Success Stories?

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I expect this subject has been addressed before, but it has probably been a while. We know the stats. Quite a lot of ASDs are either unemployed or underemployed. And that fact seems to play out here.

I'd like to see the happy thread though. Just to brighten up the place. So, can anyone please share their success stories here. Who here is where you wish to be in life, especially happy with the way your careers is going?

I do technical support in a callcenter. I never thought that I'd like it but I really do. People seem to like me as well. At least enough to temporarily move me to a better position.

My AS husband has been employed quite a bit and does well. His attitude is to keep trying, don't try to fit into a situation you won't be able to do, and apply everywhere and research everything. Schooling is usually a great idea for an AS because they can usually do it very easily if it's in an area they are interested in, and this gives them an advantage over others.

I am very happy with my life so far.
As a kid I was in physical and speech therapy, studied by many doctors and I had so so many tests done. One of my gradeschool principals decided that I should be put in special ed classes and I spent 2 years in special classes riding the special/short bus to school and everything.
In middle school my mom was literally told by a school guidance councilor that "[I] will never make it through highschool". I was in remedial math classes in middle school.

Thank goodness that guidance counselor was wrong. Highschool actually went well - I really started to figure myself out. I made friends, though I don't really feel that close to anyone, and i know how to make others like me/interact with them successfully and with minimal exertion. I was still in "dumb kid" math and I got a 77 in physics my sophomore year - all the other classes were fine.

Now: I'm about to be a junior in college at one of the top 50 schools in the us and I have a over a 3.7 gpa. I've discovered that I study very well on my own - I got straight As Spring semester with a very difficult courseload. This fall I will be tutoring the following classes for my university: Calculus 1 through 3, linear algebra, ordinary differential equations, Physics: electricity and magnetism, Organic chemistry, general chemistry, genetics, and all of the other introductory chemistry and biology classes. I'm also a private chemistry tutor.

I have also been working in an on campus lab for over a year now - I talk about it more in another thread I made here, actually. I really enjoy it and the people there seem to really trust me. I'm being given many new responsibilities this summer - I'm in charge of a project and I have enough stuff to get done that I actually have a couple people helping me out that I have to train and supervise. I'm really hoping to get this one scholarship for next fall - tuition is insane and every little bit helps. I've applied, just waiting to hear news - fingers crossed.

Life is busy but things are working out very well so far. (:

Thanks folks. I hope to see more contributions, and it's good to read what you've written so far. Indeed, it's already helping me to feel a little more positive.

I'm happy with the way my career is going at the moment. My current job is a good one. It hasn't always been this good, but things have been getting better over the last couple of years and now I'm exactly where I want to be for now.

I like my job. It's interesting and challenging most of the time, but usually not crazy stressful except for short periods sometimes. I like the way my job is partly daily routine and partly variable tasks and situations. That way I neither get bored with doing the same all the time nor do I get overwhelmed with lack of structure. There is also plenty of opportunities to learn something new and I like that.

I have been able to adjust the way the job is done to the way I want to do it and I've worked my way up a bit, which in return has put me more and more in charge of my work environment and the way things are done at work. My bosses are very happy with my performance and realize that I would be very hard to replace, so they make sure I'm happy there so that I'll stay.

I've worked with this company for roughly 4 years now, although in different departments. I've never stayed with the same employer for this long before. Things have not always gone well there though. I was bullied a lot in a previous department I was in and a vicious b*tch got me fired once and stole the credit for my hard work to save her own a** when the company was downsizing. However, after I was gone the supervisors realized that I had been doing all the work because all of the sudden nothing was getting done and nobody else knew how to do the things I had been doing, so they gave me my job back and offered me a position in a better department. Things have gone much better since then and I'm happy with the way things are now, although there is always room for more improvement. The most important thing that I want to improve next is the sensory environment at work, or alternatively the option to do a part of the job from home.

By the way, yesterday was a very happy day for me, because I found out that a colleague who has bullied me for years (the same one as got me fired before) will soon no longer be working for the company, so I'm happy and relieved to be rid of her. I think that will also improve the atmosphere at work in general, because she has been having a very negative effect on it for a long time, not just for me.

As for life, it's going rather well. Things are not yet exactly the way I want them to be, but I believe that with time I can get closer to where I want to be, although some things will probably not work out the ideal way. I'm pretty optimistic though. I'm gonna make things work out somehow.

I feel really successful in my work/school situation right now, even though it's not what I thought I'd ever love.

Academia and intellect has always been one of the most important parts of my life. I graduated early from high school, and began college...in 2003. And still haven't graduated. I had my first manic episode the following year and school became harder and harder for me. I struggled for 8 years, dealing with bipolar disorder and probably my (newly diagnosed) AS, and was hospitalised 3 times because of suicide attempts.

All the while I have been in school, I've been working. First as a student librarian in a law library, which I loved because I could be alone with the books, but then I moved out of the state and began a job teaching daycare. The whole time I was in school, I HATED my job: I was afraid of the kids, I couldn't connect with them or show any discipline.

last fall, I decided to take a break from college. It's been the best thing that's happened to me in a long time. I'm physically better than I've been in a long time, I'm no longer as self-destructive as I used to be, I'm happy for the first time in a long time.

And I've completed a course to become a lead teacher for my pre-school class, I connect with my kids and love being around them (most of the time), and although I don't like getting up in the morning and am tired at the end of the day, I leave the house with a confidence I never had before, when I was working and going to school. My bosses are also extremely accommodating: they know I have bipolar disorder, but don't know I have AS, and they adjust my responsibilities and hours so that I have what I need to keep healthy.

I know I'll graduate college one day. But I'm in no hurry: my priority right now is my health, and my happiness, and I have that now.

It seems like the only Aspies who get good jobs are in the math and sciences fields

Um...

I managed to gold down a retail job for nine months.

That's pretty amazing, considering.

Business? Trades? Graphic design? Writing? Teaching? Film?

Are those jobs not good enough for you?

I didn't say that....it just seems Aspies who have a successful career in one of those fields are very rare.

I have a master's degree in a liberal arts field, and I can't get s**t.

It seems that way based on what? Your own personal experience? How many people do you actually know with AS?

Quite a few in my AS support group.

Check out this thread I started awhile back: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt166970.html

It's your turn to present some evidence. Keep in mind I'm only talking about how things ARE, not how I want them to be. I wish employers actually did give a s**t about my education, but they don't.

Last edited by SadAspy on 25 Jul 2011, 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm AS with a BA in art with no job and trying to get on SSI. it's much harder to get a job without a science or accounting degree. liberal arts are a waste.

But it's not how things are, do you realize what a ridiculous assertion that is? A liberal arts degree is obviously less useful than a job specific degree like accounting or engineering AS or not.
This doesn't mean the only way someone with aspergers can make a good living is in the math or science field, I have been offered apprenticeships in lucrative trades.
You can be successful if you are passionate and knowledgeable of your field, aspergers could even be advantageous, thinking outside the box can lead to an exploit that gets you rich quick.
...Not that I expect to change your opinion.

I am passionate and knowledgeable about my field....doesn't do me a bit of good. Employers just care about experience and social skills. Not my degrees or my grades.

But yeah...what do I know? I've only been out of work (except for a few weeks) since December '09 and only ever had jobs (except being a grad assistant) that I could've done straight out of high school.