AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:
I'm glad DrHouseHasAspergers is in there pitching jobs, but realistically, a part time job, or even a full time job in something like retail will not pay the bills for an independent living situation, so most probably I'd encourage you to think in terms of a (good or at least decent) roommate situation. Commission sales can be an exception, but some of those jobs are good and some really aren't.
And really, for those of us on the Spectrum, the situation with "easy" jobs and "hard" jobs is almost reversed. With "easy" entry-level among the hardest, with such factors like absentee and disengaged managers, unspoken and unacknowledged rules, workplaced bullying by bored people. And the "entry"-level jobs have long computer applications, a seeming slush fund of people applying, hard to get for everyone---both people on the spectrum and not. Longterm I really encourage you to think about professions. Maybe read autobiographies about medical school, law school, business and see what you think.
Perhaps think in terms of multi-paths. A week in which I get three positive things done without preconditions, I chalk it up as a success, with anything more than three a bonus. If I get less than three done, okay, so it wasn't that great a week, I try again next week.
And please continue to think of WrongPlanet as a resource.
Very good points. I was unemployable til I became self-employed. It's a lot of hours and it can be feast or famine, but at least I know I won't totally starve because some capricious butthead boss fires me. My clients think I'm an eccentric genius or something, they don't invite me to parties but I'm fine with that.
Doing contract work is a pretty good gig. All it takes is a marketable skill - probably there are a bunch of computer guys here who work from home and no one knows or cares that they're AS. Is there a bulletin board or something here on wrongplanet, or elsewhere? Getting off topic, I need to hire someone to do a basic database/website for me, and every NT I've talked to wants to jazz it up and charge ungodly sums while insulting me - all I need is someone to look at the screen shots and source code to recreate a very simple site. If they could somehow extract the now-hidden contents of the site I'm trying to recreate I'd jump up & down and give them my car as a bonus! J/k but you get the idea, my point is that I'd rather give the work to one of us but don't know how to go about it.
@OP: Please don't shoot yourself, promise me you won't! If moving to a new place is really what you want to do, then by all means do it - try to plan it out carefully, be creative and flexible, and have plans a through j since things can happen both good and bad which we have no way of seeing ahead of time. Sometimes it helps to talk to people online who live where you plan to go, they can share some helpful advice on getting oriented in your new city. I don't like wheree I live, either, and plan to relocate as soon as it's feasible.
Whoever is being mean to you really needs to stop! You're a good person and you deserve to be treated well. Have you contacted any DV organizations? Even if it's parents not partners who are abusive, they're often very willing to help as getting people out of abusive situations is what they do every day. Also, IMPO not legal advice - document as much as possible and you may want to contact a legal advocate at some point. I don't know enough about your situation to suggest anything more so I'll sign off for now. Please keep us posted!
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Everything I know about social interaction I learned from emulating talk show hosts.