Networking Tips and/or other suitable Aspie Jobs

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Hello, my fellow WPers:

I'm feeling a bit discouraged right now because of my weird career situation. I work freelance as a presenter on AS/autism issues in order to support myself as a full-time university student.

The problem is that my two main contacts who organize these sessions have moved to other positions, and thus don't have the time to spread my name around as much as they did in the past. Luckily, they have organized a few sessions for me throughout the year at their "home bases", but that's still not enough: usually I do them for schools and special education classes as well.

I'm thinking about gathering the emails of all of the local special education heads and sending an email to all of them promoting my services. I also have business cards on the way, but I'm not sure how effective these will be.

Also: even though I get paid very well for these sessions (usually $50-$200 a pop), the income isn't regular, as I never know when I'm going to be booked for a session. My only other option, it seems, is to get a food or service industry job, which both my family and friends agree that I'd suck at.

I don't have a ton of work experience apart from presenting. I worked at a large coffee chain last summer...that ended in a complete disaster as I have difficulties with attention and multitasking. My only other work experience was at Goodwill being a job coach, which was a lot more positive. I pass my resume around every chance I get (avoiding food service places, obviously), but no one seems to call me back.

My parents have been paying my rent and giving me money for the last few months...which I appreciate, but I'd like to begin making my own money again. So....any networking tips or suggestions for a steady part time job that isn't reliant on multitasking would definitely be appreciated!

Thank you all in advance!

Wow, you really sound like you have your act together! I'm impressed that you do these presentations. I'm also impressed that you are out there, looking for work, and you know what your weaknesses are.

My son got a job at his college cleaning bathrooms and setting up chairs, etc. from midnight to 3 a.m. He LOVED this job. He could work independently, knew exactly what the tasks were, and then at the end of the shift, everybody went out to Denny's together to eat, so the job was social as well! He met some really nice friends that way, and it was a steady income. You might try looking for work on campus like this.

You have already created a niche for yourself. Now, it's just a matter of marketing. Your plan of getting email addresses of potential clients is great. My suggestions are to obtain some recommendations from previous clients and set up a website where everything is in one place: your services, experience, references, etc., along with useful links. This is how you start a career these days.