Is the invisibility of AS a blessing or a curse?

Post Reply New Topic

Example:

A few years ago I was fired, as I often am, and it took me a long time to find another job. Since I'm alone in the world, I depend only on my earnings to survive. The day I started at the new job, I was informed I had to undergo training in the USA, and I had to do so 3 days later - which left me 2 days to obtain a visa (normally it takes weeks, if not months). Because of my age and my difficulty earning a living as an aspie, plus the very bad unemployment here, especially at the time, I didn't dare ask for even a couple more days. I was lucky that the US embassy agreed to process my visa as an urgent case (because the job was at an American company, and the interest of the US that I start selling their products asap).

The procedure is that you're called to arrive at a certain hour, without anything in your hands and no bag, and go through various gates showing your documents till you arrive at a place where you're lined up with another 20 or so applicants in a very big hall with echo (I can't understand a word if spoken softly in a big hall with echo), you're given instructions and everyone has to fulfill them at the same time, then you're given a new instruction and everyone has to fulfill it again at the same time in order to receive the 3rd. The instructor chose to stand on the opposite end of the line-up, and with my auditive processing problems, the echo and that he spoke softly, I wasn't able to fulfill the instructions till my neighbors did, I figured what they did and copied them. Sometimes I didn't manage to copy. The instructor yelled at me a lot in front of everyone, accused me of slowing everyone else down, and threatened that if I didn't obey one more time, I'd be denied the visa.

If I explained that I'm autistic, I ran the risk of the new information delaying my visa and being known by the company that hired me, which would've meant being fired on the spot. If I didn't explain that I'm autistic, I wasn't going to get the visa unless I was lucky to be able to copy my neighbors for the rest of the instructions. All I did was continue asking him to please stand closer to the middle or repeat the instructions on both ends of the row. It ended with him punishing me by not allowing me into the visa room till after a few had passed before me, and scorning me in front of all 20 people or so, and making his colleagues laugh at me.

I got the visa on the spot, thanked the visa clerk, turned to go home and on my way out gave a huge bird to the guy, which his colleagues standing with him perfectly saw.

What never occurred to me was to say that the local language is not my first language and that I have a hearing problem. I'm an idiot, I know.

What does this mean "gave a huge bird to the guy"?

Title of the thread could be "Autism Visa Struggles for New Job"?

Flipped him the middle finger, a sign meaning "go copulate with yourself."

Thank you, whirlingmind, in the end I realized the topic I meant, so I came up with this title...

It's a bizarre saying and I don't really know where it came from.

As for the question that started this thread: It's a blessing and a curse. I'm not so bad that functioning is impossible, but I have enough issues (similar to the ones listed in your story) that I do have problems being successful.
The bigger problem I have is that I've learned enough skills to blend in (with a huge degree of stress) and people don't believe me when I show my cracks and try to explain the Aspie light shining through!

Especially when our weaknesses present as lack of consideration for others in an otherwise normal person.