Need informative material for parents on AS employment

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So my parents are very ignorant people regarding my AS. I had the misfortune of not being diagnosed with AS until I was an adult so there are very few services out there for me.

My parents are constantly badgering me to find a job and they still insist that it's as simple as walking into a store and filling out an application. I need a way to inform my parents that I can't just walk myself into a store, fill out an application, do an interview and get a job...especially since retail/hourly wage jobs are a horrible position for aspies due to the social communication it demands with customers, etc.

Can anyone recommend me a book or an article so I can get my parents to understand that I can't approach job hunting like normal people due to my AS and my poor emotional/social state of mind, that I may need some special assistance in finding employment?

I'm in Indiana where employment is horrid. I'm sick of fighting all the poor normal people out there for a regular job and losing (despite having a college degree) over my poor ability to do well at a job interview.

If you could just find a way around having to "sell yourself" at the job interview. Instead of smashing your head against the wall just walking into a bunch of stores and filling out applications, mabye you know some people who can get you on somewhere and you can bypass the typical interview process? God knows that it is a tough road to find work, especially with AS handicapping your social skills. Perhaps Disability is an option?

your parents are in denial. so how bad is your asperger's? are you sure you can't work? if you tried, you might surprised.. the job search process means you have to eat a lot of crap, but if manage to find some job, it might be a good experience.

I've done about a whole year's worth of all of apply and interview crap. The only two jobs I managed to get in the course of time were temp jobs that were only discovered by my dad who got even worse paying jobs from the same companies than I did. I got fired from both. But they were both pretty terrible jobs for someone in my condition and I barely qualified for both. Both employers had serious doubts about hiring me to begin with so getting fired months later was inevitable.

I know that a lot of aspies out there had taken the effort and suceeded in doing jobs that would kill us after a week like retail. I havent exactly suceeded at getting a job in an area like this cause my interviews are terrible. Aside from the fact that my recent firings are likely to hurt any potential at a regular hourly wage job, selling myself is much more difficult. I grew up with a serious bout of depression and self-doubt all my life and never gained any confidence in anything. Plus as an aspie, I don't think about my accomplishments or doing above and beyond. I already overwork myself just to hear what other people say and make sure I do it and I still screw up 90% of the time.

I REALLY dont want to keep doing this whole apply apply apply thing. It's not because I don't want a job. It's because I know I'm not fit for that kind of job. My social anxiety levels are extremely high. If I'm around a crowd of people or if others talk to me I can easily snap or go crazy. This wont get through to my parents. They think it's all a bunch of crap and I just dont try hard enough to make eye contact. I really do have seriously problems but I have a mom who doesnt believe me and a dad who thinks therapists are a waste of money. I was already treated for depression after my AS diagnosis but the treatment went to crap. So I dunno if I can convince my parents to let me seek help again.

Sorry about teh rant.

we have unrealistic expectation. WORK VERY HARD FOR VERY LITTLE MONEY, NO BENEFITS, COMPLAINING CUSTOMERS, AND ABUSIVE BOSS. that's the reality folks. and expect to have your hours cut or be laid off at any day. so, nothing wrong with applying and getting rejecting. nothing wrong with being fired. keep doing it and your job skills will improve. do your best. right now you are not doing your best Raised. if your best is getting fired on day 1 or not getting a call back after interview at all, than fine. at least you learned some job hunting skills. but keep trying don't give up.

If you need a job and you're unskilled, look into working at night. I work evenings in a supermarket and the customers stop coming at about 8pm

Also you can do job applications on the internet, saves having to walk up to the counter, that was very hard

I'm not sure what the age sample was for those stats, but I think you're wrong in the assumption they were sampling primarily from a population under 22.

As for the rest, everyone has AS traits. It's the number an individual has that determines their being labelled. I see a lot of people trying to paint the diagnostic criteria as this nebulous bit of information that is wide open to interpretation in order to fit themselves under it. While there is some argument over the criteria, it is not as wide open as some people like to portray.

I don't really buy into the whole disappearing symptoms line. Sure, you might be able to mask symptoms better, but they don't disappear. It's the way the brain is wired. Maybe whatever AS-like symptoms exhibited at a younger age in the example you mention were the result of observational learning from parents or siblings.

Of course you have to have severe impairments, it's not a designer victim label for wrist cutting emos to justify their persecution complex. It's a serious condition, and it infuriates me when all these cyberchondriacs latch onto it as an excuse.

raisedbyignorance: I have a quick question. Are you my clone? I know I've never been to Indiana, and it's different people, but that sounds exactly like my story up until a year ago. timeisdead is right. Try going to college for something that you can use. I'm attending a junior college for web design and may end up getting a second degree in graphic design before I'm done. It's tough, since visual communication is pretty nonverbal, but it's something and I don't have to deal with concentration issues on programming. See what you want to do for work, then find out how to make it happen. It may end up coming down to getting out of your parents' home, which is what it sounds like is the problem.

You didn't say you're still there, but if they have that much control over you, it sure sounds like me and my grandmother. I had to come all the way across the continent to get away from her, but all it took was getting into a new support system.

I would recommend going to graduate school in something that is more condusive to the work environment you may want. I would try to sell your parents on the idea as well.
For example: University of Wisconsin Milwaukee has a Master of Library of Information Science degree that you can do over the internet. Right now there is shortage of librarians and archivists. Library and Archivist jobs are usually pretty quiet, when there is social interaction, it is often on an informational level, and in small groups or one on one.
Its also a fairly inexpensive as UW Milwaukee has instate tuition for all MLIS students last time I checked.
So any student loan burden will be kept to a mininum, and you can do this without extensive interaction.

This is really just an idea, but if you need help, I can help. I have been through this and found my own way. I have also helped other people who have issues with this.