what should I do?

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I finally realize my work related issues in the past, and why I had difficulties. I have been fired, or quit on bad terms so many times in the past, , that I feel stuck now. Now that I know what was wrong, who would hire me with all those bad references? I worked so hard, and did well in school...but now I have nothing to show for it I think I would do a lot better now that I know about Aspergers and I've read a lot of books on how to deal with things I was having issues with before-but who would hire me?? Sometimes I feel like it's too late, and I'm running out of time...

My situation sounds very similar to yours -- lots of jobs in which I was dismissed / fired / had to quit for reasons that didn't seem very well defined at the time, but which now make some sense in view of an AS diagnosis.

What I did was get a job with a temp agency, just short-term stuff. I was sort of "emergency help," and they'd send me someplace for a couple of days, and then they wouldn't call for a few days, and then I'd remind them that I existed, and they'd send me someplace else for a few days, and so on. After a couple of months of this I built a reputation as being a reliable good worker. Eventually they started sending me on longer-term assignments where the expectations were higher, and I did well. Finally they sent me to a company where I eventually got hired on as a "real" employee.

I guess I'm saying "don't be afraid to start small." It's not too late.

I second the temping idea - it's a really good one. Initially you really have to push your case to them and remind them that you exist, but if you can show you are dependable, you can get more work and longer contracts.

Another idea is to volunteer in an area of your interest. They can help give you a good reference and it also shows to potential employers that you have self-initiative. I remember volunteering for a place a few years ago and the lady there gave me a great reference for a job.

I have had work issues too. I have a major desire to fit in and can not. While never getting fired I have been the brunt of much gossip which does bother me. People start with the nonsense that I am crazy and then I catch wind of it and begin to have melt downs which reinforces their bull crap. People then climb aboard and before ya know it I am a major out cast. Where I work now I was with a gossip queen and a vindictive woman. One gossip's and exagerrates while the other flat out lied to get me fired. I have learned long ago if you are a bit different you will get picked apart. While I am who I always have been I do not fit in here anylonger and I have had responsibilities taken away(simple ones mindyou) removed from a group that we had going at work. It feels like high school if you are not pretty or with the in crowd you are picked apart. My temper has gotten the best of me which has forced me via my job into anger management. I have been injured recently and because management feels I am an attention seeker my injury goes ignored. I can not get treated or I will be viewed as a liability and be yanked into the office again and quite possibly fired. While I have had issues before I hvae never quite been targeted like this! And of course I am suiciadal because I have had enough of being the mentally ill person or the weird one. I watch others who do less than me get honors and kudos while I just get snorted at....this is not just me it really is not this company is horrible and I am no longer marketable.

Both recruitment agencies and temp agencies are the best solution as companies use them as the reference checkers. Very often the agencies wont do any checking they will assess you themselves. Even if they do check and get bad feedback they'll still help you out as it is in their interests to do so.

I sympathize, and the strange tall, bony fellow wearing a dark robe and carrying the scythe standing behind me agrees (that's a joke).

I'm in the same place. Did poorly to mediocre at best in jobs, but I did well in school. Career pursuits ended in disasters. I'm working now, but in a job well beneath what I should be earning and my potential for work. A nice bit of this is the economy, but the sad truth is that in life, I've always depended on an employer being desperate for anyone or desperate for enough people to fill X vacancies for me to have a shot at being employed. When they want the best they can find, I never get taken seriously.

Gratefully, with the passage of time, mistakes drift away. You can simply not mention them. If you've stuck with the same employer long enough, you show an ability to stick with a job, but if your resume is so unimpressive, it's not that much help.

I feel people with AS who can work really need to think "outside the box" for opportunity because we are so handicapped at doing things the way the rest of the world operates. That's the best advice I can think of right now.