best jobs for people with aspergers

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I have strongly considered journalism, namely because I think it would be the best way to control my Asperger's.

> Does anyone know if there are any jobs in the healthcare or medical field that are a good fit for Aspies?

Depends on what level of skills you are looking at getting.

Not being too empathic is considered a plus in many of these, so you don't get overly emotionally involved with the patient's suffering. Dentistry was a top one for that reason, also that it requires spatial and perfectionist and technical skills that many of us tend towards.

Unfortunately, if you work at a low level, say in a hospital, there is a ton of stress and crazy rules that you have no power to change. There is a lot of authority over you, and yet you are very responsible for making good decisions under pressure. Personally, I would have a problem with that because I would want to perfect the system rather than being working in what I would perceive as a crazy system. (Just from what I've heard of nurses complaining about their jobs.)

Accountant. It is the ultimate black/white profession where an ability to consistently and objectively apply a given set of rules to any situation is what is required. There is a certain element of social interaction involved but it can be managed (most firms tend to physically segregate their finance function off anyway for confidentiality reasons so social interaction with the rest of the organisation is naturally reduced). In addition if you are having an off day and don't want to interact in the staff canteen with others "oh he/she is an accountant - they're like that" is the usual attitude of everyone else.

However, the overall work atmosphere is critical. I worked in a government agency for seven years and had an absolute ******* for a boss who would give me no leeway at all and actively co-operated with another staff member to undermine me. The only goal there was that whatever you are doing now isn't good enough.

I left two years ago and now work for an American bank. You'd have thought that this environment would be big and brash and pressurised. It is the best paid/easiest job I have ever had. I have a Team Leader and Manager who are both excellent and all I get is praise from them because I am more efficient than the NT staff (it probably helps that I am the only guy in an otherwise female section). Because I get the job done, I am now being allocated the "difficult" clients - the ones where they like things done differently and in more complex ways because I have the ability to objectively analyse the problem and fix it without allocating blame.

I realize this was posted a long time ago but anyway...

Being a game tester is not heaven. Often times you're working on contract short-term work. You're playing games because you have to to pay the rent, and they're often buggy games. You're not really enjoying the games, you're analyzing them and looking for problems.

From what I have heard being a game tester is anything but heaven, and is usually just a way to start out in the industry working towards something else.

As strange as it seems, the film industry is a good form of employment for me even though it generally entails meeting alot of new people. The film industry is primarily filled with social outcasts of many types and is generally far more accepting of people who view the world differently. Also, most of my jobs I get through the internet, so by the time I actually talk with a producer I have already exchanged a few e-mails. The initial phone call is still pretty difficult as is the first day on set surrounded by people I don't know, but since I do audio work (one of my key interests), the subject of conversation is about things that I know about and can talk at length about, which gives me a leg up on the competition even if the conversation is awkward.

I spent four years as a professional game designer along with doing some producing and some game testing. These jobs are not nearly as ideal as most people realize. Game creation is a high-communication industry where the people doing the grunt work (which typically does include game designers) have little say in the general direction or projects. The pace is hectic and tiring, and offers little consistency. Unless you work at the top tier companies, you likely won't even like the games you are working on.

Needless to say, I'm currently out of the industry.

well, just do what interets you.

Journalist

Accountant

Math Professor

Banker

Bookstore Clerk

Professional Gamer

Hygienist {work in a dentist's office}

Movie Theater Clerk

Cab Driver

Technician in {insert here}



Anyway, if a job at Powell's Books came into my direction, I would take it!
I'm pissing myself just thinking about it!

I figure that one should do something that they enjoy doing. I figure that interaction with other people is a neccessary evil that we have to deal with.

Tim, I'm a geologist!! ! Exploration work is the best.... I used to get paid to hike alone in Greenland! And live in a camp of ten people, most of whom are quite solitary, but friendly, because the nature of the job self-selects. Awesome!

But beware larger teams and established sites where a love (or at least tolerance) of isolation isn't an issue. I'm on a huge mine site at the moment and am having completely ridiculous issues because my co-workers think I'm aloof and, apparently, that I'm better than them (which I didn't think before, but now, thanks to their attitude, I do).

For the most part, though, geologist... love it.

Accounting/Bookkeeping. That is what I'm going into.

NT brains are more wired up to attribute intentions than aspies..(it's why we have religions). These people believe that your intention is to undermine their group power, by holding a power intention.

I read some quite relevant research that people who gain social power, like a president, start to think more creatively..the problem you are having is that you are exhibiting creative thought processes that indicate you have gained social status.

I think this is probably the primary social problem aspies have, because NT's are pre-occupied with fixing and fighting to be in a position where they can think creatively. The group gets angry at someone who exhibits an aspect of leadership without being granted it.

its up to you to explain to people you have a problem in this area due to brain wiring, or figure out ways to distract or make overt displays that are aware you do not have social status, such as being overtly satirical and comedic for example

One more vote for programming

You'd think an aspie would be sitting at a computer.

I tried that, I despise working in an office. Surrounded by alot of noise, lots of people so lots of visual overload.

Not to mention over illumination of the lighting, hurts the eyes and brain. And being inside sucks.

Best job I had was working at a restaraunt that had windows all around it. Just so I could see outside and it was a resort hotel so it was gorgeous.

Sitting down for hours sucks, I rather move around and develop carpel tunnels on computers.

anything that interests you!! !!

Let's see, what do I want say here. I saw lots of things I agreed with and several I didn't or at least I thought didn't disclose many issues.

Attorney was mentioned several times in the postings. I was thinking of this career myself until I was persuaded otherwise by, you guessed it, lawyers which I know. You start your career about $100K in the hole. Due to this fact, you must take a position at a large firm that is willing to hire you in order to cover your loan cost and have something to live on. I mention willing to hire, because the trend at most firms nowadays is to increase the workload and responsibilities onto the paralegals rather than hire a relatively expensive entry level attorney. If you do get hired into one of these positions, most of the big firms will require you to produce between 2,000 and 3,000 billable hours per year. That's billable hours not show up to work hours, so expect long nights on occasion. I've also heard that some firms are considering outsourcing much of the paralegal type work to India, so there's some good news. If you must go into this career, Patent Law was suggested for me several times. It is expected to be in demand for several years and is mostly concerned with research.

Programmer and Engineer was suggested several times. I have been using computers for a long time and have done some programming, but I couldn't give advice concerning these career prospects other than two things. I was blown away by the fact that Mathematica could do more math better than I could ever imagine doing myself, and that was over 15 years ago when I first tried that application. It just seems to me they are going to become more and more robust and powerful, facilitating an ever decreasing need for human input. The second thing is, yet again, it's going to be cheaper to have the work done in India for the next several years. It would be awful to invest yourself into a career only to have the rug pulled out from beneath you.

Some careers that I think would be good for people with our condition and needs and which would pay the bills are:

Forestry or forest ranger - lots of open space and is more technical than most people think plus is a government post which usually pay a fair wage

Actuary - If your real and I mean real good at math plus have an interest in business especially finance/economics this is a good high paying career. I worked for an insurance company and knew the V.P. in charge of the dept. He said, at least at that time, he was always looking for people who could pass the qualification exams. Position mostly involves a lot of modeling. (And hey, models are hot! Can't beat that.)

Puppeteer - You laugh at this one but when I was in the Army one of my buddies was in a Frat at Purdue with a puppeteer major. Everyone there laughed at this guy saying he was wasting his time, but he went on to work for Jim Henson's company and makes more money than the lot of them. I don't know the dynamics of the job per se, but most behind the scenes positions in the entertainment biz, as per my brother who is in that industry and also a post a ways back, are pretty laid back and a good place to be for creative people.

Lastly, from personal experience, don't even think of going into investment banking. You better have real thick skin to watch some deal go sideways with peoples' money on the line.

And of course there is always geology! That's just a given.