Should people with an ASD work at all or collect a benefit?

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Moderators, move this if you have to, I don't know if it should be under media, or PPR or general.

Given that the ASD community has an 85% unemployment rate, don't get through interviews, find searching for a job hell, and then when we get one, cannot cope with it, should most people with autism work at all? Don't we take jobs away from NT people who need them? Should we receive a "benefit" as soon as there is a diagnosis? Had I known much earlier that I had an ASD condition, I might not have kept looking for work and trying to do work for as long as I had. I also would not have trained for a job in the health care field if I had known of this condition or worked in fast food at all - I didn't last long there.

It seems like the majority of jobs today require more interaction and have more distractions than in the past, where ASD people were "under the radar". As a societal question, should people with an ASD work?

I think this has to be very much a "case by case" thing. My ideal vision would be if each person on the spectrum could be given specialized one-on-one advice and assistance in first identifying what their skills are, how much they can cope with regarding a work environment, how many hours, how much they need solitary work or can they handle interaction more -- that kind of thing.

Then, the person could be given help, based on those findings, to find a position that fulfills the prioritized needs. In this "ideal world" scenario, those who can't tolerate a work situation at all can be given the benefit system they need, and those who can tolerate all other varying degrees of work hours and environment could work to the capacity they are capable of without engendering undue stressful consequences, and have benefits that make up any income shortfall if that should be the case, similar to a system in the UK where low-income people qualify for tax relief and some benefits that make up a living wage to some extent.

However, as always, most public funds in most countries are already stretched and I can't see some places being able or even willing to fund such a luxuriously one-on-one system where everyone gets proper attention in the initial exploration of their tolerance levels. The UK would never be able to afford this much of a compassionate system.

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Work if you can. Period, end of story.

NOBODY likes hunting for a job. And they pay you for your time because you wouldn't come in for free (though some of those lucky Aspies who find work in their fascination just might).

If one kind of work doesn't work out, try something else.

Work if you can, and do not give up trying.

Leave disability benefits for them as just can't do it. The system is taxed enough (and so are the people with jobs).

There are jobs that are uniquely well suited to AS individuals..programming, light house keeper, janitorial cleaning, analytical engineering - anything where intense focus to detail is a main requirement and social interactions are unnecessary or even problematic...these sorts of positions should be considered. And as for it being a luxury for a society to take a one -on-one approach to helping individuals find the best match - it's cheaper than keeping someone on the dole and making them feel like a drag (not to mention the depressing boredom of having no meaningful activity).

I think in Europe somewhere there is a company that has a specific preference for people on the spectrum and a program to make their employment functional...it's in programming, beta testing and analysis - very detailed and pattern oriented stuff that drives most NTs bonkers - but perfect for Aspies.

The best of all possible matches is to find something that involves one's special interest or a related aspect of said interest and figure out how it can be used to become (more) self supporting.

Buyer Beware said it right...just keep at it. I had dozens of fairly low level jobs all through my twenties and early thirties...I would burn out at about 8 or 9 months in most of them, but that was okay. In all but one, I left on very good terms...the one that I got fired from for failing to 'make the quota'? Commission Sales - I could not figure out how to convince people to buy cr*p they did not need......LOL - learned something there and never looked back.

I Finally settled into jewelry work, and then became a Dental Technician ( making false teeth in a lab) - only changed to teaching in my 50's because my hands gave out. And it's funny, the social contact that I could not do in my twenties was very doable later on...we never stop growing.

There are companies for people with AS in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Two in Norway are called Pixellus and Unicus. Danish company is called Specialisterne (The Specialists)
Don't know what the Swedish company is called..

Don't get me wrong --- even though I said that this would probably be considered a luxury, I said that with regret, not agreement with a government who would take that view.


I think it's a PITY that most public funding systems would probably rather go the lazy route and stick someone on the dole, than to train an army of specialists who could give each person the individual help and exploration that they need.

Of course it would be cheaper -- but when did the system ever do the smartest thing with public funds? LOL.

I commented on that with regret rather than approval.



Actually, not everyone will experience things that way around. I've been the opposite -- when I was younger I seemed to have more flexibility to be more social and at least keep trying to stick at jobs where there was heavy interraction.

But I have found that my tolerance for this has decreased as I got older. I'm 52 now, and I have never felt more bloody FRUSTRATED at keeping up the ability to deal with other human beings in my LIFE.

I'm getting LESS tolerant of social interaction and the challenges it gives me, not more. And yes, I DID learn more and more coping skills to where you would think I'd be like you now, and be much better at it at 52 than I was at 22. In some ways I am, but in other ways I'm sick to death and I can't put up with it anymore.

I did "grow" -- but guess what? My growth went in an arc. I started out terrible, grew into "better" then slowly in my life I arced into "I cannot DO this f*****g s**t anymore, thank you very much."

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Are you serious?

I would drive my wife NUTS if I stayed home from work.

Yes I suck at meetings. Yes I less than average at interpersonal skills and about average at composition.

But I, and many other engineers here, can figure problems out that others cannot.

Exactly, Michael.

If it all possible, it is imperative that people with ASDs work and be independent.

I can work and want to, and I'm not "taking jobs away from people who need them". I need money as much as anyone else, and I have a right to any money I can honestly earn.

The process of searching sucks for everyone, and many people experience conflict and stress in the workplace. If someone's sensitivities prevent them from remaining employed even with adjustments and training, then they still need to eat and receiving financial aid is sensible and empathetic so that they can manage whatever they can.

Doing so by diagnosis is demeaning and treats Autism and Asperger's as a sign of inferiority and helplessness, because it doesn't examine the hows and whys or give choices before saying it's not possible.

Have Autism or Asperger's? Boom - you automatically can't do anything for yourself. Go away from normal people, freak, and stop taking our money except in the form of what we're taxed for.

I found I got nowhere with the "corporate" employers, but small shops usually gave me a fair shake even if I did not get hired. I think it's because they can see an honest, genuine down to earth worker when they see one and aren't so blinded by BS HR crackpot theories/fads that have little to do with reality. I remember even going into one corporate interview and the first words out of her mouth were "it's strange for someone like you (smart, well dressed) to enjoy this work (logistics)". WTF?? That's like saying someone can't enjoy manual labour because they are Jewish!

I landed job #3 when I ignored the BS about eye contact, and the 'script' and said in an honest and direct tone "your operations are inefficient and costing you money. I see a ton of ways to improve it......... Here's how I will fix it........ Call me when you are finished interviewing and are ready to make an offer." I told my counselor that and she said "that is a terrible approach and you can't be doing that". I got the job the next day. Total number of jobs under her approach? 0.

I don't know how ANYONE could willingly not work and sit around unless they had to. I was depressed beyond belief and I was unemployed for 2 WEEKS! It royally sucks not living up to my potential because of my inability to make eye contact and "network" compared to the average 30s male but I think of Bill Watterson. What I consider the best comic strip of all time took years to get off the ground because no executive thought it would be popular. Shows what "experts" know.

I was unemployed for three days once; it almost brought me over the edge.

Ive never worked and Im in my late 30s now. The govt is cutting back lots now in the UK so I expect at some point they will push me into working or at least applying, job club and now the new volunteering for your benefits thing.

I think with working it really depends on what way aspergers takes you, your skills and mental health. Aspies who are good at computers and engineering seem to do well, those of us with poor mental health and poor skill/talent do less well.

I quit my job recently after finding I couldn't handle it, and I've been talking a lot about finding another one IRL. The truth is however, I haven't really put a lot of effort into actually looking for another job, and I don't quite want another one just yet since there are some things in my personal life that I want to get out of the way first. I know I'm going to need the money to pay rent though, and considering how little money I saved when I was employed, this makes me somewhat anxious.

I know I am capable of doing grunt labor, but I can only do it for so long before I become completely fed up with it. For this reason, I'm planning on looking into scholarships so that I can become a "professional student" for a while, and hopefully kick off a career in IT. I am lucky to be gifted in a field with such a disproportionate number of aspies, as this will probably help me score a decent job. For a while I didn't want to go into IT because I thought that doing work in it would ruin it for me as a hobby, but now that I've worked at another job, I understand how important it is to have a job that plays to your strengths.

I feel sorry for aspies who don't have the sort of "splinter skills" that I do. I have a hard time imagining myself working well in a career other than IT, so if it weren't for my giftedness in that area, I don't think I would be able to really pursue any other type of career. I would either work odd jobs, or be stuck on benefits. And seeing that I've already worked an "odd job" and found it to be a hellish experience, I think benefits should be available for aspies, just like everyone else on the autism spectrum.

Basically, what I'm saying is work if you're capable of it, and pursue a career if you have a gift for it, but don't be too hard on yourself. It's entirely possible to be physically capable of performing a task, but mentally unable, and vice versa.

I would like to add, since I didn't mention this in my earlier two posts, THAT I WORK.

I'm in fact self employed. After years of absolute MISERY working for other people.

And I do clean houses. Because it's all I can stand to do, since it's usually a solitary job.

It seems to me that the people insisting that everyone work are for some reason assuming that some on this thread don't.

Wrong. I work my f*****g ASS OFF. And I won't be able to f*****g retire until I'm almost 70. I probably work harder with more drudgery than anyone reading this right now. So don't talk to ME about "everyone should be working." You don't damn well know what work is until you've done what I've done for 21 years, every day.

I didn't have a vacation in the first FIFTEEN YEARS.

So don't make the mistake of thinking I don't f*****g WORK, okay???

Oh yeah, it's great to be independent -- I've been carrying the can for my whole life, so don't accuse ME of not working. But I AM tired even of what I do and I wish to f*****g GOD I didn't f*****g have to. I'm exhausted and it also so happens that all my clients are at home. I'm forced into the social contact I never wanted.

It's the social stuff I can't "do" anymore, that's what I was referring to in my other post. SOCIAL crap.

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I was going to say that now I work too and in fact, I have worked most of my life when I was not looking for work. But I have had a lot of problems at work due to ASD like people talking about me and getting me into trouble. For example, at one office job I was "written up" because one of the women I worked with complained that I "paced". I was actually threatened with a firing over that. Meanwhile, her husband was calling on the phone and threatening to abuse her....

It seems that work that is hell for us NTs "take in stride". How is that possible? All my life I get threatened to be fired and it is hell. It also seems like they have a lot more endurance and can cope with a whole 8 hours of work and more.

I just cannot believe that we have an 85% unemployment rate because of pacing and behaviors like that. How do you expect to find anything when it is 85%?

I'm like that. To me work means misery. I wouldn't be able to stand spending the majority of my time at some lousy minimum wage job and barely have any time or energy to do anything else.

Whether I'm actually able or not I don't know. I don't think I could get or do most jobs.