My AS son wants to know...

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What are good jobs for people with AS? He's 8 and at this point wants to become a, automotive engineer (he's currently obsessed with cars). But what other jobs would be good? He was just diagnosed this week and is very curious.

He also wants to know famous people with AS. So..if any of you have any info. you could share, I'd appreciate it. I've been super positive when he asks me about it, and he's very excited about his future. Thanks.

Automotive engineering and any kind of similar engineering work is good. My son just turned 18 and he's interested in computers and web design. Just remember this: people with AS rarely do well in service-oriented jobs where they have to deal with customers - especially unhappy customers. As long as he does something where he won't have to deal with strangers directly all day long he'll be fine.

He can be good at any career he wishes to pursue. He will need to modify his behaviors for some of them, but there's no reason he can't do anything of which he might dream. It's all in how hard he wants to work for it.

Or if it is customer contact... Collections is pretty good... It's allowed me to succeed anyway. If he's strong in maths and willing to work at it engineering is a great career for an aspie. I wasn't willing to devote that kind of time to it, especially after I passed 6'1" at 14 and went past what NASA would allow into the shuttle program at that time. That was still about 4 years before the first one flew so they were sticking pretty tight to the old Apollo guidelines... Now I think they'll allow a mission specialist up to 6'4" but that's still a tight squeeze for me.

Seriously, engineering, math, general science, medicine-especially research, art, writing... the world is wide open to an Aspie, as long as he doesn't want to be "Most Popular Guy in the World". That would be a tough one.

For lists of people, both confirmed and "theorized" with ASD's go to wikipedia. They have a pretty good overview.

people with AS (like me) usually have an encyclopedic-like knowledge of stuff that interests them like me with Star Trek or scale modeling. G'head, ask me anything. It's really good (thank your stars) that he's interested in something vocational that'll lead to a career.

Now, if I could just get a job as a Trek historian or a starship modeler, I'd be all set.

Don't you believe it! I experience life through Asperger's Syndrome and I am FABULOUS in my customer service job. I have worked in phone consulting or techincial support for the last 15 years and I am paid top dollar because I excell in treating someone like I would like to be treated myself.
I have them on the phone where they don't use body language or facial expressions (or at least don't try to think I am going to read them over the phone!) I stick to the subject, use my computer skills to investigate their claim, find them their benefits or advise them how to get their best generic drug for a fraction of the price the brand name drug charges.

My favorite calls are the fraud claims, for I can tune into the patterns and see the flaws in the coding or the blatent over charging and feel like a champ when some older folk is saved from financial preditors.

As for empathy and being 'friendly' well, I am an actor from the moment I get on the phone till the moment I get off the phone. And I am a GOOD actor!(I live around NTs all day, I have to be)

Anyway. your son can be anything he wants to be, and that 'rarely' can be tossed out the window along with all the OTHER myths about AS. I am glad to have been raised BEFORE Asperger's Syndrome was a diagnosis so I was not limited by what those who WERE studied couldn't do!

Merle

Last edited by sinsboldly on 24 Feb 2008, 8:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think there are lots of jobs for people on the spectrum. My uncle was a physician, my brother was in the military and I'm involved in construction and real estate. There is no rule against going "against type", in fact, I think that going into a field where you can use an unusual set of skills can give one an advantage.

A person with AS can do anything anyone else can!
Engineering of any sort is where you will find most of us but musicians and artists are also among us.
Automotive Engineering would sound like an excellent career but I must have wanted to do more than 100 different things between the age of 8 and leaving school. (I think when I was 8 I wanted to be an astronaut).

As for famous aspies there have been many lists mostly speculative covering almost everyone in maths and physics, It is generally accepted that Einstein was autistic although similar may be said for many physicists and mathematicians throughout history. Bill Gates is reckoned by many to be undiagnosed AS.

The truth is we are all individuals and are different as any other group of people.

keep him interested in what he's interested in!

1. Low Personal Communication Jobs (ie: Not constant and direct phone or personal communications).

So, for example if he was a motor mechanic, he'd be at his best in the back room rather than out the front dealing with customers.

Similarly, jobs which rely on email are better than telephone/personal comms jobs.


2. Find the Special Interest - and follow it.

If your son is into Car Mechanics, then he should follow that special interest. If he develops an interest in planes, he should go there etc...

Aspies usually have more than one special interest. (though one is more main than the others). If the main interest isn't a very work-friendly one (eg: Star wars), then look for other interests...

oh, ok, I will use BOLD when I go against your stereotyping

The whole point of this thread was suggestions for jobs for people with Asperger's, which really means to stereotype based on general diagnoses, which is basically any career with limited social contact and stimuli, right? If that is what is wanted, then it is pretty well-known that AS-like functioning tends to lend itself well to jobs involving pattern recognition and meticulous attention to detail, like computers, mathematics, physics, etc.

But obviously within practical bounds (like not an astronaut/NFL player etc.) he can be whatever he wants; he shouldn't limit himself to jobs that fit a diagnosis. Plus, he's eight, he's way to young for any real thought on career choices.

I am still glad I was not limited by what people THOUGHT I could do by other people trying to be 'helpful'.

Merle

Exactly, that's my point. One shouldn't limit their career prospects to a generalization based on a vague diagnosis.

Mechanic
Engineer
Librarian
IT Guy
Scientist
Artist
Photographer
Cartographer (maps are a very common aspie interest)
Plant Taxonomist
Accountant

Basically anything that doesn't require a lot of social interaction, is big on details, and/or is self-directed.



Some famous people with AS or HFA:

Albert Einstein, German-American physicist
George Orwell, British author
Issac Newton, British physicist
Thomas Jefferson, American statesman
Archimedes, Ancient Greek engineer
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian philosopher
Karl Popper, Austrian-British political theorist
Andy Warhol, American artist
Wolfgang Mozart, Austrian composer
Lewis Carol, British author
Bela Bartok, Hungarian pianist
Immanuel Kant, German philosopher
Alan Turing, computer scientist and AI theorist
Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist
Éamon de Valera, Irish statesman
Henry Cavendish, British chemist and discoverer of hydrogen

Sinsboldly,

Well done on the communication issues! You're going a little against the stereotype but no, you don't have to use bold. I just use it when I want to improve my readability.

I'm generally considered to be a pretty good communicator for the same sorts of reasons you listed.

The thing that you don't realize at the time is how draining it all becomes.

Now that I'm a bit older, I'm tired of having to work so hard on my communications and I relish a little quiet time.

You're right, Nobody should be restricted in their choice - something I'm always saying - I call it the "remedial effect" because it happens when teachers automatically put aspies into "remedial" classes because they have the label, rather than giving them an opportunity to prove themselves.

I'm happy to be corrected on that issue and my points should really be around the other way.

1. Special interests - These are the key to doing well. Do something you enjoy.

IF you find communications a problem, then you can look for low comms roles.