Anyone on the spectrum skilled at trades?

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Although I'm working in IT (stereotypically!), have been so for many years quite happily, I sometimes wondered whether any of my fellow Aspies managed to make it in the world of trades. My impression is that there are very few Aspies in trades, because of the type of work: you need good manual dexterity, common sense, and in some cases, balance. Not to mention the culture, it might be a bit on the "rough" side with brotherly codes - and most Aspies from what I understand don't come from trades families.

What I do recall reading from the book "Aspergers on the Job" by Rudy Simone (an Aspie herself), is that "We have a higher fluid reasoning ability and higher intelligence; we do not, however, have a higher crystallized intelligence, which is the ability to apply knowledge." (paraphrased)

Indeed, it's been well reputed that there's a wide gap between theoretical smarts and practical skills among the ASD population. The very definition of "skill" is "applied knowledge". However, since these trades skills don't generally involve interpreting people's subtext or being cordial (have you ever interacted with a stereotypical mechanic??) then in some respects, I figure it can't be all that tough??

One real-life example that comes to mind is John Elder Robison, a famous Aspie and author, who runs a business repairing and restoring fine European cars. He's brilliant at it, and was also a special effects technician for bands on the road about 30 years ago. But I haven't heard of any other Aspies proficient in the trades or being skilled craftspeople.

My guess is that a lot of them end up getting pushed away from those jobs or hobbies, due to their deficits..getting the gentle nudge "maybe you'd feel more comfortable in another line of work" or more abrupt even. Even in my younger days, my stepmom discouraged my culinary interest and talent because of my clumsiness and lack of common sense (but I developed some skills there anyway ). So too I could never see myself doing the hobby of stripping down an old car and putting it back from scratch with refurbishments, that seems like an NT hobby. I've done several home improvements, but these were not successful without guidance and help, and any initial attempts on my own came out shoddy.

But if I may invoke some wisdom that others have said every now and then on this site, keeping Aspies away from the skills they lack is like keeping a dyslexic away from books. So I say, "If you keep an Aspie away from applied knowledge, he'll never develop applied knowledge." Be it cooking, carpentry, cars, whatever.

I am in electronics repair and have been for a long time.

I wish I would have tried auto repair in 10th grade,

as well as reading books about the practice of medicine.

Thought I'd say something. Its pretty much what I've done my whole life. I worked on cars @16 was a cook for 4yrs a helicopter mechanic in the army for 3, I've framed homes and large appt buildings,
I then spent 19 yrs as a fitter/fabricator "high end stuff" where I also did testing. I have done work on some real nice race/show cars. etc etc

My gunsmithing work requires that I be proficient with a pretty wide variety of machine and woodworking tools as well as diagnosing mechanical issues from part interactions. I've also worked as a metal fabricator and cook amongst other trade jobs; I find that there are so many oddballs in the trades anyway that blend right in. Restaurant work in particular tends to attract real pirate crew types into the kitchen, and simply being competent and clean can really set you apart to an employer.

I've always worked in trades, from cooking to doing lawncare to cashiering(is this a service trade? or just a service). Now after having worked in several restaurants and pursuing my culinary degree I want to be a professional baker/pastry chef. I have a way with seeing patterns that makes very elegant designs; I just highlight my strengths and one of those happens to be art.

Also, I agree with Dox47 that the kitchen atmosphere is definitely different; I've worked next to a guy doing lines of coke off the fridge behind me to a place that would send you home if you got a spot on your coat while prepping for dinner service.... Takes all kinds, and all are welcome. Work clean and stay safe and you'll get the work while the others get sent home early.

Hazardous tree felling/removal. Or anything with a chainsaw. For some reason, I am good at this and no one ever tries to rush me or pressure me to work faster .
I don't get to do this kind of work very often (maybe 3-4 mos. out the year), but it is part of my regular duties if called upon .
Otherwise, it's always been automotive, plumbing and carpentry work (usually large, redwood bridges over 50' long; starting one this week. It will be 86' long finished with two trestles).
Anything requiring exceptional focus and attention to detail should be given over to someone on the spectrum .
Who better suited than someone was has an absolute passion for their work .

JMHO, YMMV

My primary job is pretty stereotypical - electronics and computers but I am also a good mechanic and engineer. As a side line I do repairs on a wide range of woodworking machinery, from basic stuff to large CNC machines. As a hobby I build and modify cars. I'm equally at home taking an engine apart or modifying it's control electronics.
I'm not as hot on building work but that is mainly due to a lack of interest in hard physical labor!

RazorEddie, did you make the piece in your avatar? Just curious......

I used to work in an industrial machine shop back in the '90's. Used to "sweep in" the vice on the milling machine and learned how to "dial-in" a 4-jaw on an old Okuma lathe (among other things).

Not a derail

Good times....... Great work for a sprectrumite .

Yes. It's a turner's cube. They are traditionally made on a lathe with a 4-jaw chuck but I did mine on my CNC mill. If you are careful you can cut the corners that hold the internal cubes in place, allowing them to move freely while still being trapped inside of each other. However I prefer the patterns you get by leaving the cubes attached.
They are surprisingly easy to make though you do have to be pretty accurate with the depths. Get it slightly wrong and the cube turns into a pile of mangled metal in a fraction of a second.

I've delivered lumber, built houses, log houses, done warehousing, built steel buildings, built cement forms, poured and finished cement, worked in garages as a fleet mechanic, worked as a assemblyman building powder metal presses, worked in the power metal industry, ran presses, moulders, sizers, heat treat furnaces, ran lathe's, mills, welded, worked as a electrician, machinist, auto mechanic, logger, landscaper, farmer etc...

The only jobs I have not had were longshoreman, fisherman,
I wouldn't mind having a job as a brain surgeon or a soda jerk...
A conductor on a train wouldn't be a bad job either.
You get to carry around one of those little money changers on your belt that squirts out nickles and dimes.....

my family was/is all on the spectrum. my [late] mother was quite an exacting seamstress for which she was underpaid, compared with her associates who worked faster but dirtier. her employer valued speed over quality. if they paid outdoorsmen, my [late] dad woulda been king of the hill, as nobody could outshoot him or track wild game like he could. my oldest brother can fix anything and never lacks for money or ability to make money. my older brother has an airframe license but could never find work in that field, but luckily for him he is also a gifted mechanic who can fix anything mechanical- but he can't manage his money worth squat. i have no earthly skills that anybody would be willing to pay me for. i am an experienced audio restoration technician, who can use DSP techniques to fix much corrupted audio, but nobody wants to hire me, as i am not an electrician/electronics engineer or computer guru or any other kind of big wheel. plus, i can't market myself worth spit. so i sit unemployed out in the woods obsessively working on my own pile of old audio recordings in need of some TLC, unbothered by deadlines and other people's demands that i fix their stuff first. i totally lack entreprenurial talents, which IMHO are inborn social abilities above all, and cannot really be taught other than to people with the social abilities/inclinations in the first place who just need to be steered in the right direction. trying to teach such to the untalented is like trying to teach music to a congenitally tone-deaf person [yes, they really do exist].

I am a rather bright electrician, and quite capable of doing above average craftsmanship in spite of my lack of manual dexterity and coordination. I have worked with a number of electricians whom I consider to be Aspie. I have also coresponded on this site with several. Were it not for my lack of educational credentials, I would probably be better suited as an electrical engineer.

Yeah, I can sort of relate to this...I've taken entrepreneurial type courses and workshops, and the content all revolved around a certain "foundation" that they took for granted in others, in other words, it was totally geared to an NT audience who had intuitive social knowledge - for someone like me trying to understand it intellectually, analytically, it got to a peak at a theoretical level but I could tell that my very different foundation would crumble if I went out there and tried to apply it. So that's why for the past many years I've been working in IT and very good at it and don't mind if people regard me as a stereotype!!

Great analogy with teaching music to the tone-deaf!! ! Again, they assume that the person has that "tone-coherent" foundation to begin with, to maximize the utility of the instruction.

i wouldn't mind having your brainy IT stereotype. at least that is a secure and renumerative niche you fit inside of, "snug like a bug in a rug." i have no niche other than that of the standard hermit in the woods straight out of central casting. anyways, i suspect you would still do better than me at learning the entreprenurial stuff. above a certain IQ, one can do just about anything via brute force brain power alone- just look at bill gates and steve jobs.

that popped into my mind when i remembered one of my late father's mechanically challenged friends, who was hopeless with anything with moving parts that needed fixing, he couldn't even learn how to change his oil. but he was just smart enough to be a paper-pushing civil servant for many years. that would be me as well.

You forget art.

I am not really a skilled worker at a job that pays money. I am highly skilled at art which is definitely applied knowledge. In fact I am a figurative sculptor, which takes excellent manual dexterity, a kind of very difficult three dimensional perception--project management, and many other values desirable to an employer (though no one really hires people without Masters degrees in it). I do mold making, and the technical steps leading to casting, as well as after casting work, and whatever I can in self promotion. The self promotion bit is where I am not so hot, but when the work is good enough, other people and word of mouth often steps in to do what I cannot do.