PEOPLE WITH ASPERGER SYNDROME UN OR UNDEREMPLOYED

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There's also the issue of landing a job and performing so well that you become a threat to others (their jobs) where you work at. 2 jobs ago I went from basic entry level employee to night manager in 6 months... and 2 years of constant cold shoulder from supervisors that I had beat to the night manager job culminated in me being 'offered' the 'chance' to 'rise' to fulltime day manager in a dead end department that I knew and they knew but no other employees knew would be eliminated within a few months. Oh, and get paid 1/4th less, work more hours with no overtime pay AND train the person that would be replacing me.

When I confronted the head manager about the above facts he couldn't give me a straight answer. I know from other employees (not supervisors) that the supervisors had bunched up and requested one of them be given the night manager position. My performance exceeded that of the day team managers so it wasnt a numbers issue. All in all, I was out-socialized in the hierarchy.

Ive been unemployed for 2 years... and been in univ. for 1 of those two. No matter where I apply I get rejected... the economy is too bad, my age puts me in the 'when i find something better ill dump this job' category that red flags me as a no-hire and to boot the only jobs hiring demand long hours for minimal wage to do work that requires bachelor degrees or advanced certificates.

I've been searching for crap jobs in my town (there are no good jobs here), but nobody calls me. I've also been searching for jobs that use my Economics degree in nearby cities, but nobody calls me. The last job interview I had was in October at a Safeway in a nearby hick outpost, and they turned me down. Before that, it had been 2 years since I even got an interview. I have no idea what the hell I'm going to do when my student loan bills start coming in the mail in September.

I found out one job I applied to a couple hours away would rather keep searching for someone instead of even call me for an interview. It's so disheartening, it makes me wonder if it's even worth trying anymore.

I'm 49 and have never had a job and because of this I've lived most of life in poverty, lonely and socially isolated. I'm academically bright and have many academic qualifications, yet no-one will employ me. Because I'm obviously a bit different I think people are scared of me and so therefore shun me and bully me.

think we struggle with anxiety and work-life balance.

I don't get anxious; I don't have any emotions...or at least can't express them. This is one of the reasons why I'm unemployable - we live in a social world; a world that I can't adapt to.

This is a huge issue for me. I remember when I did an internship, I was so exhausted at the end of the day, not because the work was so hard, but because I was forced to stay in that office environment, all kinds of people around me who sometimes will approach you, want a status update or give you a new task, explain something...and so on. You are expected to be there 100%, you can't just retreat and say "I'm not available now, come again tomorrow or in a week". My life felt like it only consisted of work, since the only thing to do in my free time was recover. After a while it felt like I was only alternating between work and dreading having to go to work again. I think it might get easier once I know what people expect from me, behaviour-wise, once I know how to get along and be accepted. But it's hard to even get there.

Looks like this is an old thread that has recently been bumped, but I'll add my experience.

Graduated in 2005 with a bachelors in political science, worked a crappy job that only required a hs diploma for a couple years, was miserable so I went to grad school, finished my masters in December '09, and now I can't even get a job that's as good as the crappy one I had before grad school. I'm in the process of applying for SSDI now. Somehow, I'm in the top tenth of the American people when it comes to education, but I'm in the bottom tenth when it comes to unemployment.

And yes, I know I could've majored in something more practical, but I suck at math.

I was never able to hold onto jobs....the longest i held onto a job was 8 months..
people found me weird, different, eccentric, socially different

Now im underemployed working a part time job teaching underprivileged children
in shabby, dirty schools the room smells and infrastructure is bad apart from that
the toilet stinks

I work for this NGO who keep shifting me in different schools....whenever there is a group meeting and all teachers
have to attend i get fright of my life...because im odd one out and also everyone passes comments on me
saying that im too quiet and too different.

Yes Aspie's are either unemployed or underemployed.

I am (or was) highly employable, as a programmer. I worked at IBM and at another (spinoff) company. But I couldn't manage full-time work and a family and staying above the melting point.

Now I work as a translator, part time, from home, a freelancer who can say "yes" or "no" to any project, communicates mostly through e-mail, and sets her own hours in a coworker-free environment. I still melt down, because in a family of five I still have too much on my plate--though I have far less on my plate than most people seem to manage.

*shrug*

That's just the way I'm built; my husband and I recognized long, long before autism came into the picture that I needed to never, ever work full-time again. I think a major part of my unemployability (on regular-world terms) is related to what a previous poster said about anxiety. The external expectations, the coworkers, the social interaction; it's all just too much, day in, day out, for a nervous system already stretched thin.

For the student loans, don't worry about them. there's nothing you can do about them. there's a book called "how to bankrupt your student loans". look into it. also look at studentloanjustice.org.

try to get SSI or SSDI in the meantime.

also report all the infractions from that company to the FTC and your state attorney general.

also look into forbearance.

go to a state agency like MHMR and see if they'll diagnose you.

I am an unemployable dead beat loser. I do not know whether or not I have Aspergers or not. Nothing changes the fact I am an unemployable dead beat loser with no future.

I didn't disclose my Asperger's at my current job (which I've had since March) but I found it virtually impossible for me to get other hours or a better job, part of that is that I am waiting find out if I got into uni or not. Now, since I've had to have like 10 days off work sick, there will be no chance of me getting more reasonable hours.... I work 12 hours a week as a cleaning supervisor, so I've got my standard cleaning duties, but I've got paperwork to do as well. Worst of all, My company has a contract with another company and the other company don't seem to like me very much....

I feel I've never come close to my potential in employment. I did a degree in microbiology, but left before the honours year as I couldn't face the social aspects that it presented (speaking directly with professors, loads of presentations, not to mention the non-existent relationships with most of my classmates). I then applied to do a post-grad certificate course in environemental studies. Part of this was a work placement. I did a placement with the local council and at the end it, the lady I worked with was going on maternity leave. I must have done well as they asked me to stay on to cover her leave. But, this was an admin job, the kind I could have got straight from school. Also, I was on a much lower grade than the lady I replaced. As I was just given the job (instead of it being advertised) I had to start at the bottom. Eventually, it was advertised properly and I applied for it and got it. I remained with the council for 11 years, doing various admin roles, but never progressing much. My progression completely halted after a staffing review and I suddenly became a supervisor for a small team. Although I had much better IT skills than anyone else in the dept (and lots of other skills), my boss was only able to see that supervising wasn't my strong point. I also did admin for a workaholic manager who sent me 20 e-mails a day (all with jobs to do) and wondered why I wasn't coping. I don't have any sort of diagnosis, so there was nothing I could say about what the problem was. I had no idea, I just knew that I found simple things (like picking up a phone) difficult and difficult things (like designing a database) easy. The result was me being in tears in the office on several occasions. After my daughter was born 5 years ago, I gave up work completely. I haven't worked since.

everyday i go blank in my new teaching job
when the supervisor comes for observation im like totally blanked out
though otherwise im punctual, hardworking, meticulous, helpful and trying hard to be friendly
but its just that there are lots of blanks spells since we have to take a interactive class with
lots of games, puzzles, quiz etc.

I'm an unemployed, intelligent, hard-working, somewhat adaptable (with prior notice of the changes), different-looking (piercings and tats), highly qualified, maybe aspie woman.

I've worked several jobs that I loved, but I always seem to wind up losing my jobs for one reason or another. My therapist believes it's due to the fact that NT's find me 'hard to read' and my habit of staring when people speak makes me seem judgemental towards others.

I'm always open to the possibility of finding that 'good fit' for myself, but lately I'm just giving up on some of it.

Anyone know if it's even possible for an Aspie woman like myself to get onto SSD benefits (for those of you in the US)... and can we talk about some of the moral/social implications involved?

I don't want to 'abuse' the system, but It's very, very hard for me to last more than 5 months in a job.