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Jellybean
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15 May 2011, 7:32 am

At the moment, due to my severity of Tourettes, I can't stay focussed for long and need regular time outs. As a result, work is kind of off the agenda for now. However, I have found my calling at an animal shelter near my home. I don't care that I don't get paid for my work, I just love working with all the small animals, and knowing that I have really helped the paid workers who are small in number because our shelter is a charity.

So to any aspies who are looking to learn the skills of work but aren't ready to hit the workplace 9-5, find something you love doing and volunteer! It's raised my confidence right up :)


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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite ;) )


Moog
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15 May 2011, 7:58 am

Awesome, glad to hear you're getting a lot out of it.


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wefunction
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15 May 2011, 8:25 am

Volunteering is great! I volunteer at my children's schools and at my church. I wish I could volunteer at an animal shelter. A friend of mine started out volunteering at a shelter, then started fostering, and she really couldn't be happier. :D



Bloodheart
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15 May 2011, 8:31 am

Good to hear volunteering has been good for you.

I keep trying to find volunteer positions but nothing ever seems to come of it when I apply for charity shops, I know it'd help my confidence and help me finding work. I'd volunteer at my local animal shelter, but I know there's too big of a risk of my coming home with a few new cats...or a donkey :D


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Moog
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15 May 2011, 8:35 am

I applied to volunteer at a donkey sanctuary. They had owls too. They are cool.


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Meow1971
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16 May 2011, 8:32 am

A couple of online volunteer jobs have blended into my obsessions well. Project Gutenberg needs help proofreading their books and a few other things. The Open Directory Project needs people to curate their links and categorize them for thier on-line directory.



Pondering
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16 May 2011, 10:21 pm

Jellybean wrote:
At the moment, due to my severity of Tourettes, I can't stay focussed for long and need regular time outs. As a result, work is kind of off the agenda for now. However, I have found my calling at an animal shelter near my home. I don't care that I don't get paid for my work, I just love working with all the small animals, and knowing that I have really helped the paid workers who are small in number because our shelter is a charity.

So to any aspies who are looking to learn the skills of work but aren't ready to hit the workplace 9-5, find something you love doing and volunteer! It's raised my confidence right up :)
Hi thanks for your post it was really uplifting. I bet it is so nice to be doing something you love. I plan on doing the same by volunteering at a shelter or something that involves helping animals while I look into getting a job. I love animals too! Do you ever get any reptiles at the shelter?


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Jellybean
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18 May 2011, 7:42 am

We don't take in reptiles or birds (except in emergencies), but we take in all kinds of small furries :)


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namaste
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18 May 2011, 1:43 pm

volunteering is safe bet since you are not judged and performance is not evaluated you are not compared to others
so its better to just volunteer if you want to while away time.
good to hear you found a good time pass and it makes you feel happy.


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Seanmw
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18 May 2011, 5:31 pm

I've been strongly considering try some volunteer work at second-hand stores/community outreach places
such as: the salvation army, St. Vincent's,etc.
but i don't have a car & they're out of my walking/bicycling range :?
i wish i could though...


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Lahmacun
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21 May 2011, 9:51 am

I also love volunteering. I volunteer by working in my synagogue's gift shop, and by visiting unaffiliated Jews who are in the local hospital ("unaffiliated" means they don't belong to any particular temple, but still identify themselves as Jewish). The hours are structured but the supervision is minimal and I have free reign to get my work done in the way I want to get it done. Although I love animals, noise bothers me a great deal so I find animal shelters very stressful because of the noise.

There are also many online opportunities for doing volunteer work. I suggest visiting www.volunteermatch.org and investigating any opportunities that are interesting, whether they be in the community or online. Volunteering is also a GREAT way to test the waters of possible occupations you may be interested in, without necessarily having to get internships or other formal opportunities.



MagicMeerkat
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30 Nov 2016, 6:58 pm

I know. I LOVE my volunteer position at a local veterinarian's office.


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Glflegolas
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24 Dec 2016, 7:39 pm

The title of this thread says it all. Volunteer work is how I got into research, back in the first year of university in the summer of 2015. During that time, I worked on PAd-Dal Phos, an organonickel catalyst used for the Buchwald-Hartwig amination on aryl halides. And I haven't looked back since then. The skills I learned that summer I have applied in my second year labs in inorganic chemistry, analytical chemistry, and especially organic chemistry and my current work with Li-ion batteries. My life goal is to be able to say that I did research for 50 years -- 2015 to 2065, at which point I might retire -- or who knows? I might keep on working in a laboratory to the end.


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