Having AS and working with kids with Autism and AS?

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So, I have come to terms that I probably have mild Aspergers, mostly because I've worked very hard to adjust and work through society. But I still have my traits. I've never really had too much luck with having roommates, and I'm once again facing a roommate issue and it's at that point where I'm most likely going to move out because of it and I guess get a single room. I haven't really had too much luck with getting girls to like me past being friends. The last time I had a girlfriend was 4 years ago and I've had a couple flings here and there since then.

But my question is: Would it be contradictory to struggle with these issues and have mild Aspergers and want to work with kids with Autism and Aspergers (I'm kind of ignoring the current DSM)? I eventually want to set up a behavioral therapy group focused on teaching social and life skills through theatre, but I'd also enjoy doing regular ABA therapy as well. Everybody who I've talked about this with is always saying they think that's the perfect career for me... And while I think I could do it and be good at it, I just have this thought in the back of my mind that I shouldn't pursue it because of my issues..

Well, if you believe you can do it and the people you know in real life also think you can do it, you probably can.
Those people see you after all and not just your diagnosis.

Having as yourself might make you better at connecting with, relating to and understanding the kids.
Understanding the kids makes it easier to work with them.
You probably intuitively know what not to do, and that's a great quality.
You might have great and creative solutions to problems the kids have because of your non-nt vieuwpoint.
You might also be great at helping parents and your colleagues understand the kids better.


Explaining nt-behavoir and helping/ learning the kids to socialize and read body language might be a little harder if you haven't learned it yourself though.
If you have learned yourself to socialize and read body language you should be able to pass that knowledge and any social tricks you've learned on to the kids.

This is something I really want to do during my retirement.

I fear that my autistic tendencies will interfere--since I have difficulty "coming out of myself" at crucial times.

If I'm administering therapy to a person, I must leave "my self" out of it for the most part. I must make sure I have reserved enough space in my mind to be able to offer my best to this person.

I was a speech-pathology student (who successfully completed the bachelor's in this field). During the practicum, there were times when I, MYSELF, was the sole priority during therapy sessions. This interfered with my ability to administer efficacious therapy to my clients.

I think it's a great idea! But maybe I'm a bit biased because my future career goals include similar things.
One of my college majors (psychology) actually requires me to do at least one practicum or teach a class, and I was actually hoping to work with the kids at this local center that diagnoses autism. (I'm hoping to get my official diagnosis from them, so I figured it'd be easy to work with people who diagnosed me and knew me xD.) If not that though, my school has an autism lab, so I'll be content there.

This whole thing is kind of part of my autism/psychology obsession, so pardon any rambling! May I ask what your specific plans are? I don't know a whole bunch about ABA (because I'm pursuing either a graduate certificate or Master's in ASDs - if you want some links to those, let me know - and then onto PhD or an MD/PhD program so I can study disorders and also treat patients), but I think it requires a specific set of courses/a certified program. Is that something you can do? I know a lot of us seem to struggle with school issues.

And for the record, I consider myself "mild" in a way as well. I don't feel like my symptoms impair my day to day functioning in a huge way. The main issues I've had with my symptoms are that they required me to be online schooled throughout high school and my first semester of college, but now I'm going to be on campus as well. And I also know that once I do get my ASD diagnosis, I'll be labeled as level 1. But I want to be able to use my struggles and help other kids through theirs. I see no reason why an autistic person shouldn't be working with autistic kids - in fact, if you ask me, we need more autistic mental health professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists, or even just therapists) to assist young children with ASDs. I don't want any young child to go through the struggles I've had with schools - it began from a pretty young age (I needed many "mental health days" just in preschool alone), too, so that's why I hope early intervention will help.

Just help in the areas that you can help. For example, flirting is not something I understand (probably because I don't get nonverbal behaviors). Apparently I'm capable of doing it, but I often don't notice until it's pointed out or I'm reevaluating my own behavior. So that's an area I'll personally stay away from.