Take a crappy job or go on disability?

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I'll be 28 in a couple months. I've worked enough to get $770/month (I have a statement saying so). I think one of the problems here is that people are assuming I went straight to grad school from undergrad. They think I'm looking for a job for the first time. Not true....I've worked crappy jobs before. I'm sick of them. Working a crappy job is why I went back and got a master's.



200 would just pay for the gas....and that's assuming the price doesn't go up anymore. Maintenance is more. I would add another 150. A round trip 20 times a month will take its toll on an old car like mine.

Exactly. What's it's just a coincidence Aspies have higher unemployment/underemployment rates than the general population? Saying that any Aspy who can do a job can get a job is absurd (at least in THIS economy). Eye contact, networking, finesse (i.e. not being blunt)....these are skills Aspies don't have that are needed to get a job.

Saying you can do a job, you can get a job is like saying that if you know how to count and handle money, you can get money or if you know how to drive, you can get a car.

I'd recommend shunning crappy jobs as long as you can. If everybody told the greedy sods who design and offer these non-jobs to take a running jump, all jobs would be proper jobs. Once you're hired, you'll most likely be working long hours for a pittance, and you might well not have enough remaning energy to achieve escape velocity, so you'll be trapped. Meanwhile, the boss will get fat off your efforts, to add insult to injury.

This is paranoid nonsense. We are not lepers. AS is an invisible illness. There are social skills that aspies can learn and practice for situations so they aren't just sitting there wondering when everyone will catch on that they have AS, instead of just being considered weird. The biggest misconception about the neuro-typical population is that they spend their time trying to figure out what's wrong with the aspie people. They're far too self-absorbed to really care. You really have to tell them that there is a name for something wrong with you before they imagine red flags and begin to discriminate. Why you would ever tell your employer that you has AS is beyond me. There is a big difference between being discriminated against for "obviously having Aspergers" and not even trying to learn and apply social cues that are expected during interviews.

While I was once fired for "not smiling enough", very smart aspies on this site pointed out that there had to be a real reason why she was firing me. And there was... and it was far more sinister than anything I had ever done. Even though I knew this, it was my AS that kept me taking it on her word that I didn't smile enough. I figured that because I have AS, I must be lacking and she used that as an excuse. Truth be told, I smile just fine. My AS made me naive to her sabotage and paranoia but that's hardly something that anybody noticed about me.

There are people with AS who are low functioning. They cannot learn cues. They cannot perform any jobs, not even work-at-home clerical work that require no social interaction. They cannot count money. They cannot drive a car. They cannot purchase a bus ticket or follow a train schedule. They cannot even manage to shower at regular intervals. If they manage to do it, it's awesome but not skills they can bank on having every day. They are disabled by AS. They deserve Disability money. This money is for the people who need help, who cannot support themselves otherwise.

But for high functioning aspies like myself, I have to point out that you've got bootlaces so pick yourself up by them. It's not always easy but just because something is difficult and uncomfortable, that doesn't make it impossible. We take our Big Boy Pills and our Big Girl Pills and we get on with what needs to be done. That makes it well earned when we've got it.

I know very well that we aren't lepers and that there are techniques that you can use to cope with the world, hide your oddities, and generally behave appropriately in an interview. I've had to learn some of them myself. I never said that there weren't people with autism who needed the disability allowance. I didn't tell my boss, he heard it from someone else whom I thought I had told in confidence (I don't advertise my AS but it was relevant to the discussion I was having at the time). I also didn't say that NTs went around in a kind of witchunt against aspies, nor do I believe they do this.

However, there are employers who will bin your resume or fire you from your job not because you are rubbish at the job, but because they don't like the effect your AS has on the way you come across, even if this is actually harmless (e.g. being a loner in a sociable office). If so, it doesn't matter if they have a label for it or not, they will discriminate. In New Zealand you can be fired for no reason whatsoever (literally on the whim of the boss) within the first 90 days of your job. I have heard there is a similar rule in America. With those kinds of employers, no amount of skill or interview technique will cover for you if they can sense your differences.

For the record, I don't believe that aspies shouldn't try to get a job if they are capable of doing so. Employment gaps on your CV aren't good, and the more experience you have, the better. By all means learn how to handle an interview. Nevertheless some people will find you different, and if they don't like that, then there is nothing you can do to better your chances with them.

Last edited by CrinklyCrustacean on 08 Apr 2011, 10:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Your response is riddled with assumptions. I know very well that you know very well that we aren't lepers. I never said that you said that there weren't people with autism who needed the disability allowance. You never said how your boss knew, just that he knew. It would be a natural assumption that he found out from you. Again, you have no business telling anyone. It's more than enough for me that I blog in anonymity about it. I also didn't say that you said that NTs went around in a kind of withhunt against aspies, nor did I believe that you believe they do this. I honestly have no idea what your first paragraph is even talking about. Are you not following the discussion of the thread or do you believe that if someone quotes your comment in response to theirs, what you said exists in a bubble with no other influential factors considered? Not everything people say is somehow assuming something about you. Ease off please. This is discussion, not debate.

There are right-to-work laws in certain states of the USA and that is where you can be fired on a whim. Like I said, I was fired for "not smiling enough." That wasn't the real reason but there's nowhere except a right-to-work state that would consider that reason a valid one. Currently, certain law makers are fighting to abolish the power of unions, which protect employees from unfair hiring/firing and other practices. So, there will be more whim-driven employment in the USA in the future. Still, I wouldn't become paranoid over seeming too different. With this right-to-work comment, you've switched from talking about an aspie's ability to get a job because they're "different" to talking about an aspie's ability to retain a job because they're "different". The ability to retain a job is another matter entirely. If an employer is bent on firing employees on a whim, there's not much any employee can do about it; and, unfortunately, I can think of people who'd be on that chopping block much sooner than the quiet guy who does his job but doesn't laugh at the boss' jokes.

And before you get to typing a response, let me clarify that I'm not assuming you've said quiet guys always get fired for not laughing at jokes, nor did I assume that you didn't know there would be non-aspies who'd be fired in a right-to-work jurisdiction, nor did I assume that you did or did not know that there are employers who do or do not fire employees on a whim, nor did I assume that you are paranoid over your place in the workplace for any reason, nor am I assuming that all bosses tell jokes or the bosses who fire people at whim tell jokes, nor am I assuming that you were going to go on another tirade about assumptions. I'd just like to cover my bases, not that I'm assuming you have a preference for baseball metaphors.

People with a diagnosis on the Autism Spectrum are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act in the U.S. There are many states where a privately owned business employee can be fired at the employers whim, if discrimination is not proven in association with the Autism Spectrum, but the protection can be beneficial in a case where someone needs adjustments in the environment to be able to function well.

An example might be an employee playing loud music, for someone on the spectrum with noise sensitivity; that employee would be required to turn the music down.

A person would have to weigh the pros and cons of declaring their diagnosis on the job; but in some cases where there are problems with sensory issues, it might make the difference between handling the job and not being able to handle it.

But you said:

Which implies that you think that I equate the two.

Okay, that's fair.

Er, what? If you mean that I have no business telling other people that I have the condition, then I'm not sure how that point of view can be justified, because if anybody is entitled to talk about it, it is me.

Likewise. I don't generally discuss it with people unless I feel the need to.

But you said this, again in the context of apparent misconceptions on my part:

Which implies that you think that I think they go around rooting out aspies.

All the things you had apparently assumed about me.

Agreed.

I don't know if you intended this, but your whole post came across as a rebuke to things you had assumed I thought rather than things I actually said or implied. If this was a misunderstanding on my part, then I apologise, but that is why you got such as strong response from me.

I've re-read the thread and I can't see the post you're talking about, but it sounds like it was pretty poor of the employer to givea lack of smiling as a reason for firing rather than the actual reason. I'm assuming, though, that the actual reason wasn't even more ridiculous than the one you were given.

How so? The point I was making is that even after the interview is over, the game isn't necessarily over too once they start work.

Oh certainly, but that's only if the employer is bent on indiscrimately firing anybody for no reason. If there is a specific reason, like "You're too different from me", then all those who fit in with the boss will be safe. I'm not saying every office and every employer is like this. My current job employs about 25 people and all but about three (maybe even just one) has something unusual about their personality, but this is very different from other places I've worked. By the way, thanks (you too, aghogday) for explaining how the situation works in America. That's useful to know.

Where do you live? I wanna move there.

I am in a similar situation. I have just applied for state disability, but it has not been decided upon yet, and I am debating whether or not to take a job at McDonald's. What is holding me back is the fear that my issues will cause me to lose this job, and I will have yet another bad reference on my record. If you take this job, do you think you will be able to succeed at it? If so, I would say yes definitely take it, because it pays more and because you can move up from there. If you think you will have problems and get fired or quit, then don't take a job until you are sure you will be able to do so successfully.

In a perfect world, the people who don't do their jobs well would be fired, laid off or have their hours cut and the quiet ones who do their jobs well would be kept. Unfortunately, many bosses don't really KNOW who is doing the work and who isn't, and make decisions based on who they like. Sucking up, having lots of friends who will take your back, and being a "team player" carry a great deal of weight in the workplace. Loners often get cut from the pack.

This doesn't mean I think people should not try to work if they can, I just think you should be careful not to set yourself up for failure. Find a job that does not rely so much on social skills, while seeking to improve your social skills as much as possible.

I should state that I don't know if I have AS or not. I may have avoidant personality disorder, which may affect your performance in the workplace differently than AS does. I am going to a therapist next week, and hopefully I will find out.

McDonalds is not a good environment for many people on the Autism Spectrum. I knew from the time I was young that I wasn't suited to that type of work environment, although I ended up working in a similiar environment full of noise, people, and lots of moving parts.. It wasn't at the level of what, I have seen at McDonalds, though.

I just heard on the news though, that they are hiring thousands of new employees, so it sounds like this is a place where a person can still get a job.

I should have elaborated more on what I meant by the bit that you quoted. I wasn't thinking of people who didn't do their jobs. I agree with you that there are people who don't work but play the social game and they get to be a boss favorite. I was thinking of the loud, annoying coworkers who might have too many unfunny jokes, get caught in a sexual harassment situation, might take too many sick days, might take attitude or be sarcastic with the boss, etc. Compared to those people, the average boss likes the quiet guy who shows up every day and does his work, even if he doesn't go out for a drink after hours.

I think there are many people on the Autism Spectrum, that are more dedicated to their jobs than others. And valued to the boss, because in some cases they produce more than employees that spend their time socializing.

Problem, there, is once a boss figures it out, they can take advantage by loading more work on that individual, because they can count on that person to get the done in a timely manner. It can be a good thing for job security; but a bad thing for job burnout. Boundries are hard to make when you feel like you have to work a little harder to keep a job than others.

Thankfully there are aspies like me who thrive on that. I get upset if there is nothing for me to do and I like it when the workload accumulates. It makes me feel reassured that I am doing a good job (they wouldn't continue to give me work if I wasn't doing well) and that they like me (they'd ignore me if they thought I was awful). Neither of those apprehensions may be true in all cases, but that's what it says to me.

Okay, I don't care if you're on the right or left politically, but this is plain and simple ignorance. Right-to-work just means you can't be required to join a union as a condition of employment. THAT'S IT. What you're referring to is at-will employment and I think every state has some form of it (there are protections against discrimination, being a whistleblower, stuff like that).

That is the way I felt. I didn't think there was room for errors in the workplace. I watched as other people leisurely went through the workday; not concerned at all about serious mistakes. It made me feel good when people came to me with confidence that I would get the job done.

It is no longer possible for many people to lay back on the job these days. The competition is too fierce and information technology has made the workplace in many cases more efficient, requiring a person to attend to many more tasks in a day.

The issues with social interaction and sensory problems makes it hard in many jobs, but dedication to do a good job and the conscientious nature that is required to do a good job, I believe is a factor that drives some to success.

There are valuable resources as to the jobs that are more conducisive to success for people on the spectrum. It is worth a hardlook before one goes on the job hunt. Unfortunately, the available entry level jobs like McDonalds and Walmart, are harder on people on the Autism Spectrum than some "higher level" positions.

I had a very intelligent friend that likely was on Autism Spectrum. He lasted about three days at McDonalds, although he did the best he could. He went on to be a very successful engineer.

There are issues with short term working memory, and fine motor control, that can put a person on the Autism Spectrum at a distinct disadvantage in some areas of retail and fast food, along with social interaction and sensory problems.

I don't know what specific "crappy job" the OP is talking to, but there could be some serious issues, if it is fast food or retail; there can be relevant concerns for the ability to successfully meet the requirements of the job, dependent on issues specific to how an individual experiences the Autism Spectrum.