Is this an asperger's trait?

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All of you that don't have jobs and the ability to move around much probably won't get this, but for all the adults, I'm curious if you guys have done this, too . . .

I've found that I tend to have about a two year attention span - about every two years I either quit my job (this time I got laid off, but I was already job hunting when that happened) or move - it is like I just have to do that . . .

Also, do any of you just hate mirrors? I just hate them - I'd take the ones out of my bathroom if I thought I could still look ok for interviews . . .

I hate mirrors. They remind me how crummy I look and make me feel kinda bad. I just ignore the mirror in my bathroom, and I shave my face in the shower, though I often miss spots.

Like you, I have a lot of trouble staying in jobs for any length of time. I find it better to work as a "casual" so the responsibility is minimal. You have a degree in psychology, am I right? Have you considered working as a diversional therapist in a home for the elderly? I'm sure such places would be very glad to have someone as qualified as yourself aboard!

The job is very "low-stress" - the job entails organising recreational and/or lifestyle plans for elderly residents.

Are you qualified to administer psychometric tests? I have noticed that companies sometimes seek suitably educated temporary staff for this purpose.

Best of luck

Oh - I didn't mean that you couldn't answer this post if you weren't an adult - I just meant that if you weren't an adult you probably wouldn't have had the experience of being able to just pick up and move or change jobs whenever you wanted . . .

In terms of jobs for me, I find that I'm an excellent teacher (and everyone else thinks so, too) - so long as no one expects any more of a relationship than that - I mean, it makes me very nervous when students come up after class to talk to me - I can 'perform' all day long and greatly enjoy doing it (I'm a bit of an adrenilin junkie, so that has something to do with it, I think) - same thing with animal rights work - I'll sit at a table or a demo and hand out leaflets all day and talk to people about the finer points of animal rights philosophy - but the minute the other people there suggest going out to lunch or something I suddenly need to get away . . .
My biggest AS trait is a complete inability to connect with other people - I LOVE to do things for people, but I can't have conversations that aren't topic specific and I get bored with little personal problems (i.e. 'I can't BELIEVE my girlfriend did THIS . . .' my response is 'Why are you telling me? - talk to her and leave me alone . . .')

All that said, I am certified to do psychometrics (the psychologist who diagnosed me had to work HARD to find tests to give me that I didn't know how to score ) and also, I was interviewing for a 911 operator position and I think that would be just PERFECT for me - I could help people and I can stay calm in any situation but I'd never have to make a deeper connection . . .

I'm seventeen and I've never had a job more than two months.... Sometimes I quit, other times I get laid off... Meh.. It's all cool. I havent' found a job yet that suited me.

Although.. I did notice-- It seems like a lot of Aspies have a basis in psychology? Or am I just reading posts from the same couple of psychologist Aspies and not taking note of their screen names? Just curious, because my goal right now is to become a psychiatrist.

I used to have a bigger problem with mirrors, but as they show me the visual representation of how others will see me, they are important. Now, fluorescent lights I can't stand

As for jobs, I would think that if you feel you are not being "challenged" enough in your job for it to continually be exciting, that perhaps this is why you feel like you want to move on. But life's about moving on, and especially when you are younger there are many times for many people when they will only hold a job a few "short" years anyway. Life goes on, and if you aren't sufficiently engaged, and to a greater degree, passionate about your work -- it will show!

Gotta enjoy what you do. At least most of it

I think my background in psychology comes from trying to figure out what was wrong with me and also studying people - I find people just facinating, but in the same way that I find rats faciniating . . . I mean, it is a very unemotional thing - like today, I was at the grocery store and one of the staff members was really sick - like throwing up sick - and don't think I didn't feel bad for her - I told her not to worry about it because she was crying and obviously really embarassed - but the main thing I thought was 'I didn't realize that African-American people could get pale . . .'

Yeah... That's kind of how I see other people... detached, but I have something I really want to do with Psychiatry. I want to know how autism and related disorders actually work and find out what causes them. That's about the sum total of my emotional investment in others. "How do you work?"

That is interesting - but I agree with 'How do you work?' thing - I really see that in myself - it is like when I talk to people I am concerned about them if they are one of the few people I like to be around - but at the same time I'm thinking 'Wow - I wonder how this particular human will react to the situation they are telling me about - and I wonder if I can predict, really fast - what they did . . .' and a lot of the time I'm right - but very rarely they totally surprise me . . .
But again, it is this detached sort of thing . . .

Mirrors make me self-conscious. But on your other point, yeah I get this urge to move on after about 2 years and sometimes pick fights with people perhaps in an unconscious desire to get fired. But I have to stay where I'm at. Not wise to keep moving on like that.

i have a thing with mirrors two