Person with AS supporting people with autism

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I have just been offered a job supporting people on the autism spectrum but I have Asperger Syndrome myself. Do you think it would be madness for me to accept this job? I am very high-functioning and completely independent but I do have some problems with verbal communication. Does anyone here work in a support capacity for people with autism, despite being on the spectrum? I feel in some ways I am ideal for this role because I can identify with the clients, but I'm worried I won't be good at it.

Take the job. Do your best with it. I believe that most employers expect little more than that.

I believe that you will do well.

That's what I want to do when I retire from my present job.

I thought your present job was being cruise director and all-around guru for Wrong Planet, kraftiekortie.

If you want to do it I'd say go for it.

I am certain that I've read stories from others here on these forums over the years who have thrived in roles like that. I seem to recall one where the person said the stress from dealing with high-maintenance clients eventually made them leave, but, the rest of the comments left a positive impression on me.

You'd have an automatic win in empathy at the least.
My husband is NT and while usually the more empathetic out of the two of us, he has problems dealing with mine and my son's sensory and executive functioning problems.

I'm very happy to be able to unconditionally accept those parts of my son and let him know there's nothing wrong with him just because he's not like other people, and I wish I'd had someone to tell me that younger in life so I wouldn't have wasted so much time feeling like there was something wrong with me and if I'd just 'try harder' I'd make people happy with me. Pssssssh.
Sorry to babble a bit... I'm soooooo looking forward to Thanksgiving and wondering how many times I will have to tell off my Mom for nagging at my son the way she used to do to me. Or going 'at least his little brother is friendly' blah blah blah.

Summary, your ability to be that person who empathizes with and can advocate for people who aren't understood by others. It is a noble calling.

Gurus tend to get paid well.

I certainly need the bread!

Thank you so much for the responses. I am planning on disclosing my various "issues" to my potential employer (I have some mental health problems as well as AS) and I will take things from there. If they are still willing to employ me and willing to make some reasonable adjustments then I will take the job. If things go wrong then... I will probably have a mental breakdown! I'm so overwhelmed right now. I am attempting to return to work after a long period of mental illness and I am the most scared I have ever been.

Having AS will be a bonus. For me, it made me research on disabilities and be more friendly to what the others were going through.

I am not one of those Aspie separatists who say that an NT's are so different they can never do right by us, nor an all ASD world would be conflict free. But I do strongly believe that the expression "Nothing for us, without us" has a lot of merit.

I know this is a cliche but you really can't predict the future. Yes you may fail, but if you don't make an attempt a opportunity for them to have the best advocate they ever had, or just a friend might have been missed.

Give it a shot. If I was hiring people to support autistics, I would prefer to hire people who are on the spectrum themselves, as long as they have the proper qualifications.

I just wanted to update this thread because I accepted the job and am currently part way through a week of training courses. I'm not sure when I will start the job properly. The training is hard and I think the actual job will be terrifying. I want to try it but my anxiety over it is increasing daily and I am finding it hard to cope, often feeling suicidal. My care coordinator from the mental health team is very unhelpful and keeps suggesting I let the job go but that isn't possible. I have to at least try or I couldn't live with myself. She is making me feel like I can't do it but my GP is saying the opposite and being very supportive. I am trying to listen to him but my care coordinator's lack of support is really getting to me. When I tell her that I feel like I'm having a breakdown because of how stressed I am she says unhelpful things like, "people having breakdowns do not do job training". Well, maybe some don't, but I do. I don't ever stop functioning, even when I'm breaking down. Seriously, if I end up killing myself it will be a massive shock to everyone, but especially the mental health team, because one day I'll be functioning, (going to training, for example) and the next day I'll be dead. They should really listen to me and I wish they would listen and help me because I don't want to die.

I hope you do find a way to make it because such misunderstandings by the people who are supposed to be helping us is all to common. I think dealing with people who are totally clueless can be a lot less bad then dealing with people who think they know it all.

That's what I do. I also have some difficulties with speaking. I've been doing just fine at my jobs so far.

Not sure why you'd find it distressing. I did get distressed sometimes for several reasons but counselling/cognitive therapy helped me tremendously, in that I don't experience these issues now at all.

Might there be other people than your care coordinator in your workplace that you could ask questions of or get a little bit of moral support from?

Could you tell her something like this:

"If you can't support me in deciding to try this job, fine, but please stop telling me I won't succeed -- it's not helpful and it's not respectful of my decision."