Is autism becoming infantalised?

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Scott Adams pointed out that it may take an engineer most of the morning to construct a mental model of his work, and that managers very often interrupt for "just a quick meeting" and destroy hours of work. Having the information in CAD or on-line does not inform the creative process - it has to be in the wetware RAM, which loads slowly.

If people did pay attention to my published work, a lot of people would lose their jobs trying to re-discover things. Corporations are notorious for "NIH" - "Not Invented Here" prejudice. Without it, their R&D departments lose face. All the Dunning-Kruger cases gang up to banish anyone who focuses on the work and neglects their social life.

I think it depends on the type of work. I'm not sure where you're based but my workplace is certainly professional when the need demands it. That's not to say there isn't any social interaction when downtime is involved, but people don't get penalised particularly if they don't engage much with it.



We certainly have some quirky characters here! But I don't live in the city. My partner used to work for a large corporate company and she has commented that fit in or leave was the way of it there, quirks weren't really tolerated.

People working in a library who hate books sounds bizarre! Especially if they are volunteers, or were they the people with paid jobs?



There are heaps of things I'd rather be doing than be at work, totally agree with that. I think that it's a bit of an inaccurate generalisation though. I've known some folks on the spectrum who were lazy in the extreme in the working enviroment and had to be watched like a hawk or they'd skive off to surf the net and read about thier special interests.



Certainly many of the people working in specialised fields are on the spectrum- they've just turned thier special interest into a career (e.g. someone on the spectrum who is very interested in dinosaurs becoming a paleontologist).

I got into my field because I became interested in prehospital medicine as a teenager. 22 years later I'm an advanced paramedic practitioner. My employer is pretty understanding of my limitations and although I have to try to get along with other staff my job is now predominantly solo- I applied for my current position because it entailed far more lone working than my previous post on a double crewed ambulance.



The disabilities act has helped in the UK I think, certainly in the public sector. That's been my experience anyway. My life is far easier since being diagnosed and having people know why I'm a bit strange. It probably helps that my colleagues are health professionals though.

I was in rural Lincolnshire, they would ask me what I liked to read and I said postmodern literature and they acted like I was a weirdo.

All volunteers. All relatively uneducated ie educated til they were 14/15.

Librarians assistants are meant to have degrees and be paid. Not random people from villages. Librarians are meant to have MAs in librarianship like I do.

It was so hard to find work as a librarian or librarian's assistant. I looked all through Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland & a few further afield. I also looked for any job asking for an English degree across those countries or any job opening in Lincoln which didn't demand maths GCSE (couldn't get one, I did maths GCSE in Mansfield but I couldn't pass it cos I'm dyspraxic so can't do graphs etc but my arithmetic is good - does a shop REALLY need someone who can draw a graph to staff a till? Oxfam didn't when I worked there, all I needed was arithmetic & being able to do averages). The few interviews I got, in various English cities, it was clear they wanted someone a bit more 'chatty' and with more natural body language/eye contact like an NT.

I have good people skills in terms of caring for others but I'm a bit cold and stand offish. They'd ask for references & my mentor thought he was doing me a favour by saying I had 'average' people skills. Of course they saw right though that to the insult he meant.

Bear in mind, I stopped a widower from crying when the others thought it impossible not to fine him for a year worth of late fees on his wife's book. I helped people find jobs. I was the one line between racists & their victims (racism was rampant amongst the assistants too). I just wasn't 'chatty' and extroverted and 'bubbly'.

I refuse to feel guilty when my family don't see me as a burden and I don't sit around wasting my life but I get on with my interests etc.

I have decided to stop looking at this thread.

People can insult me, insult my family, call me infantile and selfish etc.

But they won't get through to me if I don't read it.

If you want to apologise for speaking in this manner, DM me.

I wasn't trying to suggest anything of the sort- sorry if I came across that way. It sounds like you did a fantastic job at that library, they were lucky to have you.

It's absolutely true that everyone has different capabilities, and that some folks aren't able to work. They should totally be supported, as I said in my earlier post. If you are one of those people, you certainly shouldn't feel like a burden. A civilised society should be judged on how it treats those who need help.

I was just observing that some (not all) folk on the spectrum use it as an excuse to not try. I wasn't aiming that at anyone. Just saying what I had seen personally IRL.

All the struggles you described at trying to get a librarian job can apply to anyone getting a librarian job with or without autism. Realistically how many librarians are needed for each town in the country? Its a very specific field with limited opportunities for work at the best of times. Assuming your difficulties in getting a job relate to your autism is just an assumption with the vaguest of interpitation of your job refusals. It's almost a cliché that many people with degrees in humanities struggle to find work. It just seems like an unfortunate case of of a likely saturated job market for your area of expertise.

Disagree Nades, it's highly likely that being on the spectrum has hindered her. It took me twice as long as my similarly qualified colloeagues to get onto the career track that I'm now on- mostly due to somewhat crap social skills and interviewing extraordinarily badly as my aspie traits amplified themselves hugely when I was nervous. I only progressed further after I had my diagnosis and the folk doing the interviews had to take it into account. I'm just lucky that the posts I was going after were internal, and the managers doing the interview already knew me so could make allowances.

Unless you've bothered to really get to know someone there's a heck of a lot wrong with making assumptions about what that person can do.

Did you take into account the bit about me applying for every job in the city that didn't automatically disqualify me through the GCSE requirement?

Or every library job going in the 'UK' and in the rest of Ireland and further afield like in America?

Or every single job in the 'UK' and Ireland that requires an English degree?

Bear in mind all those jobs got filled by someone.

Bear in mind that when I went to graduation, everyone else in class had either a job as a librarian or a job as an assistant.

Bear in mind that I tried again to do a GCSE in maths. But failed it cos I'm still dyspraxic.

You know what is a good idea? Minding your own f*****g business when it comes to other people's issues and mental health problems. Concern trolling helps nobody.

I would rather assume that someone can do what the average person can do. I see more harm in assuming everyone I meet might have a multitude of potential disabilities.

Then don't post your business here??

And a lot of non autistics have issues with maths. Whats to say someone without autism but difficulty with maths will have an easier time? Nothing.

Then prepare to be a heck of wrong, any direction.

You haven’t experienced KT’s life.

You can’t criticize her based on generalities.

KT really wants to have a career as a librarian.

Please heed what KT says. Maybe you shouldn’t try to “persuade” her????

I think it's the right thing to do. Yeah, I would rather get to know people first to be sure of what they're capable of but the practicality of knowing everyone I meet on a personal level makes it impossible. I would much rather just assume everyone is as able as each other.

KT is “able.”

She’s very intelligent.

But we don’t know her experience. I sense that she has tried very hard.

I haven't tried to persuade her at all. Only explain that there might be other variables than autism as to why she's having trouble getting a job in her field.