Therapist says Aspies can't work, should be on disability

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My new therapist seems to think that aspies are unable to have jobs, they should all apply for government disability benefits, that I shouldn't even dream of looking for work right now....

But if I'm on disability I'd have to sell my home, get rid of my cats, and live in some crappy low-income apartment near other people and I don't think I can live that way.

Is it unrealistic to want to be self-supporting (even though I haven't been in the past, because I haven't had to be)?

it is in no way unrealistic. I myself am supporting my mother and sister as well as myself, so yeah. Rough life here, but you gotta do what you gotta do. At least I am working for more than minumum wage. ($12/hour for those curious, minumum in my state is like $8something. Conversions are starting up here too so if I get hired permanently I will be making $14.50 - $15.50

If you can find a way to (continue to) be self-supporting, then maybe your new therapist will come to see we are not all the same. Personally, I was always able to hold some kind of job until about a year ago ... and your new therapist does not seem to be aware of the great difficulty faced when applying for "government disability benefits" so late in life.

What is with these awful therapists who tend to over-generalize and don't know what they are talking about. Some people on the spectrum cannot work and need to be on disability, but many do not. I know plenty of people in the IT field who are diagnosed Aspies who make six figure salaries. The point is being on the spectrum in of itself is not preventive of having a job, it really depends on ones education, opportunities, and interests, but also the level of ones deficits vs assets. For some it is disabling, for others it is not. So by no means do not think you have to go on disability.

In general if you find a therapist like this, challenge them, and if they won't listen no longer go to see them.

Last edited by starygrrl on 13 Mar 2011, 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm interested what his/her reasoning is behind this statement.
Making a bold statement like that on aspies in general requires alot of explanation.

Therapist sounds like an ass.

I know people who can get on disability that refuse to because once you're on it, your life belongs to the government. You gotta watch where you go and what you do lest someone decides you are able to hold a job and then they terminate your benefits.

If you can work, you should work. It gives you the freedom to do what you want and live as you wish according to your budget. When you live off a welfare check, someone else can decide what your standard of living should be and what you are and are not allowed to do. Then, if you ever want back in the workforce, having been on disability makes someone hiring you even more unlikely.

People don't realize how self-affirming it is to be able to be independent...even if you are considered poor.

I know black people who call being on welfare, "Living on Uncle Sam's plantation."

Your therapist seems to be living in the 1930s.

people love to tell people what they can't and can do.
just ignore them and go for your dreams.

You set your limits Nessa, not the therapist. If you can work, then work. Don't let them tell you otherwise!

Aspies cant work?

Oh crap, i wish i knew sooner since i have been working for years, violating this statement made by this well published and internationally well recognised and well published therapist who certainly have won the nobel price more than once...(?) <- Spot the sarcasm for 10 points.

Instead of worrying about realistic/unrealistic, don't you find the concept insulting to begin with? The very definition of "high functioning" is that you CAN have a job; so your therapist must think you are low functioning; so you should switch therapists. And prove your therapist wrong: get job and do well on it!

In Ontario I can and have worked without losing all my benefits. For every $10 I make working I lose $5 on by benefits that month. So you don't lose anything by working. It seems like in the U.S. it's all or nothing.
Reminds me of that scene in Million Dollar Baby when her mother didn't want the house her daughter was giving her because they would cut off her welfare. She's a bad example though because she was exactly the stereotypical image of a freeloader.

I'd say get a new therapist.

I'm on disability, advised by my psychologist, and others. But in the Australian system I dodn't have to give up anything. And it's not because I can't work, but it buys me time while I sort out what impact AS has on future work options, and gets me additional work support. And it's a couple more $ than unemployment benefits.

Under our system, I never have to look for work again, but I am working on getting back into employment by choice precisely because I can work. There are plenty of success stories on Wrong Planet. Not all Aspies can work, not all can't.

I am an Aspie and I am an analyst for the federal government! I make a decent salary ($74,000) and there is NO REASON you or any other Aspie can't work too!

I admit that it may be difficult securing the position - that is the hardest part for me. I started out at what is basically a temporary position in the agency and worked into an appointment, but it can be done.

Please don't give up!

Check out the site, Managing Asperger's at Work (http://managing-aspergers-at-work.com). It has sections for employees with Asperger's, employers who manage those people and the people who support Aspies. There may be information there to help - it is updated pretty regularly.

It may be more of a challenge to get a job, but don't give up. You can do it.

Your therapist is an ignoramus.