Help with my career lit project

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My name is Darrel Smith, I'm a High School Student at Brattleboro Union High School. I am doing a project for Consumer Literacy about jobs for aspergers. I am looking for people that had jobs with asperger syndome. Can any of you give me any stories of what job you had and what the challenge was?

Hi Darrel. It's Jesse.

Getting a good job can be hard when you have AS or autism. Despite being intellectually gifted, I still struggle to make enough money to get by, due largely to symptoms of AS. At times in my adulthood, even since college, I have spent months at a time being unemployed, especially during the summer, when school is not in session. I have often submitted a resume or application to a job, gotten an interview, and then been rejected. I try my best to come off as polite and professional, but my lack of social intuition and my flat affect have often got in the way. At times I've gotten so depressed about not being able to find work that I've just stopped trying.

Last summer I worked a job at a local farm stand for two weeks. I thought I was doing a good job, getting along with most of my co-workers (though there was one woman who seriously disliked me right from the beginning), and learning all the different tasks and routines. That style of work was difficult for me, because it required frequently switching tasks, and we were encouraged to do things quickly, rather than thoroughly, but I was doing my best, which I thought was pretty good. I heard from friends of my mom who shopped there that I had been helpful and courteous.

I was fired after two weeks. I showed up to my last day and saw that I wasn't on the schedule for the following week, so I called my boss to see what was going on. The only explanation I received was that "we have concerns about you." There was no explanation of who exactly "we" meant, nor what the concerns were. I didn't push the issue, beg, or react emotionally at all. I simply told my boss that I was disappointed by the decision and that he could call me back if he changed his mind, and I went on to finish my last day without mentioning it to anyone. Now I'm working for higher pay, and I'm receiving health and dental insurance, so I feel vindicated.

I think the most important thing for autistic people is to find a profession that we enjoy. Aspies have the ability to focus on a task they like doing to the exclusion of everything else, but it is very difficult for us to complete (or even begin) tasks we don't find interesting. For me it is very important to create and share knowledge, so I have been working in education ever since I was still in college. I was a substitute teacher for over two years, and this past December I was offered a job in Community Education, a program for autistic high school and middle school students. I had been told years before, by my ex-girlfriend, that she thought I had Asperger's Syndrome. I didn't take her seriously at the time, but I started researching the topic when I began working full time with autistics. Now I'm convinced that she was right, and I'm looking for a neuropsychologist to evaluate me.

Working with younger autistic people has been an amazing experience. I have been amazed time and time again to find out just how much I have in common with other Aspies (and even supposedly low functioning students), and how easily I can communicate with them. I was lucky to stumble into a career path and a (still unofficial) diagnosis at the same time, so that my professional development is also an exploration of myself, my family, and my history.

Good luck on your project! I hope this long message helps.