Optimism and Reality: Goldfish21 Response to me

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https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/24/1726 ... k-gm-volvo

Here is an example of what I'm talking about.

Let's say I wanted to do something similar in my local area before Amazon did this. Without the source code for the connected tech how would I be able to do this? Is the automobile industry just going to up and give it to me? Who would I even speak to propose doing this? It is similar with apps. It has been suggested I do medical apps. But again, am I going to be allowed access to the medical systems and patient data? Again, who would I speak to in the hospital, medical center, etc or what not to present my app?

These are the sorts of details amongst others that are missing for me. Telling me to be more positive does not help when you have missing gaps about life and employment others can't or will not fill in. It makes me want to give them the finger. If it would be to extensive to tell me or you don't know then just tell me that. Don't put me through the whole positivism rigamorough.

I asked if you knew you were nonverbal before you were diagnosed, or if an official diagnosis was a sudden revelation to you that you were unable to speak?

Who, besides yourself, limits your ability to do any occupation you want to pursue? All of the constraints you describe are about your own capabilities and limitations.

Again, though, if You don't know and You don't know how to find out then it's You who limits You from being able to do this thing - not some mysterious outside force or army of programming contract gatekeepers.

God f**k almighty to Heaven! Our society requires one to make eye contact! I have difficulty with this. Yes, I may limit myself b/c I can't do this or have difficulty. But, what if the requirement didn't exist? Would I still limit myself in this case?

What occupation/profession that you want to pursue requires you to make eye contact in order to do it? Salesman? Then perhaps You limit your options for success in that role. (But it's still not impossible - I've spent years in sales/customer service in the past despite eye contact issues) Programmer/fiction writer? Nope.. no eye contact required.

Dude! You really have to lay off the doobies. All of the companies require this in their interview process. It is considered a deal breaker for them. http://ledgerlink.monster.com/benefits/ ... g-managers

Ok yes.

What if basketball was a sport designed for short people and horse jockey's are required to be tall?

It's still a person's own traits that limit them from being able to perform a job, no one else.

What prohibits you from communicating to an interviewer that you are Autistic, and as such, have extreme difficulty with eye contact & are not being rude if you appear to be staring off at something else while they are speaking with you?

And you knew this before someone with letters after their name officially informed you of it.

How could this be? How could one possibly know themselves w/o an MD putting their name & credentials to it?

Obviously you know where I'm going with this. Self aware human beings who know what is going on with their bodies don't require someone else, parent/doctor/whoever, to tell them what they already know about themselves.

You can't speak.
My deaf friends can't hear.
My friend Blair has no sense of smell.
I'm on the autism spectrum.


None of us needed someone else to tell us these things to know that they're true, because we're the ones living with & experiencing them.

PS: I also KNOW I got sunburnt a couple weeks ago, mostly first degree burns, but some areas across my shoulders developed into second degree burns as they blistered a couple days later. I didn't bother wasting medical resources to tell me that, either, but it doesn't change the fact one bit that I know it.

If you did the above, at least 3/4s of companies wouldn’t hire you.

So what?

Some companies are even looking specifically for ASD people to do their coding/debugging etc.

Most people who apply for jobs get rejected by Most employers and end up getting only a few job offers.

So what?

That doesn't mean someone cannot pursue the role they want. If they want it bad enough, they'll pursue it until they get it & find the right fit for an employer for themselves. Or do their own thing as an entrepreneur, or something in between as a contractor or w/e.

Would you seek accommodations in your construction jobs? Would you tell your foreman you’re autistic?

So what.....Sew buttons!

And I never said people shouldn’t strive to get the job they love best.

It’s illogical to think I believe otherwise.

I don't require them (accommodations), so the costs of disclosing my neurotype outweigh the benefits. I function highly enough to largely blend into work & society. I make mistakes here and there that cost me time/money/relationships etc, but these things are all due to me - not other people. I operate in my daily life as if no one owes me any special accommodations & simply deal with the consequences of my shortcomings as they arise. To others around me, I'm "normal," and so I just do my personal best to do everything I'm expected to do.

IF my functioning level were lower AND my diagnosis, or the fact that I am "different," was obvious to everyone around me, then it may be to my advantage to communicate something about it - especially so if I felt that my lack of eye contact would preclude me from being hired etc etc. I'd simply say "I have difficulty with eye contact, but I'm still paying attention to you & this conversation and look forward to working with your crew in the near future." It's not that hard to communicate things when they're to your advantage to do so.

FWIW, I did tell the Union Business Manager, but it was relevant to the conversation we were having & he was my father's apprentice years ago and a nice guy who's certainly not going to penalize me for it. Plus, even if I do make the odd mistake, there are so many.. less than ideal employees in this industry who are.. not very socially adept & who abuse drugs/alcohol etc that my attendance & productivity track record is just fine and ever better with practice. It's a challenge to f**k things up bad enough to not be able to keep a construction job when construction is BOOMING & there's a severe shortage of both skilled & unskilled labour.

About the only thing that might change if I were to get an official diagnosis is that I could file a bunch of back tax forms & claim a disability tax credit which would result in me receiving a nice big cheque, likely for 10's of thousands of dollars. I know someone with a 17yo son w/ AS ended up getting a tax refund of ~$30K when they were able to file those forms - and that's for the tax credits for him being raised as a disabled child, not even for excess taxes he personally paid while working. I don't know the math precisely, nor how many years back one could file, but about the only thing that would change in my life is the size of my bank account because the gov't of Canada would go "Oh, s**t, son.. you've paid more taxes than you're expected to because your earnings capacity is limited due to your disability, so, here's the $ you would have been able to claim every year you filed taxes and didn't have this disability on record."