Is it normal for someone on the autism spectrum to be...

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... as academically inept and financially unsuccessful as I?

For most people, social skills and intellect work like a sea saw. The weaker you are in one, the stronger you are in the other. However, this isn’t the case for me. Despite being on the autism spectrum, I took 5 years to graduate from a bad college, and in my 30s, I only make 80k a year.

Never graduated and only had 1 job over the poverty line for 2.5 years.

I dropped out of high school in under two months because my anxiety and the bullying was so bad.

There is a saying, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I don’t know how people on the autism spectrum compare to neurotypicals in the workplace overall because so many of us ‘mask’ our neurodivergence to fit in with the majority. I had to pretend to be neurotypical for 50 years in order to work at a job that paid fairly. It’s exhausting and I’m tired of hiding my strengths. Autism allows me to see life in ways that many others don’t. Diversity, color, sensory perceptions, pattern recognition, etc. give us valid cues and insights that can be shared with others. Doesn’t that matter most?

80k is higher than the median income in CT. 44k It is higher than the median income in West Hartford, a wealthy CT town. 63k.

I didn't make a ton of money, but I saved a lot and was able to easily retire at 59.

You may want to explore different hobbies to find out what you are good at. Or what you enjoy doing.

It might be the style of teaching that's making you think you suck at understanding academic information. I suspect anybody can understand anything if it's explained clearly enough. I struggled during my high school years but did much better at finding things out for myself in my own sweet way. That's how I passed my exams - I bypassed the teachers. I got qualifications from it, which got me a job. Don't know if that makes me financially successful or not. I've always had enough to live on with a bit over for toys, and that's all I really want.

I think there's something in the notion that people who are socially competent tend to be poor at technical things. The socially adept just get others to do the hard work for them I guess. But it's not that simple.

Using only the two metrics of academic achievement and money, most here would not be shining examples of success. As has been cited even if you look closely at those two areas. Having enough money and being able to communicate with others can be a sufficient success.

As Stargazer99 indicated there are more than two fields of human endeavor that might be seen as options for "success".

Being able to understand things can be satisfying. For example, one might lament not having a lot of friends only to come to understand that real friendship is rare and if found, to be treasured.

Being able to look beyond the common might be seen as isolating, but it also has advantages. Consider the cop, emergency room nurse, combat veteran, abuse victim, or even ex-con who experience reality in ways that forever change them. This can also serve to take one out of the mainstream but offer perspectives not usually obtainable otherwise.

Investing oneself in school or money can be limiting and may even define the "rat race". Both venues have paths of advancement that require the ability to engage with others of increasingly low character. This can be an unpleasant environment if one sees truth more clearly.

In athletics comparison is almost a requirement (although in the movie Caddyshack Chevy Chase was asked how he compared himself to other golfers and he responded, by height). Since in a particular field there will only be one that is the best, most will compare themselves to their own past performance calling it "personal best".

Some find satisfaction in the pursuit of the arts (writing, music, painting, etc.). Others may find satisfaction in playing cards, bowling, or even simply reading. Measuring yourself can be a way to see your own growth or what you are learning. Measuring yourself to obtain the approval of others may ultimately be unsatisfying.

There is a stereotype of autistics being nerds & geeks who do well in school & are very successful in the STEM fields thanks to famous ones like Bill Gates & Elon Musk. However there is also the Rain Man stereotype(name of a movie where one of the main characters has autism) & autism is portrayed as being very low functioning in most areas(except the autistic guy was great with numbers & became good at card-counting in a casino) & he was living in a mental facility due to him not being capable of independent living. I think the Rain Man stereotype is kind of like the stereotype of what classic autism was when Aspergers was still in the DSM diagnoses & considered high-functioning autism. Now there's three categories of autism based on functioning level.

It's important to keep in mind that autism is a spectrum that can affect different people differently. It's not uncommon for us autistics to have comorbid disabilities & issues that can make some things a lot harder for us. For example problems with executive functioning, & issues like ADD/ADHD & Dyslexia, can make it a lot harder for some people in school. Not having a college degree can make it harder for lots to find gainful employment; there's a couple threads currently on the front page of this section about autistics being unemployed or having problems getting or maintaining jobs. Other issues like anxiety, depression, being easily overwhelmed, getting burnt-out easily, having meltdowns, & movement issues like dyspraxia, can make it a lot harder for some to be gainfully employed or employable in general. Some of those issues make driving a lot harder or impossible for some people & those issues can also sometimes make independent daily living a lot harder as well.

I'm NOT trying to sound like a pessimist here. Plenty of autistic people can be fairly functional & independent, & have jobs that are not much worse than the average non-disabled NT. I'm just trying to point out how there can be lots of variation with autism.


As for myself
I majorly struggled in school due to Dyslexia & ADD; though disorders like Sluggish Cognitive Tempo or Maladaptive Daydreaming might fit me better than the ADD diagnosis or in addition to it. I only passed high-school because my teachers curved my grades in some subjects so I never had any desire to go to college. My dad has Dyslexia & ADD & he dropped out of college after failing English a couple times & his teacher telling him that he would never pass her class so luckily my parents didn't majorly pressure me into going to college

As for as employment, I was born with some physical disabilities unrelated to autism that majorly limit my employment options. I have worked some but I was extremely lucky to get hired for unskilled federal minimum-wage type jobs like dish-washing & custodial type stuff. I worked lots of over-time when I was allowed to & I gave my parents a bit of my employment income to cover my household expenses & transportation to & from work since my vision is too bad for me to drive & my area had no public transportation system. I think my disabilities other than autism are more limiting with employment than my autism is. However I do think I probably could of done better with employment if I did not have my autism on top of those things. I might of found some jobs by networking & I would have done better on job interviews & when I was working I might not of been used & taken advantage of by management quite as much & I could of handled changes better.

I do have some services like Social Security Disability(was SSI before & while I was working), Medicare, & Medicaid but that's it. When I lived with my parents no docs in my area accepted Louisiana Medicaid because it didn't pay them enough so half my full SSI check went towards private health insurance & out of pocket medical costs like copays & deductibles. It was impossible for me to afford to live on my own even if I was not paying for health insurance & medical costs while not having extra services or supports in place.

I've been living with my girlfriend for 12 years now; we actually met this forum. She's also on the autism spectrum but lots of various mental health issues run in her family so she's dealing with a bit of mental stuff besides autism. She also has some physical issues as well some of which may run in her family so she's never had a job. She's on SSI, Medicaid, Section 8 housing assistance, & SNAP(food-stamps). She lived alone for a year before I moved in with her & she says she was kind of catatonic a lot when she was by herself due to sever depression & anxiety. She feels a lot better having someone like me around at home even if we're not always in the same room together.

80k a year is bad?