Do Math/Tech Aspies do better than the 75% unemployment rate

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Hello WP,

Unfortunately, after reading more about autism, I've resigned myself to the fact that I probably have it(being some form of ASD), after much cursing about psychologists/the person who said I might have it and a bit of self-loathing, due to stimming, subpar cue recognition, and intense interests. Hearing "autism" ascribed to me the first time was a huge blow to my ego/self-esteem, because there was a lot of truth to it. (Note: please don't take this in the wrong way as me saying that autists are bad people or anything; I just hated having that label ascribed to me, for better or for worse.)

The good news is that I've been a solid student in high school and did a lot of extracurriculars/community service, and got accepted into Stanford University. Looks like the 4 years of pretty serious studying in high school paid off.

Since the news of my acceptance, a bunch of my friends are saying that I'm "set for life" or "will go really far/make a lot of money", etc. I really hope they're right, but I have a sinking feeling they're not.

What scares me is that oft-cited 75% unemployment for Aspies/ASDs. I really, really don't want to be a member of that camp of the unemployed when I graduate college, which I am sure I am capable of doing.

What I was wondering is, how much better is the employment number for Aspies/ASD with math/science interests (I'm thinking of a math/cs major as I really like data analytics) and solid grades/test scores? I think it's a safe assumption more than 25% of ASDs who graduated from Stanford got jobs, but the data seems so limited. Any anecdotal experience would also be appreciated.

Also, what is the biggest reason for the high Aspie unemployment rate? Personally, I have zero problem with getting up with an alarm clock and getting to school on time every day, which I've heard some Aspies have problems with pertaining to work. But is it the interview that causes a lot of otherwise-good Aspies to get turned down? I am good w/ interviews content-wise (got top 2 out of my school for a scholarship interview), but I may not come across that well with gestures/facial expressions.


I'm just looking for some reassurance and am curious if there's any pertinent data for this.

Thanks,
Unsure123

First thing is the interview. They're rejected before they have the job. Other things comes from the portrayal of media too.

Edit: I'm not sure much. I haven't got my job yet. Well no, even you're an NT in my place it's hard to get a job. But yes, it's all about 1st impressions first. And they prefer 'team-players'.

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I always found something paradoxical.

There are tons of news stories about how STEM jobs pay the best and those with such degrees have the best employment prospects, yet those with the "Engineer's Disease" (or so it's called) have very poor employment prospects.

Where's the beef?

I don't believe Aspies have a 75% unemployment rate. This is perhaps the unemployment rate for autistic people as a whole.

I'm sure--within such professions as engineering, computer science, and science as a whole, that the unemployment rate amongst people on the Spectrum is much lower.

You should speak to some people here on WP who are employed (I would say about half the people who are over 30 here are employed). They could give you the "low down."

Personal Experience trumps research frequently--especially when it comes to microcosmic things. Research tends to look at macrocosmic things.

Don't let research findings deter you.

I have an adult friend that has a friend with AS working two jobs with a computer science degree. He guaranteed me that you don't need the best social and coping skills to succeed in that area, but you may have to pass-up certain opportunities such as going out to work on a site (temporarily) with a team, if that is a problem for you.

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Congratulations on being accepted to Stanford University.

The employment rate study was for the entire spectrum. No studies have been done for various parts of the spectrum. Since Aspergers has not been a official diagnosis since 2013 there is little likelihood Aspies will be studied separately.

Reasons for poor employment range from people having discomfort working with people with autistic traits, miscommunication due to differing communication methods. Autistic's may have severe enough sensory sensitivities to cause them problems.

Employment is at least four years away. Right now you need to concentration your school work and living, as this will be much more challenging then high school. If impairments from Autistic traits are to occur they should present themselves during these college years. But this might not happen at all or you might be able to find successful workarounds. As we say "If you have met one autistic person you have met one Autistic person". What I am saying is don't create problems by overthinking yourself into problems.

A lot tech work is sitting at a desk and doing boring grunt work and engineering schools have "weeder classes" that will mimic that.

One of my engineering professors told us that his class was an engineering "weeder class" (i.e., a class that the engineering department purposely makes difficult and time consuming, so the students would get a feel for what real engineering would be like, and consequently, many students quit engineering at that point - they get "weeded out").

He would give us lectures about how much better people do outside engineering. He said the most successful graduate from his high school was a guy who opened up seven Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises.

He would also talk about the engineering pay ceiling, where in engineering it's hard to move past the ceiling as a techie, because companies will replace you with the next crop of young techies willing work excruciating hours.

Another consideration is that at many places you are expected to move into management eventually because there is no future for an old engineer. This was true of all the engineer positions I worked at.

However, I stuck with it, and now I am in the top 5% of income earners, and work from home.

One of the most annoying and social awkward persons I know is also a very successful and highly praised technical writer in the IT industry. I think there is more of a meritocracy in IT work than almost any other field.

Strange...

The last time I experienced unemployment to a severe degree (and not just "between jobs") was back in 1988 to 1990. Since then, I've been almost continuously employed as a technician or an engineer, and have always been able to find work despite being annoying, socially awkward, and generally weird.

I guess I never knew that I'm supposed to be unemployable...

Newly minted graduates are like baseball prospects--everyone wants them because they are relatively cheap and have a lot of upside.

But, the reality is that of them really aren't engineers yet--and many will never be. Just because you can pass all the engineering classes at any of the top schools doesn't mean that you will have the necessary judgement to make good engineering choices. Sort of like being a fighter pilot (I see Top Gun is having a sequel). Just because you can fly the plane doesn't mean you have what it takes to make the right choices in combat.

But, there is also the pleasant reality that an engineering degree is qualifies you as a management prospect. In many places, with no degree, there is no chance of getting on the management track.

Don't make things more difficult than they need to be. Getting into an advanced humanities class taught by a super popular professor may not be a good idea for an Aspie. Chances are, if you are taught by that professor, you will be up against the best and brightest Stanford students. You certainly don't want to do that as a freshman, even though they will let you take that class. In contrast, I was quite pleased with my experience in taking an Econ class from a Grad Student--nice little class that got even smaller after the first day...

If you are a tech dude then I am pretty certain that you will do OK. They seem to pretty much expect the best people to be 'a bit odd'

With so much work being off shored you probably need to be better than folk had to be in my day.
But hey, you got into Stanford right?

Make sure that you work on all that interpersonal/management/organisational type stuff.

To make the really big bucks you'll need to be able to 'play the game' to some extent.
As far as I can tell there seem to be fewer opportunities for people who just want to sit in room and write code/crunch numbers all day.

Thanks for all the responses guys.

I agree with the guy who said not to think myself into problems. I tend to ponder too much on the "What if..+negative thought?" which can hurt my self-esteem. It's good to hear a reminder to relax.


As for humanities vs. math, I've been told that I'm a pretty good writer and I am very quick at it, so I would kind of like taking a humanities class, especially as a counterbalance to the notoriously difficult CS classes. However, I loathe analyzing fiction and taking tests/writing papers over it (on the other hand, just discussing it for fun is fine). However, political science, social studies, history, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and foreign languages are all subjects I like.

Again, some good responses here. Always nice to hear encouragement!

I know of a lot of tech people who are underemployed or even unemployable. And there seems to be a lot of underemployed tech people hanging out on slashdot, as reading there would make it seem the tech industry has gone bust.

Anecdotally, the type of tech person who is high enough functioning that you'd think they can hold a job, but they can't, is someone who doesn't get along with people. By the time you've graduated high school you should know if that's you, and it sounds like you're not that person.

If you can get through four years of Stanford you should do fine. There's a lot of disrespect for college in the IT field, and some of that is among the underemployed. Getting through college shows you can see a large project through to completion, you can follow instruction, you can work on things that are difficult, you can accept someone other than yourself as an authority, you can do things that aren't self-directed, you can take critique, you can communicate, etc. Some of these things are problem areas for people on the spectrum. These are things you'll need to be able to do to stay employed. Also, more than specific knowledge, these are things employers are looking for when they require a degree before they'll even consider you.