Do not go into Information Technology if you have an ASD

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It pains me to say this but the truth is if you have an ASD do not go into IT.  Read these two articles and using these two articles I will explain why.

 For the most part, IT is not a nerd's paradise in which one is isolated in the basement.  You have to be able to socialize with people including customers especially in an entry level position.  And speaking of that...

You will be working in the help desk which not only requires technical skills but people skills as well.  The help desk helps to solve computer problems over the phone.   And, those who have auditory processing disorders more then likely won't be able to this.  It will be a fast paced environment as well so if you have executive functioning issues it is out as well.  When you take all sorts of aptitude tests and personality tests they don't account for executive dysfunction and auditory processing issues.

 You have to be able to love working with people as well.  Not only do I have executive dysfunction and auditory processing issues but I'm an extremely deeply introverted  thinking person.  I don't like to work with people at all and I just wish I had a job in which I was put into the basement and my bosses just gives me my assignments and that is that and I didn't have to deal with the workplace political BS that pervades most workplaces today.

 The field changes with the wind.  New technologies, techniques and protocols and constantly being developed.  So, you have to constantly keep current.  Can you as an autistic do this?  And, it also requires socialization to find out what is the latest in the field. It is an extremely fast paced, ad hoc type of field.  You can't establish any kind of routine with this field.

 It is also who you know to get into these types of positions as well as a number of jobs.  Based upon what I do understand they don't really hire by the job postings but based on who they know.

The truth is had I knew all of this of myself and the field itself years ago during the time I was in college I would never entered this field.  It requires excellent communication skills and a mental flexibility an autistic person more then likely will not be able to give.  It is not a nerd's paradise and the truth is no matter how intelligent Steve Urkel and Screech Powers were I believe they would have extreme difficulty finding jobs today especially in that field.

Don't take my word for it.  Find out for yourself and don't just take what your parents or any of those in authority over you say at face value.  They will tell you half truths b/c a number of them are misinformed as to what I.T. is.

It's not just that that it's becoming more extroverted, but we don't just have NTs competing with us, but H-1B indentured labor (I even talked to a guy from India that called it that. Said that he has to wait 70 years for a green card and that the system is fixed between the body shops like Tata and "American" companies. H-1Bs are tied to a job or else they get sent back. So they can be abused and have little recourse.)

Problem is, with every other field becoming VERY extroverted, it's almost like a death sentence to us Aspies now that the STEM fields are closed to us.


Plus, you have to do a lot of communicating to find work in these big cities. I don't know if I can do that. Especially for a field that may NOT be your passion. Some may just be in it because it pays (or USED to anyway) well and is (or was, as you said) more introvert friendly.

Oh, my!

I guess I'll have to dismiss over half of my IT department as being unsuitable for their jobs!

Thank you for helping me put a half-dozen people out of work!

Pay attention to the last paragraph of my post.

I know you're in management but here is my question. What is the ratio of aspies who make it to management vs those who don't. In fact, what is the ratio of those with any disability vs those who don't have one who are employed? And, how many of those with disabilities who don't have jobs are unemployed vs those not in the labor force?

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/disabl.nr0.htm

Last edited by cubedemon6073 on 07 Jul 2018, 2:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I do have a passion for it but just b/c one is interested doesn't mean the industry is suitable. If you're going to do something in IT I would try to do apps. Other then that, I say no. Yes, and I forgot about the H-1Bs.

IT may be suitable for Fnord and his six other aspie employees but for the majority of us on the spectrum I say no.

If I was a parent of an aspie child and was successful and NT I would hire them myself and/or claim them SSI/SSDI. Truth is with exceptions like Fnord the modern day workplace will not work for those with ASD. You're playing someone else's game by some else's standards you can't play.

B4 you say I'm being to negative, would you rather have a negative truth or a positive lie?

Last edited by cubedemon6073 on 07 Jul 2018, 2:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

IT isn't only helpdesk. I did the tester while studying. Contact with people was minimal. In the number of errors found and how much I tested, my NT colleagues could not compete with me. It was ideal job for someone with ASD. But I did not feel useful enough and I wanted to do more, be more useful and do more interesting job. In my current work I don't have to talk with our users much. We have an application for incidents, chat, e-mail. More often I have to talk to my colleagues (there are few), but still it is good job for me.

I wrote here about changes that occur in my job. And I'm afraid that my job will "become more extroverted". I am not sure if I will be able work in new organisation structure.

I'm glad you found something like that. But, I would not recommend IT to my worst enemy especially when a. skills are perishable and b. each job requires multiple skills and each skill requires years of experience. And, quite honestly, I think parents need to go ahead and a. claim their ASD child SSDI, b. figure out to employ your child yourself and/or create a job for them. c. DON'T have them be in regular employment like everyone else.

And, you lose your soul with all of the pretending and faking one has to do.

a. claim their ASD child SSDI - If this is something like disability pension, it isn't much money in my country. I am really glad that I'm not dependent on my parents. I was not happy when I was.
b. figure out to employ your child yourself and/or create a job for them. - They didn't have sufficient income for four children. Their houseworks - it was often really stupid. Move something from one part of garden to other and later again move it elsewhere. Nonsense. I would not want to be an employee of my parents. I think my dad is probably aspie too.
c. DON'T have them be in regular employment like everyone else. - They don't know about my Aspergers. They was not able solve their problems and my problems they ignored.

a. skills are perishable - We learn our whole life.
b. each job requires multiple skills and each skill requires years of experience. - It is true not only for IT but for most fields. The worst is a requirement of social skills, but in which field they do not want them?

No one recommend me IT. I chose because it enjoy me. When someone is interested in something else, he should do what interests him. Not what parents recommend.

Nira, any advice anyone gives you including myself make sure you look it up and see if it is true. Do your home cause even though I do try to be rational and objective sometimes my emotions do cloud my judgement.

I am NT, and I used to manage a small department in a software development company. My husband is an aspie and currently has a non-managerial but still high position in the IT department of a large local organization. Lots of aspires at my husbands company, and there were lots at my company when I was still working.

IT and software development, if you want to lump them together as one area (I would), is one of the few career fields where an autistic person can quickly get hired without prejudice, and are often preferred over their similarly skilled neurotypical counterparts.

NT “people person” types (like me) are indeed crucial for specific positions in IT/DEV. This clears the way for technical types to get work done without being bothered. You probably don’t want to take a position with wall to wall meetings or too much phone time. Those positions are better filled by people like me. Get a task focused position and you will quickly pull ahead of the pack.

If you are in an environment where you are not being respected and valued for your differences, and you are doing anything computer related, I seriously urge you to look around for a better job. I understand what the OP is pointing out, and that IS a thing, but there are so many other companies that are not like that. IT and DEV are still great choices for autistic workers.

One should never make broad-stroke statements like “Don’t go into IT if you have an ASD.”

1. Because that is exactly where Aspies and other autistic people frequently excel.

2. So what if one doesn’t into management. I’m a regular clerical worker, and will never attain management. I’m getting a decent pension, however.

3. Even if the percentage of successful outcomes is low (which it isn’t in IT), this does not mean that INDIVIDUALS cannot succeed where others have failed.

4. It just sends a bad message to Aspies and other autistics overall.

Roses for Autism in Connecticut discovered there actually are very few jobs that can't be done by someone on the autism spectrum. So, they now run a vertically integrated business that allows people on the spectrum to try out all sorts of jobs--driving a truck, taking orders over the phone, creatively designing flower arrangements, rose farming, website maintenance...are just a few that I can remember.

I can’t drive a truck....but I’ve known of at least two trucks drivers who are members of this Site.

I'm going to be doing App design on my own and try to create my own IT job.

What do you think about that?

I will tell you this. I tried it. I ran into a major stumbling block. I tried to seek guidance. I got none. I'm on SSDI now. It isn't the technical side I have issues with. The major issues I had was

1. Everyone requiring multiple skills each requiring years of experience.

2. Personality tests

3. knowing where the bottom is. (based upon what I read apparently most ppl go into tech support as an entry level job. I can't do it.)

4. how to tell what i'm worth

I wish you luck with that.

Yeah I can see that. I love the science of electronics. But found I couldn't stand working in the field. I love creating Excel formula combinations for different effects. Extensively.... but I find the uses for Excel in business (outside my own budiness) tedious and banal. The restrictive interests of an AS person like myself ends up with me working in driving and warehouse jobs. Even with a history of management I don't think I can go back to managing other people's problems (businesses).