PEOPLE WITH ASPERGER SYNDROME UN OR UNDEREMPLOYED

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I feel I've never come close to my potential in employment. I did a degree in microbiology, but left before the honours year as I couldn't face the social aspects that it presented (speaking directly with professors, loads of presentations, not to mention the non-existent relationships with most of my classmates). I then applied to do a post-grad certificate course in environemental studies. Part of this was a work placement. I did a placement with the local council and at the end it, the lady I worked with was going on maternity leave. I must have done well as they asked me to stay on to cover her leave. But, this was an admin job, the kind I could have got straight from school. Also, I was on a much lower grade than the lady I replaced. As I was just given the job (instead of it being advertised) I had to start at the bottom. Eventually, it was advertised properly and I applied for it and got it. I remained with the council for 11 years, doing various admin roles, but never progressing much. My progression completely halted after a staffing review and I suddenly became a supervisor for a small team. Although I had much better IT skills than anyone else in the dept (and lots of other skills), my boss was only able to see that supervising wasn't my strong point. I also did admin for a workaholic manager who sent me 20 e-mails a day (all with jobs to do) and wondered why I wasn't coping. I don't have any sort of diagnosis, so there was nothing I could say about what the problem was. I had no idea, I just knew that I found simple things (like picking up a phone) difficult and difficult things (like designing a database) easy. The result was me being in tears in the office on several occasions. After my daughter was born 5 years ago, I gave up work completely. I haven't worked since.

everyday i go blank in my new teaching job
when the supervisor comes for observation im like totally blanked out
though otherwise im punctual, hardworking, meticulous, helpful and trying hard to be friendly
but its just that there are lots of blanks spells since we have to take a interactive class with
lots of games, puzzles, quiz etc.

I'm an unemployed, intelligent, hard-working, somewhat adaptable (with prior notice of the changes), different-looking (piercings and tats), highly qualified, maybe aspie woman.

I've worked several jobs that I loved, but I always seem to wind up losing my jobs for one reason or another. My therapist believes it's due to the fact that NT's find me 'hard to read' and my habit of staring when people speak makes me seem judgemental towards others.

I'm always open to the possibility of finding that 'good fit' for myself, but lately I'm just giving up on some of it.

Anyone know if it's even possible for an Aspie woman like myself to get onto SSD benefits (for those of you in the US)... and can we talk about some of the moral/social implications involved?

I don't want to 'abuse' the system, but It's very, very hard for me to last more than 5 months in a job.

Same here.

I've been underemployed for most of my working life, but in the past have encountered unemployment six times in the last 19 years and am currently unemployed again since the middle of last-month.

Have an ECDL and Bookkeeping qualification, which has never been used in an employment environment and am currently studying Payroll.

Having read some of the posts here, I have now come to the conclusion, Neurotypical people are a problem towards me and I don't let it affect my confidence. I tell myself I am my own best friend.

I've even tried to find voluntary work linked to my qualifications and with my course - not a thing out there. Sometimes I think it's best I just get Unemployment Benefit and look for work, but not bother, even though the job market is extremely tough for people like ourselves.

I was curious if others have had the experience that I have had with work. I interview well now, it's an experience that I have had multiple times, and there are rules for how to dress. Behave and so on so I can get it. The first time was bad, but not now. So I get a job. I am good at getting to work on time, being highly productive and so on, although social interaction is an issue. Over time people notice that I don't make friends with co-workers, don't socialize with anyone and just come to work, work, and go home. So over time I become more and more socially outcast at work, then something comes up that is another stressor, like kids get sick or whatever and I feel like I have to cut back on my stress and since going to work has become so uncomfortable I usually quit and just become a house plant again. I don't really get it, every job I've ever had I have excelled at, but I can't get this social thing and it always makes life fall apart on me. So I go through periods of being employed then unemployed based on my co-morbidities of ADHD, OCD and probably bi-polar (right now it's just anxiety and depression, formally). Is this happening to others or is it unique to me?

I don't know about others, but I'd say this is true for me. I've had more than adequate vocational training, however I was denied my certificate by my shop teacher despite meeting all the qualifications and testing higher than the other students, purely on the basis of if I had an overload or meltdown companies would be less likely to higher other students from the school.

I've tried repeatedly to find jobs, all in industries that I'm not only good at, but that I excel at. I can't keep any job, regardless of performance, longer than two weeks, usually because I have an overload or meltdown on my own time in a non-obvious area, such as during a break in a bathroom, or I try to keep from having one but they can see I'm visibly upset despite holding back, or because someone doesn't understand what I mean to say or I don't understand them.

When it comes to schooling, I simply can not handle any social interaction whatsoever, and still manage to complete my school work and take care of myself, I simply become too stressed. I had to leave college, not because I couldn't do the work, but because some people decided to force themselves upon me as friends, and I couldn't handle the stress enough to also handle the stress of certain hygiene things (showers hurt) , and began to get physically ill, be unable to figure out how and what to eat, unable to figure out how to position things in my room in a way that passed for neat due to the size of the room and my poor spacial reasoning etc. I gave up within a month.

I have received no help, no therapy, no instruction, no assistance, and I have no family to depend on to help me, and have been actively discouraged from finding any skills that work to help me, so I am sort of a less-common case, however I'd say that without the proper supports (which I lack) it can be much harder for an aspie to obtain work.

I currently sell homemade fudge at a farmers market with the help of my fiance. Basically he makes sure I shower, insists I eat, makes sure I've made the stuff, makes sure I go, makes sure I can't quit when I am on the verge of tears and can't take it anymore, and then makes sure I take care of my stuff and myself instead of going home and collapsing, no matter how long any of that takes, or how much I cry/meltdown, and if I have an overload he forces me to function afterwords as soon as I can speak again, even before I can speak well. If it were just for me, I'd have given up by now, I'm not worth that much effort and that much stress. He is though, and so for him, I'll put myself on the brink of total breakdown everyday.

Sounds like he's doing the best for you he can. I think I need somehting like because lately I have not been able to do everything so I do nothing. It's all or nothing for me. I go back and forth between doing all this stuff, school and work and doing stuff with the kids and clubs and all of it, then snap and do nothing....

just tell them the truth. only go to psychologists for diagnosis, not psychiatrists as they'll take little time to get to know you and diagnose you properly. that's what i did. but being on welfare is not fund and cake. your new job will be filling out paper work basically, for social security.

this was bad advice looking back on it. these people are fairly incompetent.

Where I live a lot of people are unemployed or underemployed, so it's not just me. Just about everyone I went to school with moved halfway across the country to find real work but for me that was not an option. I'm sick of society making me feel embarrassed and ashamed for not having a job, and feeling spoiled and ungrateful that my parents make sure I'm financially stable each month.

Also times are tough even for NT's, and it's not going to get better, or it will get a lot worse before it gets better.

I've always been a more quiet, confrontational type and I still cannot hold a job...or even get hired for that matter it would seem. Every 'job' I've had I did mostly try to just work hard and attempt to use that to compensate for where I failed socially....well trouble is I work slow and deliberate i cannot 'go faster' or I'll mess up, I have executive function difficulties which effects being self directed and knowing what to do(so I look like an idiot just standing there unsure of what to do with myself), difficulties with verbal instructions ect. So simply keeping your mouth shut and working your ass off doesn't necessarily work...especially if they then think you are 'too' quiet or timid and useless..which means bad for production bad for company image/dealing with public.

I attempted a part time waitress job when I was 17, had a work study job in college and had a job at a place they made wood furniture type stuff....have been to college, but had to drop out and have tried applying for lots of jobs only to have no interested employers. Currently I am on disability so that is a relief....but I would like to be able to earn a living but not a lot of jobs that could accommodate or would be willing to accommodate my difficulties. I think if I ever do get into employment it will be some kind of alternative work thats not really within the main 'work force' or a small business that is more laid back and doesn't care if the employees are a little 'off' socially.

I know of many jobs that you, Sweetleaf, could easily do well, except that companies make the jobs inaccessible to most people. The kinds of jobs I'm thinking of are white collar, require coming into an office and require a 4 year degree. You don't actually use the knowledge from the degree and no one really needs to be there in the office, so if those requirements were dropped, lots of people would be available to work in all sorts of jobs.

I am currently researching autism disclosure in the workplace. As part of that, I spent a couple of months looking into the issue of under- and unemployment for people on the autism spectrum. What I found is that there is little basis for this. There were a couple of studies with low numbers of participants (like 10-12 people) that they pulled from autism services. All of you that have never used an autism service would not have been considered. Think about what that means. If Sweetleaf and I were considered for a study of 2 people, the results would be that 100% of autistic people and 100% of neurotypical people are unemployed. We're both on disability, so should we even be considered?

It looks to me like the number of autistic people employed is about the same as the number of all people employed. Which is about 60% in Western countries. I can't speak to under-employment and under-promotion. There may be something there but I don't have any numbers and can't really speak to that except for very generally.

I found that the easiest jobs that I have had have been working in some administrative capacity for tech companies of some sort. Most of the employees are computer engineers or web developers and are glued to their computers with headphones on 24/7. They really keep to themselves and are quiet anyways so this works out for a quiet and stable environment. Usually when someone needs something, they just message me instead of talking to me. No office politics, gossip, or drama. I tend to keep my head down, do my work, and go home on time. I am very lucky that I have been able to find my current job as it is good paying and does not require much of me. The traditional social aspect of having a job is totally missing, which is something that I am very grateful for indeed!! !! Since everyone else is so quiet, it is not looked at as strange that I am so quiet as well.

If any of you could get one of these jobs, I highly recommend it. I do have a BA degree, but some places will take on administration with less qualifications and the job is pretty laid back and relaxed.

I don't work but its because of physical impairment. I can't even get to a job interview as much as I'd love to work. I am legit genius and often know so much more then NT people and on occasion have helped some along. I imagine I could be capable of doing some very high level work, but I can't get t he opportunity.

I wish i could find a solution to my situation, there's not even a bus service, as i live in the 'burbs. The nearest bus stop is many miles away and I have no friends to help me and my family could care less and want me to stay home and be a slave.

I have had good experiences in the workforce
-- and employers are usually happy to rearrange my duties to suit my needs (loathe managing staff, loathe dealing with clients, LOVE analytical work). There are relatively few people with my specialized skills (mathematical modeling for exploration or investments, mostly), which seems to make employers amenable to accommodating my needs.

(If your skills are easy to replace, of course employers will hire somebody else with your skills + good people skills, as is only sensible. The trick is to have skills that make employers WILLING to overlook the lack of people skills).