Have you considered becoming a professional autism advocate?

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I've heard of a couple of autistic people making autism advocacy their job. For example, monetizing their autism youtube channel or blog, writing books about autism, and public speaking about autism.

I could do that if I knew for sure if I am on the spectrum...

The reason why is that I have spent a lifetime of having shutdowns and not knowing what they were or not being able to explain them to doctors (Or not having doctors know much about shutdowns) and when I first discovered what they were and that part of what I had gone through several times was burnout... And I thought of the struggles I had had in my life and I really want to prevent others from going through the struggles that I have had.
I look to todays schools and their atmospheres are far, far worse then the one that I went through!
I really don't want anyone to go through what I went through and I would do anything to stop this happening to anyone else, and to me, the answer that would have given me the right atmosphere to thrive would be if I was home schooled. Special schools would have been more like school education with a cap on so I could never educationally thrive, as it is assumed that an autistic brain is not as intelligent as an allistic brain (Another stereotype I have noticed parents have observed when their autistic children have gone to some of these special schools).

I want to speak out because school teachers, doctors and nurses, parents and others who deal with both children and adults do need to know how someone like me is thinking.

So I need to be assessed first to see where I stand. There are so many professional people in various jobs who think they know all about what autism is and their views are blinkered as mine were.

I think I could get up on stage to talk about autism. I would be very nurvous, but the rare few times I have been on stage, once I start to talk I carry on and seem to do ok. As long as then I can go and not hang around in the audience I will likely be fine. It is if I have to then sit with the audience and get lots of attention in a crowded building is which I will find difficult... But I can do it. As long as I don't have to do acting on stage I will be fine. (Strange I know as I mask a lot, but I hate acting if I am required to do it! Wierd isn't it!)

As for an income doing it, I have not considered this. I want to do it for those who are going through stressful times as children or adults, and I want to try to make their lives a better place to live. I also want to explain what autism is, so those who are struggling and do not know will find out why and be able to adapt their lives to avoid these damaging burnout situations.
I also want to educate allistic people in a kind friendly way to help them comprehend what autism actually is because many who "Think they know and understand"... Well... It is clear to me they don't because they are trying to match autism as having the same stereotype thinking as they do as I need to get them to think outside the box.

I sometimes think about that - wouldn't it be great to make a career out of my interest in our neurotype and advocate for better acceptance?
But realistically I couldn't do it.

While I could give a presentation, I would struggle with the answering of questions or socialising before/after. Anything involving having to express my thoughts verbally tends to be a disaster.
And while I can write well (being adept at presenting things clearly and logically), I have a tendency not to be very tactful in what I write, and upset people. "Political correctness" never made much sense to me.

How well does it pay?

Stop it Fnord!
Don't be cruel to your fellow aspies - you should know by now that some of us are likely to take you literally and spend hours trying to work out a logical answer based on forecast appearance and publication fees.
I'm guessing your intent was some kind of sarcasm (?)

Pay for me would be a minor concern. Helping others would be the concern.

You guessed wrong and judged me wrongly.

One could be an “autism advocate”—even without an official diagnosis.

Mountain Goat seems like he’s well-qualified for the position.

I've thought about it. One advantage would be that I could shape the job to be largely whatever I personally liked and could cope with - there's nothing to say that I would absolutely have to run it in a certain way. For example, to address MrsPeel's comment (Mrs Peel, we're needed...), I wouldn't feel obliged to give in-person presentations if I didn't want to. There are plenty of ways to be an advocate; maybe I'd have someone on speed dial who liked giving presentations, and I could pass such opportunities onto them. They, in turn, could provide a much more engaging presentation experience than I could.

Apologies in that case, sorry for jumping to conclusions.
It's not as if there is a common role description "autism advocate" with a fixed salary.
It would pay whatever you could earn through publications and speaking tours, I would think.

What you people are discussing seems more like "Motivational Speaking" than "Autism Advocacy".

The former is basically giving pep talks to large groups of people, encouraging them to look at themselves differently and offering a few common-sense methods that they could find on their own if they only knew where to look.  Inspirational speakers are group-oriented, and could likely not care less about individuals in need.

An advocate is more like a lawyer or paralegal going one-on-one with autistic individuals to help them negotiate the bureaucratic mazes that most "normies" seem to instinctively breeze through.

Advocacy may also involve accompanying autistic clients on interviews, medical appointments, DMV exams, and similar activities wherein an autistic person might need a little help and assurance when things stop making sense to them. For example, walking someone through a rental agreement and aiding them in setting up utilities as they move into their own flat would be a form of advocacy.

Imagine having a social worker who actually cares about your personal comfort, health, safety, and general welfare.  Imagine being able to call that person any time of the day or night, whether you just feel lonely and need assurance of your validity as a human being, or the neighbors across the hall are threatening to have you arrested for being "weird".  That person would be your advocate.

Personally, I have neither the time nor the patience to interpose myself between an aspie-in-need and the big, mean, nasty, ugly world.  I have enough stress and anxiety from trying to deal with the world on my own.

Last edited by Fnord on 02 Jan 2021, 8:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think that some of the more famous Autism advocates such as Temple Grandin
make good money although likely supported by her wealthy family who have good business skills.

Temple Grandin is also super brainy, so more capable than many of us.
I think that she makes good money and also uses a great deal of it to help people with ASD.

In her own way I would say that Temple Grandin is very cool!

There's only a limited market for such people. There may be room for a few more but probably not a lot more. Feel free to try it, though, if you feel that you have something to offer that the already-existing autistic public spokespeople aren't yet saying.

If you're going to be an autism-related public figure, you need to be careful to protect yourself from online harassment, especially if you are a woman. I've recently heard of a few female public figures in the autism world who somehow attracted the ire of the misogynistic "incel" world and, as a result, have been harassed in some very nasty ways, such as having their names, photos, and home addresses featured in fake prostitution ads.

So I would strongly advise against using your legal name, unless you are promoting a business (e.g. a licensed psychotherapy practice) that requires you to be known by your legal name.

Nah. I'll leave that to people who are interested in making that their thing - like the guy who runs this site, Alex Plank.

Would I give my time & input to advance autism research? Absolutely. I would gladly share with ASD researchers what I've learned and done to treat my own ASD symptoms over the last 8 years - and in fact, I have, via email correspondence. But am I interested in monetizing it online via a website or youtube channel or whatever? No, not in the least bit - hence sharing what I've learned here on the forums with people it can help vs. publishing a website and putting a price tag on information. Not interested. Most certainly not interested in collecting money from the people who least have it to give - Autistic people who are spinning their wheels unable to work and earn money like I was ~8 years ago during the worst of my own symptoms.

So, no. Not something I would ever seek to monetize. But I would gladly do it for free for autistic people, not as an autism advocate communicating to the neurotypical world. Different strokes for different folks. I don't view Alex' advocacy as greedy or self serving - he has his thing that he does and that's cool; it's just not for me. I have other interests.