Are you currently or have you ever been in employment?

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I have tried to find statistics of what percentage of people with High Functioning/Asperger's are in employment but the percentages vary between studies. I thought it would be a good idea to do a poll here to see what the situation is among Wrong Planet members.

But it is a bit unscientific. In a fairly long life I have about one year total employment.

And that supervised and obtained for me by a rehabilitation counselor.

I was diagnosed as autism and "brain-damage" as a very young child

Schzoid personality disorder as an adolescent.

I've been on my same job for 34 years.

Used to work, not anymore.. more due to POTS than to Asperger's although I feel my Asperger's is getting worse; I'd say it factors in about 40% of the reason I don't work now, 60% is the POTS.

I held one job down for about 16 years and another for about 22 years, and was in a worker co-operative for a year or so. Disliked a lot of it, so I quit as soon as I could afford to. Didn't like being stuck with people who made me feel uncomfortable, especially if they had any notional power over me. It felt like being stuck in a competitive situation with one hand tied behind my back. The co-operative was best because there were no authority figures, but it wasn't run very well.

I worked at jobs all my life, though I'm retired and on Social Security now. I had a _lot_ of different jobs, but it wasn't all that hard finding another, though often I couldn't get the ones I'd rather have had, and sometimes the "vacation" between was longer than I'd have liked. I think the longest job I ever had was about two years, unless you count going back to the one where my father was the manager (where I first got paid by the hour for sweeping, dusting and rearranging shelves, and running errands when I was about ten). I wasn't that crazy about restaurant work, but it was always easy to find. Turnover there is huge.

Currently working part-time while in college

Sibyl was the first name of my sixth-grade teacher.

I like YOU, though.

Currently employed and have declined a couple other job offers.. also have an open ended job offer should I ever want a change.

I didn't used to have this going for me. I used to have a pretty spotty work history and long stretches of unemployment, but since I've gotten myself way healthier & happier and minimized my symptoms I'm able to work & play with others so much better that things are going OK for me now.

I'm working, and as long as I can manage, I need to work.

I like the income, but really, there's no safety net to support me if I don't work, and I don't know if I could live off welfare...if I managed to qualify for it.

Nope, and don't see it happening in the foreseeable future.

Panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia and a bunch of other things literally prevent me from getting one. If I did get a job, I'd like to work at EB Games, since the local one has really nice people working there and I get along great with them.

I used to work as printer, but seldom longer than a year. Wouldn't be able to do that again because of the noisy environment ... then started as usher and became postal worker/archivist. Kept that one for 4 years, but it did take its toll. At the moment unemployed because of the breakdown of the social system ...

I did 20 with the Air Force. It had its bad times, but that goes for everyone, NT or ASD. I did notice at times it was different things that got to me then them though & vice versa. Also did 7 as an Army civilian. I liked the military structure once I got used to it and the military was always a special interest, so things more or less fit together well.

I've had three different jobs so far. My first job was in a factory where they made diving and fishing garments. I did the easiest tasks there. Sid. :O)

My second job was at a chocolate factory called Chocolate Cottage. I wrapped up individual chocolates in cellophane. I wouldn't mind doing that job again if I could get my fingers to move a little faster.

My third job was doing yard work and mowing lawns as part of a supported work programme at my clubhouse.

My fourth job was doing garbage and snow removal from parking lots and store fronts.

My fifth job is a seasonal job that I've done for the second year in a row. I do Salvation Army Christmas kettles outside a local grocery store for two hours at a time, four times during the Christmas shopping season.

You forgot "Yes - employed in the long-ago past".

Yes, I have worked in the past, but the last job I had was about 15 years ago. I never succeeded in finding a permanent job: always ended up with temporary jobs, most of which I couldn't leave fast enough. I loathed everything about work: the long hours (long relative to school and college...); the gruesome commute; the office environment; the mind-numbingly dull/inane work; the people; the lack of control over anything you did/went/sat/etc.

The trouble was, I had no idea how to better my situation. I tried university twice and disastrously failed both times. I thought about it endlessly, but seemed permanently stuck in a rut that I couldn't get out of.

For the past 15 years I've also had Crohn's disease to deal with; at least that's finally been knocked on the head for now, but it's left a permanent scar - both literally and figuratively.

I hope I can hold down a job one day. The ASD helps me to understand myself better. But - let's face it - there probably isn't a huge market for depressed, autistic 40-somethings who haven't had a job for about 20 years. I'll wait and see how getting a place of my own goes first of all (I'm getting closer towards that particular goal).

There may not be a huge market, but there are still options for earning an income depending on your skills and interests.

I didn't really hold a proper job for a few years. My income was approximately $10,000 gross over a period of 3 years or so. I worried that I was done before I'd ever even really gotten started. I worried that my recent/past employment history would constrain me from finding employment again. Then I got a whole lot healthier, happier, and ever more capable of working & got right back to work and worked harder than ever. I was able to do just fine and realized no one cares about the past so much as what you're capable of doing right now in the present moment. I've since been back to work for a year and a half and am doing fantastic in comparison. I'm living a second life all around, including work wise.

But even if someone isn't interested in treating their ASD/depression symptoms in the way I have, they can still earn money. Even if you never leave your home and go to a job and work. There are now more options than EVER for working online and earning money doing data entry, drafting, graphics design, writing, editing, selling things on amazon or ebay, doing various contract work via elance or some other site, programming/coding, game/software testing/debugging, spreadsheet building etc etc etc.. if someone has internet access and an interest in doing ANYTHING of value that can be done online they can find someone somewhere in the world to pay them to do it and earn themselves some money.