Autism and Working

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A week ago I got a job at a fast food restaurant. I think I'm doing okay, but it is very hard. It's hard because of my working memory​and my inability to infer. Every single step of everything has to be specifically explained to me or I will not know to do it. Do you guys work? If so, what helps you cope? Have you come out to your employer? I haven't to mine.

I’ve been working for 38 years. I’m more a “semi-recovered classic autist” than an Aspie.

You might be doing better than you think you’re doing. If you weren’t, you would have gotten fired by now.

When I was 17, I lasted one day in a bagel shop. I knew my destiny didn’t involve fast food.

What happened at that bagel shop?

I swept the floor badly. This was in 1978.

If you have lasted a week, you’re doing pretty good.

Just make sure you come in on time.

I work as a design engineer. Until a few years ago, I was managing a team of about 10 engineers, but eventually had to leave that job to get rid of that stressor that I just couldn't comfortably deal with, no matter how hard I tried. My suggestion would be to ask questions for anything you struggle to understand. Your boss will most likely appreciate that you're making sure you understand instruction as opposed to doing something wrong because you didn't understand.

I currently work, but I have an abysmal employment history. I last three months, usually, followed by years spent in a mixture of study and unemployment.
I tried fast food once when I was living in the city. Lasted two days. There was heat, loud noise, bright light, too much movement, too many people too close to me, cramped spaces, too much verbal instruction, you were required to speak loudly over the machines and scream orders out to customers and I cannot raise my voice due to speech disorder, and a lot of multitasking and unfamiliar technology. I kept getting flustered when I didn't do something right the first time, people who had been working there years would get angry at me, as if I was stupid because I didn't get it straight away - "No, you do it like this," take it off me and do it themselves. It was humiliating.
I am "out" in the sense that my boss knows I'm autistic. I came to the conclusion that this was absolutely necessary for supervisors to understand about me if I was to last more than three months. If I tried to hide it badly, didn't explain why I have the problems I have, then all they have are their assumptions - that I'm stupid, I'm lazy, I'm doing it on purpose trying to be "smart," etc.
Boss is very understanding about the autism. It still gets to me though, when I make stupid mistakes others wouldn't make, even though she is good about it.
I don't know about coping. I just try to function properly, I suppose. They recently implemented a system with all the employees, not just me (but I suspect I may have been the reason behind the implementation) that specifically lays out the tasks needed for each site on a checklist. You can refer back to the checklist to make sure all tasks have been covered before you leave the site. I find this helpful. Maybe you could make one up for yourself, for your role, to refer back to so you don't have to rely on working memory?
One thing I do to try and cope is be clear about time requirements. I don't work well if I'm rushed, and since I tend toward perfectionism, I can't just do a quick, improper job. If I am not being given enough time on site, I have to mention it to the boss. Even if other people can get it done in the time allowed, I can't, I need more time to do a good job. And I make it clear that's why I'm requesting more time - I want to do the best job I can and in order to do so, I need a bit more time. I don't like doing this, but it does help cope with things.

You would hope so LOL

Fast food bosses/managers are not especially known for being tolerant and calm people. Fast food tends to be hard for Aspie/Autistics because these managers/bosses think that their employees should have "common sense" enough not to ask questions.

But who knows? Maybe Brandon has a more progressive manager/boss than most.

Fast food sucks, anyway. I hope this will not be a permanent state for you, Brandon.

I'm 42 now and I still haven't got this Autism and working thing figured out yet. And with each passing year it seems to get harder and harder and my anxiety only grows. The biggest problem I seem to have is that I focus too much on my job and current task and ignore my co-workers. They seem to take it personally for some reason. I'm terrible at picking up social cues and the intentions of my coworkers are always misread apparently.

The cruel and mean-spirited NTs who pick up on these things will always try to take advantage of me and play the office politics game. NTs start treating me differently and taking a very condescending tone with me and they don't seem to have very much respect for me.

And then the social isolation comes and the picking on me and the bullying begins and I get overstimulated. I lose my temper and I get very emotional. It's at this point where I usually get fired or I quit due to extreme overstimulation.

Rinse and repeat, time and again. It's been my hellish routine for 25 years.

I'm only 17 (age on profile is wrong) so it shouldn't be. I'd like to think I will be able to get a somewhat respectable job that requires a degree.

I like the fact that you have aspirations, Brandon. This bodes well for you.

Hey I'm not officially diagnosed yet I'm waiting on the test results to the 31st but i dont think i did good on the tests because the tester stopped the test early so we will see if i have Autism or not they used
wechsler intelligence scale for adults. But on with the topic i have been working at a residential treatment facility for kids that have Autism and other behavior and emotional problem for going on 3 years now and i love the it just at the right pace for me.

Hi

I am very sorry to hear this, unfortunately it is, for me least a familiar theme. I have lost 3 jobs in the last 12 months, at least 2 after I disclosed. I am very, very sorry for you, I know how that feels, its not nice at all. What I can say is, it can be done. I now have a fantastic job with a well known UK autism charity, I have never been as happy. I will always disclose I am autistic, I have nothing to be ashamed of and once I do so I am legally protected in my country. If someone does n ot want to employ me because I am autistic then they are not the kind of company I want to be a part of..QED

Hi Carl,

It is great to hear you found a job that fits you. I don't think enough Aspies realize how much the "same" job varies. Charities, non-profits, and government jobs are likely to be better fits for a lot of Aspies. But, everyone is different so you need to get something that fits your personality and skills.

I worked as a waitress for a summer, a couple of office jobs (one of which I got fired from in a month, even though I was doing both my job and my boss' job as well!), and as an office temp for considerably over a decade. I was a terrible waitress in a lot of ways but never got fired. I was a pretty good office temp, far various reasons -- the fact that temps are often pulled in for a particular project works well for me, also the fact that temps are pretty much independent of office politics and socializing. What helped me cope was that, as a temp, I did not have many social responsibilities and did not have to work overtime or whatever. Plus I would take breaks in between jobs where I didn't have to socialize even the minimum necessary for working.

The downside, of course, was that I made very little money temping and didn't have a lot of perks. I ended up in the hospital without insurance at one point, which was not the disaster some people deal with but wasn't a good time. Actyally, the two times I've had to deal with hospitals over an uninsured emergency, the financial people were really good about working with me -- and one of the times our church ended up paying most of our bills, so I've been very lucky on that front.

How you cope will depend on what your challenges are. As a temp, I always stayed a full day on every job I agreed to, but a couple of times I called my temp agency in the afternoon and said I would not last there, for whatever reason, or I refused to take the job a second time or extend it or whatever. Having that escape valve was hugely important for me.

And some jobs I just knew I couldn't do. Can't do phones, can't deal with the public, don't cope at all well with being rushed, etc. I never told my temp supervisor -- or anyone else -- why these things were; my mom always said she thought I was autistic when I was little but I couldn't be for this or that reason, so I didn't know myself. But I did know my limitations, or at least most of them. It may be my temp supervisor sometimes passed these on, or it may be that people who hire temps don't expect much, since a time or two I just flat said, "I don't do that," and they let it go.

I think for a lot of people on the spectrum who struggle to hold a job, it isn't the actual job they can't do, it's all the little social stuff you "have to do" to be accepted. Everyone has to find their own work arounds for that.

In your case, you may be stretching a bit beyond your tolerances, or you may be able to learn your job well enough the stress level goes down considerable. Figuring out what job you're suited for can be a challenge even for NTs, and some things you can only learn by doing.

Congrats on the success of your efforts thus far and best of luck to you.

I´m plowing through my looong social case, my earlier letters to therapist - and my occasonal diaries - - - I realize, that the words of my former psychologist: "Ah, you are more autistic, than you think" - were true.
Ordinary jobs never worked out for me for typical aspie-reasons.

I have been lucky to have had two long term jobs (both of which I got before my diagnosis), the second job is my current job and has been for quite a number of years.

I think why I've managed is both places contain(ed) a lot of people who were/are from different backgrounds, cultures, races, age groups. The fact that I may be considered different, maybe a bit odd, doesn't stand out so much as there are so many odd-balls and characters in some shape or form.

Most people (who I deal with on a day to day basis) are of an accepting disposition and anyone who isn't I tend to ignore, and those I don't work with I ignore anyway.

Put me in a room full of workers comprising of people like you'd see on Love Island or Big Brother - what I would call "hyper-NT" - and I would fail miserably. Being in a job situation where I had to rush about, multitask and deal with a constant stream of people would be a no-no for me.