Will I EVER get a job

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I am now convinced I will never get a job. Or at least never get a job that requires brain power.

I have a recorded IQ of 160, I have come out in the top 250 in the UK in a national mathematics competition when I was 17, and I am in the 3rd most prestigious University in the UK. I got average 70% in my first year University exams.

But I think I am unemployable.

I have quite severe AS. I need a full-time support worker at University, otherwise I cannot even enter the lecture hall, or even the building for that matter. I cannot use public transport in the rush hour or during school run (I can only go on public transport very early in the morning or at other times when the train/bus/etc is rather empty), so I need a taxi service to University when I have to travel during the rush hour. I have researched interview questions online and I got pretty much every interview question wrong. I cannot cope with physical contact; even shaking hands upsets me. I am not very good socially at all; if I know the person, I will go on a long monologue about myself or my special interest. If I don't know the person I will say very little or nothing at all (like selective mutism). I am inappropriate socially and often make the "wrong" statements that offend people (like saying to a girl who was crying about her ex-boyfriend splitting up with her: "maybe he dumped you because he didn't like you" - which seems perfectly reasonable to me, but is apparently the "wrong" thing to say). I have very bad sensory issues; fluorescent lights, computer screens, roads, noisy places, people talking, even coffee machines, and especially fire alarms, make me get agitated. In fact last time I was in a room when the fire alarm went off, I started screaming and hid under a table with my hands over my ears; it took two people to get me to come out and evacuate the building, and someone had to calm me down outside by doing breathing exercises. I have a history of absconding/running off when I get very stressed out, and it often ends up with the police picking me up. I can spend days locking myself in my bedroom because the anxiety of leaving the house is immense at times. I live in supported housing right now. Oh, and I have a phone phobia.

I don't see how I will ever get a job. I WANT to get a job. I want to get into pharmaceutical research (I'm doing a BSc Pharmacology degree at University College London). But there seems so much against me.

Do you think I will ever get a job? If so, how can they accommodate my rather severe AS? I also have schizophrenia, which means that the paranoia/voices/irrational thoughts I get compound my already bad problems. When I get extremely stressed out, it triggers a relapse and I end up sectioned and put on the psych ward. It has got bad enough that I have been sent to a secure unit several times before.

I don't want to spend the rest of my life on income support benefits and housing benefit, in supported housing (although my disability benefits are not means tested so I will continue to get them even if I do get a job) and having ridiculous amounts of support.

i hope you get a job and discover an antipsychotic that will not make people tired.

Sometimes you just have to force yourself to do things, lots of psychiatrists have a wonderful diagnosis to suit everything. but like i said sometimes you just have to do it. remember you only live once. dont get to caught up in your diagnosis.

I need a job too. I have mild AS and I can't cook, drive, etc. I'm 18 and just graduated high school. There's no support groups, services, etc. for people with autism spectrum disorders around my area. I don't go to college. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I just stay at home bored stiff doing nothing. I need to do something. I want to meet other people with AS and I want something to keep me busy. I would love to work with others who have AS!:) That's what I wanna do. There are never conferences on autism or anything around here.

i face same problems...
social skills, communication is must for sucess in job
otherwise you just have to hide inside the store room of your house....all your life.

I think I have been fortunate with getting support from the National Autistic Society and also my NHS mental health team.

I have an online friend from another part of England who has completed her BSc Pharmacology and I think has completed her Masters. She has been finding it very hard to get a job and has to face a two hour commute each way to do a poorly-paid part-time job in a neuroimaging study. She has schizophrenia too but is higher functioning than me, so much so that she didn't even have to declare it for her job (her schizophrenia is very well controlled). I have schizophrenia that makes even leaving the house a bit of a challenge and I am on two antipsychotics, not just one. AND I have severe difficulties due to AS. Sorry but I'm still not convinced I'll get a job.

I will look into the careers service at the University, and I will try and join a club.

Why not force yourself to deal with your sensory issues by being in it? When I first learned to actually look at someone's eyes it overwhelmed me mentally. Gradually I got used to it and it's not a big deal now. The nice part about our brains is we can grow and learn. Our brains can learn how to do things by forming new synapses. That's why people who lost motor control after a stroke can gain most of it back, because their brain rewired itself. If you force your brain to deal with it, in theory you should be able to do it.

It's a thought. It may not work but you never know. Also there are sites you can work from home with.

Hi

Getting a job in science is tough for everyone, I'm a Biologist trying to get onto a Ph.D or find a research technician post myself. I would suggest that with a sympathetic department, it would be quite possible for you to get involved on Pharmacology. The hard part is getting in, which requires a modicum of luck.
The luck part is finding someone in the industry who understands your needs and is prepared to accommodate them. You have to find a way to get in with the right people; which is also very tough, but this is an instance where persistence pays off; you need not be as concerned about being overly obsessive as the message may get through and that will be worth it.

Thank you for all your suggestions.

kirayng - I am not very creative at all, but I could try web design - I know a few programming languages for that and I can easily learn how to use graphics/image software.

MrObvious - I was forced into sensory overload situations as a kid numerous times and it only made my sensory issues worse. I understand where you're coming from though. My support worker is trying to get me used to using noisy public transport though. We've only just started but I think it will go well.

MightyG - good advice. I will keep trying.

Hmm, maybe you could work from home?