How do I figure out a career to become?

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I never knew what I wanted to be. I know when I was younger a basketball player. Now I have no idea. I know I am good at drawing, painting, writing and photography because I have been told. I know I am a visual thinker, and just memorize almost everything with photographs and movies in my mind like Temple Grandin. I have no idea, what to become. I knew a few things I was thinking of, but with my problem in auditory processing I have had it my whole life and it's gotten better but those times when I seriously don't understand or between my ear and my brain the words were lost. If I were to do something I was thinking of the careers I was thinking of it wouldn't be good to have that happen. Since I am a visual person, learn visually and such maybe I should do something visually but I just have no idea.

So, I thought to come on here and ask maybe any help given, would be appreciated. Thank you to anyone who answers.

- Catherine

Are you strong in physics, calculus? Have you ever thought about mechanical engineering? Tesla's powers of visualization were so good that he could actually get inside his head and see how every little cog and gear turned about in his invention before even making a preliminary sketch.

I thought everyone thought in pictures/movies. Am I wrong?

There are a lot of ppl how don't, I don't know how I exactly think, but it is more verbal than visual. (maybe even more mathematical, logic, or something like that)

On topic:
What do you like to do?
You should do something you like, as you'll invest time in it and it will be harder to switch later. And it will be harder to concentrate things you don't enjoy.

It's hard to find something both realistic and satisfying. Lots of fields use visual skills. I'm very visual/spatial, too. Do you like graphic arts -- that often means advertising, or glamour industries like film that are very competitive. Then there's cartography, which nowadays also tends to require coding for the best paying jobs, and design of various kinds, be they mechanical, civil, landscape, et cetera. With more and more people in the world, everything seems more competitive than it used to 30 years so, so that's a reality we have to deal with. Try to find a "world" you want to fit into -- be that the art world, engineering world, design world. What appeals to you?

I have never taken physics or calculus.

I do notice I don't spend that much time into something I am not interested so that is true.

I was thinking of doing something as graphic design/ computer arts. I have never before but love the computer and love to draw and make art. Than I would be able to incorporate photography.

Designing, hmm.. never thought of that.

Thanks.

Hi,

It can be hard to figure out what you want to do. I have always hated limiting my options and so I have followed many careers. I have pursued writing, commercial photography, video post production, and currently video graphics. Because I get bored easily, I have found my way into jobs where I end up doing a wide variety of tasks. In the field of visual effects and motion graphics, there are many people who pick one narrow area and become experts at that one thing. They may be 3D character modelers, or texture artists or compositors or motion capture specialists or motion graphics animators etc. I like doing a little bit of everything and so I have found becoming the single computer graphics expert in a very small company works well for me.

The disadvantage is that whatever computer graphic job that comes up, I need to figure out how to do it, but it also means I get to play with a lot of toys. I'm not an expert in any single program. I will never be the guy who does incredible work in one program, but I can do good, solid work in a lot of different programs.

The problem of words getting lost between your ear and your brain sounds a lot like my experience. I find it extraordinarily difficult to “think on my feet” or to express myself by talking, but over the years learned to adequately express myself in writing. Even now, I sometimes have a hard time understanding what people mean when they speak, but it get's easier. I found it difficult to pursue a career in writing since I am not a verbal person and the amount of energy required to construct sentences is far greater than constructing images. I recommend trying because you may discover it suits your personality and it can be quite fulfilling to the right person.

Your interests sound a lot like mine when I was in my early twenties. If you enjoy solitude, graphics and computers you might want to check out things like:

Blender: Free 3D animation and compositing software
GIMP: free photoshop alternative.
After Effects: You can download a trial version from Adobe (I recommend the Meyers' tutorial books)

You can do a search on the internet and find these easily enough.

You might also want to check out the Creative Cow forums http://forums.creativecow.net/ if this interests you. This forum is dedicated to mostly film and TV related work.

I am mostly self taught in computer graphics. I got some software. Struggled with the tutorials for a few years and was lucky enough to get work. This can be a highly competitive field which can be stressful for Aspies, but if you can find a small company where you only have to interact with a limited number of people, it can be very satisfying work.

It seems obvious, but it merits mentioning, if you try doing this sort of work and you find you do not really enjoy it, don't keep pursuing it just because you think you should. Do something that you would enjoy doing whether you were paid or not.

Commercial photography can also be a great field. Generally it demands more interpersonal interaction but if you focus on architectural or product photography, you can sometimes limit the more stressful aspects of dealing with people. If this appeals to you and since you are on the east coast, you might want to look up Bobbi Lane's photography classes. She is a great teacher for anyone who wants to explore commercial work.

Good luck,

Lars Bunch

I can blather on for ages...

Here's some advice on a career in photography since it's a field I worked in briefly:

For some time I was trying to build up a career as an independent commercial photographer. (I am a good photographer so competence is only an issue in that it helped me get what work I did) Some of the steps I took were:

I studied with a successful photographer and a great teacher to learn important details about the practical aspects of the business.

I identified a narrow sub-field of commercial photography that I felt I could work in well and for which there was a strong demand. This was eclectic portraiture. In some ways this sewed the seeds of a problem in that I had to work well with people to shoot a portrait. My preference was for architectural and product photography, but I felt the market for portraiture was bigger and thus increased my chances of getting work.

I looked at a lot of eclectic portraits in magazines and saw that my style of photography could easily work in that field. At the time I worked at a job where I interacted with a lot of clients. I shot portraits of many of these people and built up my skills in this area. (Because I had become accustomed to these people, shooting their portraits was no where near as anxiety provoking.)

I printed up mailers and sent them to the art directors and editors of a number of magazines. And here is the key thing that I did: after a few days had passed and I was comfortable that the mailer had arrived, I did a follow up call and often spoke with the art director. This was the hardest part of the job. I often found myself nearly sick before making each call, but I knew it was necessary. I ended up getting a number of good paying jobs rather quickly – actually far more quickly than my far more gregarious peers. The key take home point here was that I ONLY got jobs from art directors whom I had called (even if it was only to leave a message).

But there were problems. I ultimately only shot five or six jobs before it became too exhausting to deal with. The problems were first that I had to keep selling myself and although it was easier after I had formed a relationship with an art director, if I was to make a full living at this work, I needed to keep calling people and keep up that interaction. Also, I had chosen portraiture. I knew at the time it was an odd choice for me, but I had learned a few techniques for interacting with subject and it seemed doable. In the end it was the need to frequently interact with strangers that made the work impossible for me. What would have helped in this case would be if I worked with a partner who could handle the interpersonal interaction.

In my current job, I mostly only have to directly interact with three or four people. I work in a very small film production company doing graphics and tech support. My boss and the other co-workers generally do the interacting with clients while I hide in my office. When I do have to interact with the client directly, I become anxious and I often spend hours composing an e-mail or else I get on the phone and babble incoherently.

So what have I learned and what suggestions can I offer that might help another person?

It seems to me that people with Aspergers can work quite well if they have a buffer between them and strangers. Working with strangers is exhausting, especially when conflicts arise. If you are to work as an independent, it can be helpful to find a business partner who can thrive on the social interaction and shield you from that aspect of the work.

In the case of establishing a successful photography business, I think what would have worked better for me was if I had narrowed my field to architectural and product work and had found an extroverted person who would enjoy the business side of the work. Because of the lower demand for this kind of work, it might have been harder to establish a self supporting business, but if I could have delegated much of the social interaction, I would have been able to keep at it without burning out. Obviously in a partnership situation you have to bring in enough work to support both partners and that adds to the difficulty.

Here it is important to find someone who actively enjoys the negotiations and the work of supporting a creative business without necessarily being the creative core of the business. Teaming up with another photographer could be a problem as the other photographer may have a conflict of interest in getting you work. It may be better to find someone who thinks a degree in business is actually interesting. It is tempting to want to partner with a friend as this requires less interaction with strangers, but, at least in my experience, my friends seem to have the same dislike for dealing with strangers so they wouldn't provide the skills that I lack.

It would be better to identify the skills that you lack and need another person to provide and then advertize and interview people for the job. To someone who is entrepreneurial this might actually seem like an interesting venture. It's important to look at yourself, NOT as a person with AS, but as a person with valuable skills that can be best used when combined with another person's different set of valuable skills.

If you have any questions, feel free to write me. I still have my commercial photography web site up even though I haven't updated it in years. It might give you an idea of what other Aspies might do in the area of photography. ( www.larsbunch.com ) You can find my e-mail there if you have any questions.

At any rate, I wish you good luck in finding your career. (or careers as the case may be.)

Lars

I am going to email you now, Lars.

hey thats great insight

i also studied photography but i like doing different things so im getting into video