Asperger in the Workplace
20 Aug 2008, 11:33 pm
Hello All,
This is my first time posting to this (or any) website. Although I have never been officially diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome by a dcotor, I am pretty darn sure that it is responsible for my behavioral patterns that some people might find...well...strange. I am a 39 year old male, and I am trying to break into the Information Technology (IT) field. I learned about Asperger Syndrome a few years ago quite by accident. I was reading a magazine article about autism, and the article mentioned this syndrome with this funny sounding name (let's face it, "Asperger" is a funny sounding word) and its socially-impairing symptoms. To make a short story long, it didn't take me long to compare the symptoms of Asperger Syndrome against my own experiences.
There have been many times in my life where I have entered a room full of people (yikes!) and I just didn't know how to negotiate such treacherous social terrain because I would just be totally overwhelmed. I just had no instincts to guide me. By the same token, I have witnessed several of my peers (as opposed to "friends") walk in to the same room of people and they would just instinctually know what to do, and they seemed to handle social interaction with ease.
Currently, I am at a point where I can handle polite party conversation. When it comes to tough business negotiations or working in a sales environment, however, that's when the symptoms of Asperger Syndrome become apparent. As a result, I have become quite soured to working in a sales or customer service job. At this point, I am concerned with dealing with Asperger Syndrome in the workplace and in relationships. Unfortunately, not a lot of people know about Asperger Syndrome, and those that do tend to treat the condition as little more than a weak excuse for "not living up to one's full potential" (whatever that means).
Currently, I am working part-time as a phone survey interviewer. It is hardly my life's ambition, but I do like the fact that I get along well with my co-workers and that I have made good friends with them. I am also trying to get full-time work during daytime hours in the Information Technology field. I have gone on several interviews. Personally, I don't like interviews at all, but I will go on them because that is how you get a job these days.
Indeed, there have been many times in my life where I felt that I was on the "Wrong Planet". I would be willing to listen to any insights on the issues I have mentioned.
06 Sep 2008, 11:37 am
One of my problems is when things get out of sequence at work, or an unexpected problem arises, my crisis meter would always shoot up to 10 even when the problem was normally a 2 or 3. I would make mistakes, poor judgement calls, etc...
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One day you dumb, brainy smarties will look upon us and beg for mercy...and we will consider it. -Peter Griffin
24 Nov 2016, 4:47 pm
This is my first time posting to this (or any) website. Although I have never been officially diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome by a dcotor, I am pretty darn sure that it is responsible for my behavioral patterns that some people might find...well...strange. I am a 39 year old male, and I am trying to break into the Information Technology (IT) field. I learned about Asperger Syndrome a few years ago quite by accident. I was reading a magazine article about autism, and the article mentioned this syndrome with this funny sounding name (let's face it, "Asperger" is a funny sounding word) and its socially-impairing symptoms. To make a short story long, it didn't take me long to compare the symptoms of Asperger Syndrome against my own experiences.
There have been many times in my life where I have entered a room full of people (yikes!) and I just didn't know how to negotiate such treacherous social terrain because I would just be totally overwhelmed. I just had no instincts to guide me. By the same token, I have witnessed several of my peers (as opposed to "friends") walk in to the same room of people and they would just instinctually know what to do, and they seemed to handle social interaction with ease.
Currently, I am at a point where I can handle polite party conversation. When it comes to tough business negotiations or working in a sales environment, however, that's when the symptoms of Asperger Syndrome become apparent. As a result, I have become quite soured to working in a sales or customer service job. At this point, I am concerned with dealing with Asperger Syndrome in the workplace and in relationships. Unfortunately, not a lot of people know about Asperger Syndrome, and those that do tend to treat the condition as little more than a weak excuse for "not living up to one's full potential" (whatever that means).
Currently, I am working part-time as a phone survey interviewer. It is hardly my life's ambition, but I do like the fact that I get along well with my co-workers and that I have made good friends with them. I am also trying to get full-time work during daytime hours in the Information Technology field. I have gone on several interviews. Personally, I don't like interviews at all, but I will go on them because that is how you get a job these days.
Indeed, there have been many times in my life where I felt that I was on the "Wrong Planet". I would be willing to listen to any insights on the issues I have mentioned.
I just read your very old post. I was wondering if you are still working? If so how did you manage things? I was recently pressured to leave a job after 6 years through bullying. new manager kept saying thing such as "you're walking on thin ice" and giving me mean accusatory looks and delaying checks... I could cry reading your story right now.. hope it all worked out
07 Dec 2016, 8:38 am
This is my first time posting to this (or any) website. Although I have never been officially diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome by a dcotor, I am pretty darn sure that it is responsible for my behavioral patterns that some people might find...well...strange. I am a 39 year old male, and I am trying to break into the Information Technology (IT) field. I learned about Asperger Syndrome a few years ago quite by accident. I was reading a magazine article about autism, and the article mentioned this syndrome with this funny sounding name (let's face it, "Asperger" is a funny sounding word) and its socially-impairing symptoms. To make a short story long, it didn't take me long to compare the symptoms of Asperger Syndrome against my own experiences.
There have been many times in my life where I have entered a room full of people (yikes!) and I just didn't know how to negotiate such treacherous social terrain because I would just be totally overwhelmed. I just had no instincts to guide me. By the same token, I have witnessed several of my peers (as opposed to "friends") walk in to the same room of people and they would just instinctually know what to do, and they seemed to handle social interaction with ease.
Currently, I am at a point where I can handle polite party conversation. When it comes to tough business negotiations or working in a sales environment, however, that's when the symptoms of Asperger Syndrome become apparent. As a result, I have become quite soured to working in a sales or customer service job. At this point, I am concerned with dealing with Asperger Syndrome in the workplace and in relationships. Unfortunately, not a lot of people know about Asperger Syndrome, and those that do tend to treat the condition as little more than a weak excuse for "not living up to one's full potential" (whatever that means).
Currently, I am working part-time as a phone survey interviewer. It is hardly my life's ambition, but I do like the fact that I get along well with my co-workers and that I have made good friends with them. I am also trying to get full-time work during daytime hours in the Information Technology field. I have gone on several interviews. Personally, I don't like interviews at all, but I will go on them because that is how you get a job these days.
Indeed, there have been many times in my life where I felt that I was on the "Wrong Planet". I would be willing to listen to any insights on the issues I have mentioned.
Please don't tell anyone at work you have 'aspergers' when you never been diangosised. Not only does it make it harder for those of us with actual autism with a diangosis because people think we are lying because there are literal online quizzers who are being enabled on here and other places to take an online quiz believe they are themselves autistic and demand special treatment and request accomdations at the job and are told by the employer they have no legal basis to request an a request an accomdation and or laughed at by their employer that an online quiz means they have autism.
Sadly even after all that people come here and other places and are still enabled to believe the online quiz. We've even had people who went to get a diangosis and told they either have something other then autism or nothing at all and wouldn't believe and enabled.
One guy I know in real life at an autism group had a mental break because he kept claiming he had autism cause he took an online quiz and his doctors kept telling him he had something different one day he got violent because he didn't take the prescribed medication to calm the symptoms of his real diangosis and ended up hurting himself and someone else.
We know this because of his cousin who actually has autism let us know we he stopped coming to group.
Don't be like that person get a diangosis
