Early 30s

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I am now 33- I was on disability for mental issues related to ptsd/depression/head trauma but I have worked to get off of it so that I can return to the work force. I have worked many kinds of jobs but no job seems to be a good fit. My biggest problem seems to be working well with others- alone I can easily focus on my work and get it done but there is always a communication break down when it comes to me and the other employees. Often I am penalized for this lack of communication- not always on purpose but inadvertently as I am never on the same page as the other employees. This leaves me always in a state of being behind and out of sorts- my plans always being ruined day to day as they make plans that disrupt the plans that I have made for the day. At work I am always dysregulated and in extreme agitation due to the lack of a cohesive routine. Not to mention the loud noises, loud people, and the grime I am often covered in due to the type of work. I never finished college for financial reasons- so I am left with menial work that is often with people that are not very kind or logical. (currently I manage a roofing supplier- so the job is extremely physical though not in a good way)

Any good suggestions of what I should do for work? I can learn any skill for the most part though coding hasn't been a good fit for me either when I have tried to learn that. An online friend suggested remote customer service- I have gotten decent at customer service though I worry the social toll will be to great for me. I also have a health issue with my ears that is steadily degrading due to the dust, insulation, and fiberglass that gets everywhere. Lastly I don't know that I want to do more extremely physical jobs because my body is also degrading- at home my body is dead on top of my mind being in pain from the constant stress of working with NT extroverts and narcissists.

Why was coding not a good fit

The guy who diagnosed me years ago after a number of sessions looking into why I had such a sketchy job history, advised me to take a two year break on disability. He pointed out that 'just do anything' is a bad job strategy for an Aspie. So I was advised to use the two years to come to an understanding about what ASD is, how it specifically manifested in me, and to tailor make a career plan that fit me.

The advice seems sound. Rather than starting with wondering what job or course, start by writing down your specific traits. find out what they are.

Then do career aptitude tests.

Mesh the two together. Write out a list of career options that fit the data.

Consider the practical stuff. Your location. Training options. Your likes and dislikes.

Create a short list.

Choose.

Most good bicycle mechanics are on the spectrum. I never knew that in the past until someone on the spectrum asked if I was (I don't know) as he said that 80% of the good cycle mechanics were.

perhaps moutain though I am not the best at working on bicycles- if someone taught me well I could certainly learn but as it stands now I am not very good at working on bicycles. My dad is good at it and owns many many bicycles though he has never taught me. They aren't very complex so easy to learn- guess I could find books and content to help me learn though I don't know that bike mechanics make much money.

Coding is weird cos its not difficult to do but it's difficult to learn ,like driving a car.

The textbooks and websites explain things in a dry way that make it boring and hard to understand.

I dunno how you approached it but I find the easiest way to learn is by making the most simple game possible,then it won't be boring and unrelatable.

I could go on, but I don't know if you really want to learn coding or want to do something else.

I’m 28 and pretty much just discerned my career over the past 6 months. And it’s very different than what I went to school for. Something I found to be immensely helpful was to make a list of the things that made me happy or joyful when I was a kid, before the pressures and stresses of society started weighing so heavily on me. Actually, the list is titled “Things That Make My Inner Child Happy”.
I decided that I’m going to skew everything I do towards the things on that list. Even though some of them were childish, doing things related to the list still makes me happy after all these years. Then the next step is actually getting good at whatever it is you can do, to turn those interests into a way to support yourself.

I’m trying to be general here but specifically for me, I’ve been coding for 10 years and am excellent at it, went to great schools, am a published researcher, but no company will give me a shot, because I’m weird I guess. Or a woman. Or both. I finally got this great job as the lead developer for a start up run by a family friend, and even having known me and my husband for over 10 years (20 for my husband) they beyond took advantage of me. They actually refused to pay me after I created this amazing, humongous app for them in an insanely short amount of time, then stole my work. Around then I started taking online art classes to stay sane and at least have something fun in my life because I was literally killing myself to get the work done and hit our deadlines. I was never artistically talented but always admired artists, and put a lot of boundaries on my art. Like oh I’ll just do this for fun, I’ll only sketch from life, I’ll never be any good. Three years later and I’m working on art, writing and animation for my own video game all day, recently published an app for kids that I did all of the coding, design and artwork for. And I’m finally happy and fulfilled in what I’m doing. If you look at my “Inner Child List” you’ll see things like sci fi and fantasy stories, horror movies, video games with immersive worlds, drawings you feel like you can step into.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is, figure out what makes you really happy, and then figure out what kind of job can orbit those things. (Or ask for help figuring those things out) And I’ll add, the entire time I was learning to code, and learning to do art (and art is a lifelong process, unlike coding, so art is much harder for me in that sense) I despised it, thought I sucked, thought I would never get anywhere. Then you feel like you’re getting pretty good. Then you realize how vast it is and that you will never master it. And then at some point after that you just get comfortable with it and can figure things out on the fly. Even if you aren’t a master, you end up feeling confident that you can accomplish things. And that’s a really great feeling. Hope this helps you in some way. Sorry for the rant.