is school library a good job for an aspie?

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justme2
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15 Apr 2015, 4:21 pm

I've been thinking of taking some more classes so I can be a school librarian. I've changed my major and career a million times hoping something will be better. Right now I work with blind students. I have to do a lot of going around and talking to teachers and parents... My stomach is tensing up just thinking about it lol. I am supposed to be doing a lot of consulting, but I just can't apply my knowledge and then talk everyone into doing it my way. I have a lot of trouble with making all kinds of mistakes with everything I do. It sucks. I'm good at tech, and school librarians do a lot of that. Would library be any better or should I just completely change to the tech sector? I worked at the computer lab for a year in college and got fired so it kind of scared me away from that area.



kraftiekortie
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15 Apr 2015, 8:03 pm

I think so. An ideal job. All you have to do is treat the patrons decently. You don't have to be a social butterfly in the library.



ok
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16 Apr 2015, 6:36 am

I have a degree in Library and Information Science and I regret every second of it. Not because of the job itself, but because the unemployment is so high. Do not, ever, apply for library jobs unless you have an exellent college degree (master of library and information science or higher) - you don't stand a chance. Do not apply for those jobs. It is a waste of time.



BetwixtBetween
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16 Apr 2015, 8:48 am

It was a good job for me. I learned how to repair books, shelved books, made lists of books for ordering, and helped people find what they were looking for. So, yeah, I really liked the job. It just didn't pay enough because it was a campus job.



invaderhorizongreen
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16 Apr 2015, 7:11 pm

If this is an on campus job while you are in school I would do it for the work experience.



SocOfAutism
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17 Apr 2015, 8:09 am

I agree that it's an especially good career for aspies/auties. While working on my thesis yesterday I came across this article about a librarian named Penny Andrews.

Autistic people have been shown in empirical studies to have superior parallel perception and focus as compared to typically developed people, as well as superior error finding.

This means that aspies/auties can pay attention to more than once thing at once, focus on things with greater concentration, and can find one thing out of a series of things that does not belong. Obviously these traits would aid in library science, but also in other careers.



justme2
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17 Apr 2015, 2:48 pm

This would be like an elementary school librarian job. I think if like the work, but it seems like there is a lot of networking and social climbing necessary to get in to a school.... Also I'm not sure how much you have to sell yourself that staffing a librarian is a good use of their money. Controlling a group of children might be too much too. Just wondered if anybody had btdt :)



ok
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19 Apr 2015, 9:35 am

justme2 wrote:
This would be like an elementary school librarian job. I think if like the work, but it seems like there is a lot of networking and social climbing necessary to get in to a school.... Also I'm not sure how much you have to sell yourself that staffing a librarian is a good use of their money. Controlling a group of children might be too much too. Just wondered if anybody had btdt :)


Like I said, I have been there and done that. If you are going to college, you can obtain a degree in library and information science, and you may have a chance of working at a school library - but it's more likely you wont. It looks like a simple job on the outside, but it isn't. Forget about it. Don't do it. It's really that simple - with autism, people will think you are impossible to work with, and you will get turned down.
I'm going to a job interview for a small library next week, and I know already, that some super smart NT will get the job.



SocOfAutism
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20 Apr 2015, 2:03 pm

ok wrote:
justme2 wrote:
This would be like an elementary school librarian job. I think if like the work, but it seems like there is a lot of networking and social climbing necessary to get in to a school.... Also I'm not sure how much you have to sell yourself that staffing a librarian is a good use of their money. Controlling a group of children might be too much too. Just wondered if anybody had btdt :)


Like I said, I have been there and done that. If you are going to college, you can obtain a degree in library and information science, and you may have a chance of working at a school library - but it's more likely you wont. It looks like a simple job on the outside, but it isn't. Forget about it. Don't do it. It's really that simple - with autism, people will think you are impossible to work with, and you will get turned down.
I'm going to a job interview for a small library next week, and I know already, that some super smart NT will get the job.


Woah! This is a really negative way to look at things! And not accurate! Autistic people have been shown in recent studies to be working in all fields, and are employed as much as NT people! Nearly 60% of Americans are employed, and that's about the same number of autistics who have been estimated to be working. Meaning that any person in the US has 60% chance of working, whether or not they are autistic.

I've been frustrated before in job searches when my gender held me back, but I wouldn't assume that I'd never get hired and I wouldn't tell another woman not to bother trying to work.