. way sorry i left.
i've also been in some places that i did not last a day.

not everyone who works for money at animal organizations does so because they care about the non-humans. they do it because they need a job. you are an obstacle to them. they may think you're weird because you work for free.

having meltdowns in a situation like this is bad. need to avoid if at all possible. if you find yourself getting stressed, immediately go to the volunteer co-ordinator if it does not put an animal in danger. if the organization does not have someone in that position, you need to find out from an overall supervisor who you should go to.

there are other possibilities as to why they treated you like they did but this sounds like job envy to me.

you may need to a different job with humans who are not jerks and bullies. as you know, lots of different things to do in a zoo! i wish you good fortune and please keep volunteering. i found a wonderful place and was there for 6 years before it had to close. worked alongside some great people. gotta keep trying.

I do not know that jerk or mean really fits them too much. It is more that they are unfriendly and disconnected. For one, they do not seem to take an interest in me or even talk.
As for the meltdown, I did not let them see it. None of them hapoen know about me having AS since I have not told them.
Finally, I did not think about job envy just about me having AS and struggling with certain tasks.

I went for a interview 2 days back and i had meltdown
there was tears in my eyes and i my heart beat increased
all the past memories and the abuse at workplace came back
i could not handle it
I guess this is anxiety which is controlled through medications...not sure though.

In organizations that have volunteers, the employees are often used to seeing people coming and going at a fairly quick rate. Hence, they often don't really want to invest the time in training or guiding you, since they think you'll probably move on fairly quickly. Also, giving you the menial jobs means they don't have to do them themselves!

It sounds as if you had higher expectations for this position, as if it were an internship rather than a volunteer position. In an internship, there are obligations on the company's part to truly train the intern for future work, kind of like an unpaid apprenticeship. Volunteerism is much more nebulous, and there are far fewer requirements of the organization. Since there can be a high attrition rate among volunteers, many organizations just learn to not take them too seriously. At best, you may have to really "pay your dues" by being consistent, humble, pleasant to be around, willing to do whatever is needed, etc. (It sounds like you're doing this already, which is great!)In other words, you pay your dues by demonstrating an attitude of service and concern for the wellbeing of the zoo, rather than being too focused on your goal of buildling your resume. You may not have the time to pay all the dues the employees are unconsciously asking you to pay, given your particular goals. You may need to step it up a notch after awhile and see if you could transform that voluntary position into a real internship.

You might ask to sit down, one-on-one, with some of the employees who are doing what you want to do in your career, and ask them if you could just talk to them about their career path. Most people LOVE talking about their work history, and they really appreciate being listened to. They probably can give you some very good general advice about your career path. Good luck...volunteerism is not always easy, and often asks us to dig deeper within ourselves and challenge ourselves even more than paid work does.

I'd say do it, and once you feel in a more rational state of mind I'd talk it over with whoever put you in job. Make it clear that you doing fine in the other work, put the positives out there first. Then mention that you have noticed you have only been asked to do the cleaning work and nothing else since then while you have noticed other volunteers have been other work and you'd like to doing that in addition.

If they really know about your ASD and its really public knowledge especially in terms of those who assign you work, you might eventually voice in that conversation that you feel concerned that you might be placed in those jobs because of your diagnosis but don't accuse, say its so, etc.

A lot of your stuff seems to be centered around animals. Have you tried volunteering for an SPCA or Humane Society? Having volunteered with one back home, I can safely say that it treated me with good respect while I was there. A lot of administrative duties for me, but they also want people who can help with the animals. Since they tend to thrive on volunteerism, they might be less likely to mess around with you.

I used to get meltdowns at work when I lived in Montana. I was told what my job be but instead sometimes I would be told to do something that isn't my job. I would do it anyway because I didn't want to get fired. Even when I had to go different routes, it would upset me.

But I put it this way, to be independent, I would have to learn to be flexible and do as I am told without having a fit. So I started to ignore my anxiety and pretend it didn't exist so I'd be flexible and not suffer during it. Also if I did extra stuff at work, I could use that as my experience for my future jobs so the hiring be easier. I had to think logically to get over it and learn do deal with it. Now the feelings no longer exist when change or surprises happen at work.