Autism and poverty

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Hi everyone,

I work full time and I enjoy my job most of the time, but I am the person in my organisation who is paid the less, but works just as hard as everyone else and harder than some people. I feel like people take advantage of me at work and I am not paid fairly for the amount of work I do. I am extremely hard working and I like to keep busy, I am one of the people that lives the furthest but I am mostly punctual and I want to develop my skills. As I am paid less than everyone else I cannot afford to go to to work social events or pay towards people's leaving funds, charity fundraisers etc and I look like a selfish or anti social person for these reasons. I don't have many friends but the friends I do have, I cannot afford to visit that often because I have hardly any money. I moved away a couple of months ago due to the high cost of living in the city and I cannot afford the train to go down and see them. Do you believe people with autism are paid less for the work we do and do you think people with autism are taken advantage of at work?

It can happen, I've been in a similar situation with 10 years service and a bunch of salary compression.

Here's the thing. I tried EVERYTHING to make a change within that role. I increased my output to the point of burn out. I learned corporate skills galore. O upgraded the work I was doing, but salary compression was still real.

I really didn't want to do it, but finally to solve my problem, there was nothing else to do but get hired into a better paying job.

It took 18 months, the secret to eventual success rode in a few factors including dealing with the burn out.

On the interviewing side, my secret weapon was the interviewing series product at Manager Tools. Check it out and feel free to set out more detail what you think you need to make a step up.

Sadly, the only reason why NTs get paid more is because of what they do at work, they do extra things and offer more and more.

As someone with a disability, when you are doing the minimum work you are required to do, that won't make you climb the ladder. If you have socialization issues, that won't make you climb either. Sadly NTs see this as lazy

Actually, Autistic people tend to have excellent work ethics and tend to actually do more than what is required of them and to excel at their actual jobs. Unfortunately a lot of what you get paid is determined not by how well you do your actual job but by how well you fit in the social environment at your job. That is one of the biggest reasons we are so underemployed, unemployed, and unfairly paid.

And also how well you can subtly suggest that you could do better. In other words: how well do you demand a promotion and a raise without making it sound like a demand. Doing your job well often isn't enough to get ahead; you need to give a clear (clear to your bosses) signs that yes, I could do more and yes, I want to. And then be careful that you don't get a lot more work without your salary raising.

So if you told an autistic person that they are to vacuum the rugs and mop the floor and empty the trash and recycling, they will read between the lines and do other stuff in that area they were never told to do?

Wow I really am unusual. My boss is always adding to my schedule because I will not do things unless I am explicitly told to do that thing. I always thought this was my literal and concrete thinking.

You mean stuff like moving things out of the way while cleaning, putting them back afterwards and putting in new trash bags when you take out the trash? Simple stuff like that would certainly come automatically to me.

I mean like spotting the walls, dusting the base boards, wiping down the steel and drinking fountain. Maybe even wiping down the photo frames.


Kind of reminds me of the time someone on reddit came to r/aspergers and she hired an AS man to clean and she discovered she couldn't tell him to vacuum the rugs because it was somehow confusing for him. She couldn't tell him to do simple things because those were also confusing for him it made me think he must be dumber than a rock because all those things would come automatically to me. Vacuum the rug, I would get all the parts I can reach.But at least that story here makes me feel better about myself because someone out there has it worse.

I didn't see how many of you are in the States but at least here it's a deeply ableist society as I've said on alot of other threads. NDs like others w/disabilities and most mental health issues are systemically oppressed and in the workplace exploited as well as marginalized. It is only ironic in the sense that those who run the economy are mostly sociopaths so obviously not all mental health conditions are equal when it comes to professional success and this too is by design under capitalism.

So unsurprisingly we suffer much higher rates of poverty than NTs in general do and also tend to be toward the bottom on the wealth and income inequality tables. As the road to middle class income and wealth status has basically been closed to the vast majority of us over the last 40 years of neoliberalism this in some ways is getting worse than before. I wish there were better news but this is the sad unfair hard reality for the bulk of us.

I think that it's more or less universal, but some cultures just admit it more openly.

Then again, I do agree with the notion that if you don't work as hard as the others around you, be it because you can't or don't want to, you shouldn't be getting as good things as the others do. As in, someone who gets more results in a work place and/or has a more demanding position should get paid more than someone who doesn't get nearly as good results/doesn't work as much or in as demanding position. The way I see it is that everyone should have a roof over their head, food to eat and an acces to the medical treatment they need, but more than that should be deserved. Sure, people could get some money for a little extra fun like going to the movies and eating out, but only if there's enough tax money to fund that after everyone's basic needs are filled. Though personally I'd only give this to those who are poor against their own will; someone who could work but won't shouldn't be given any tax money.

I can certainly say that I am under employed but I couldn't cope with moving up the ladder. I have been there and the stresses to me are greater. And as I am diffeent to most, I find i do lots of extra but don't always get paid for it. I am now refusing to look at pay as it is all online, and I can't cope with trying to correct mistakes, so I am not looking. So even if I only get half the pay due to me, I am not going to challenge it, as the stress to challenge it... Well, not having stress is worth far more then pay!
Maybe I nede to take a little look... But "Grrr!" I don't want to get involved if it is wrong... And so it would stress me more by knowing I have not been paid. For example, if at the end of the employment they have paid me nothing, I would just walk aaay and not challenge it. Can't deal with it.

You can't do a controlled experiment

Having said that, autism is comorbid with depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder

American Disability Act prohibits discrimination

But the company can hire anyone it wants

Even if you are the most quantitatively qualified, you do not have a right to get that job



you have a right to remain silent





You do not have any other "rights"




It is illegal to tape recorder in a public location without written consent


Unless you win a civil lawsuit, there is nothing you can do about the "discrimination"


Lawsuits take two years.

Lawyers cost 600 bucks an hour

The outcome is not guaranteed