How many people here don't work/will never likely work?

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I notice reading the forums that a lot of people are going for bachelor's or graduate degrees and in some cases have high-profile, well-paying jobs. I'd like to hear from the Aspies that are unable to work due to Aspergers. My lack of common sense, ability to deal with even minimal stress that comes with the monotony and social interaction of a job, as well as inefficiency (as opposed to incompetency...sometimes I can do a job, but just take forever doing it) makes it impossible for me to qualify for most jobs and if I do qualify, I have a panic attack after the first week...kind of like the woman in the book and movie The Glass Menagerie. That's me.

Anyone else relate and are currently and most likely terminally unemployed?

I went to university but I didn't graduate. I've tried to finish my degree a couple of times through the Open University but I'm unable to sustain the effort. As far as actual work goes, I can't even hack it in a charity shop.

I had a part-time job at Tesco while studying for my A levels. I was as good as useless and in constant violation of health and safety regulations. On one occasion, my section manager asked me to put out some packaged ice cubes in the frozen section. I didn't realise they were meant to be sold and thought they were for maintenance so I started opening the packets and pouring the ice cubes into the deep freezer. That's about as good as it gets as far as my employment record is concerned.

I would be interested to know how socially inept/long-term unemployed Aspies are treated in countries other than the UK; especially, in the US/Canada where the welfare systems are thought to be less generous.

I haven't had a job, ( other than as home-unschooling mother of 10 year old AS/PDD boy that is ), for the last 11 years, and before that the best job I ever had was part-time/jobshare library assistant for three years.

Otherwise: I worked 18 months in a tax office ( safe but boring ) a job which I got just 6 months after graduating with a degree in biology and psychology ( which has never been any use to me ) ; a year in an accountants where my problems really began surfacing, compounded by increasing mood-disorder ( since dealt with by excluding gluten ), and several catering jobs, part-time kitchen assistant being the most bearable, interspersed with many periods of unemployment, followed by 3 months as information officer for a mental-health association, and voluntary work on a couple of organic farms.

And yes, I made some really "stupid" mistakes from not understanding instructions/basic job expectations etc. The most recent was on an organic farm where I failed to abuse ( I was told afterwards that I should have thrown stones at them ) the goats sufficiently to make them move away from a neighbouring farm's baby olive trees, which they proceeded to eat.

I have never managed to make money out of my drawing skill, nor from any of my interests/knowledge bases.

I still hope to do so, but I am 46 years old, and have only worked about 7 years in my whole life, so all the "normal" job-seeking avenues are pretty much shut to me, especially as I live in France now, and have none of the certificates the french insist on for even the lowliest jobs.

Prefer not to think about it most of the time.

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I've been "fortunate" (and I use that term for its face value) that I've been able to get employment and generally hold on to employment.

However, I've had A LOT of different jobs and rarely kept one for even 1 year. I've been 5 years now doing what I'm doing now and a lot of that depends on the following:

1. My client (who is a sense is my boss) is too lazy to find someone else to do what I do...kinda how I got the job. I had the skills and he needed someone. He'd have to be very upset with me to make the effort to replace me.

2. My client and I actually have similar views on many topics. He thinks I'm strange, but he understands me and how I look at things.

3. My client and I have a mutually beneficial relationship. I've been looking for something better, but between my lack of interpersonal skills and the current job market, what started as a 1-2 year gig until something better comes along just keeps going on.

Otherwise, just getting a "good" job has been a mountain for me to climb. I've always relied on places too desperate for people who will show up and do their jobs for employment. Better places pass me over because my resume/work history isn't that impressive and...well, you can guess how well interviews tend to go. If I get a job, I'm amazed if it lasts more than 6 months. I've never had a "good" job (which I define as decent paycheck plus benefits). Every time I come close, it's a disaster. To be fair, I think some of the "good" jobs I've gotten were jinxed from the start because I learn in hindsight that they were scraping the bottom of the barrel when they got me to accept the job....not as good a place to work as they led me to believe.

While I've managed to make money and be able to support myself this far, I do worry about my future. Should something happen to end my current arrangement before I find a "good" job to replace it, I don't know what to expect. In 10 years I'll be 50 and age discrimination starts at 30 because employers look for "achievers" to hire. I don't know anyone over 40 who can lend a "good" job without having some impressive work history or references that help open the door.

SSI/disability is the absolute last choice option. To receive it means you are dependent on the government for most everything. I'd rather panhandle on the street than have to rely on the government to take care of me.

I do keep trying to find jobs but I never get invited to interviews Everything I've ever tried to do I've ended up dropping-out because the social issues became so bad, being the weirdo people didn't really talk to me, and when they did I never knew what to say back!

I think of those few jobs I have had, I was okay at doing the 'job' part so to speak; I'm the sort of employee who won't stop to talk or bother with breaks, or even my lunch, until I have done everything on the list of things I'm supposed to do, can't stand to stop working for a moment until it's all done but I'm the same with anything I have to do!

The people-part was pretty hard in every job I've ever had, heck, in school, wherever, it didn't seem to matter I would always find myself on my own, other people didn't want to go near me and every break I would be sitting on my own yet again wondering why I was being treated an outcast, it was very depressing/confusing the constant social hierarchy.

I would like to work, but, I am afraid only on the social basis really. I know I can do certain things, I've been a bus driver, library assistant and herb packer so I know I can do things and be useful it's just the social part.
It doesn't help I had a really bad time in my last job the boss was a bully to everyone and the admin staff were catty and didn't let me have any part in the social-aspect of the job...maybe I'm not a social butterfly but I still do have feelings and the way I was treated by those people still hurts me to remember.

But not working makes me feel rather pointless, it's quite a frustrating situation.

How is an Aspie man supposed to live without employment though, after his parents either are fed up with him or are no longer around? Luckily, I don't have to worry about that anytime soon, my parents are young and supportive (emotionally and financially)...but if they were a$$holes and wanted to disown me, I'd be stuck with a 400 dollar check from social security every month (to answer EnglishInvader's question). Apparently, because I have two arms and two legs, that means I'm capable to work and the government makes my psychiatrist and I fill out forms every month trying to make us f*ck up and give a wrong answer so they can take the 400 dollars away.

It's difficult. It's definitely possible to work despite AS but I think that to be successful you need to work in a job that requires minimal social interaction, possibly computer based, possibly related to your obsessions or special interests.

I think people with AS generally need more support in order to be successful at anything, including work.

I'm not working at the moment but have worked most of the time throughout the last 10 or so years in various jobs. I can work but nearly always run into problems and have been sacked a few times. The only times when I've had jobs that haven't turned out to be problematic, I've been let go due to restructuring / recession.

I would like to work once I finish uni but getting through the selection process is always a worry. I have good grades and a good CV and occasionally get asked for interviews but never seem to succeed at the interview stage.

I find being at work stressful but I find not working depressing!

Well, as I've said before, I'm not sure how AS I am. Probably not quite enough to qualify for a dx. However, my executive functioning skills are awful, and I have trouble understanding what it is I'm supposed to be doing. I tend to get flustered when I have multiple things to do, make phone calls, etc.

I managed to stay in the Air Force for six years, which I suppose is having and keeping a job. I'm sure they would have fired me if they could have, though. I never quite messed up that bad; I mean, I stayed off drugs and didn't shoot my supervisor. But I sucked at the job so much that they moved me from office to office, until I eventually had a job doing NOTHING except sitting at a desk. Then I cross-trained into another field, because I thought maybe I wasn't cut out for that other job. Sucked royally at the new career field, too.

Then I got out and found myself unqualified to do anything but make pizzas at Round Table. I ended up going to an intensive night-school program in electronics, and got outstanding grades (even though I have no interest in electronics.) I did find a couple of jobs loosely related to the career field, but they were very low-paying, and I never quite understood what I was meant to be doing, so I felt nervous all the time. I wouldn't have been able to support myself on that pay, either, so if I wasn't married to a man with a real job/income, those jobs wouldn't have paid the rent on a one-room apartment and fed me rice and beans.

I haven't had a paying job at all since 1994, but I haven't looked, either. I spent several years finishing up a college degree, and since then I've been a stay-at-home mom.

It's kind of scary. We're getting by, but that's because my husband is a professional in the computer industry, and he's actually very good at his job, and good at the non-verbal, "unsaid" stuff. Still, we are in a woefully tiny house, and the kids need new clothes, which we can't afford right now. It's a wonder how anyone makes it, really. I worry about my AS son, for his future.

Therange, you mentioned your $400 check. I'm thinking, that will buy some groceries, and rent on a cardboard box--but half the time nowadays, when you buy groceries, you get them home and find that there is a rotten spot on the vegetables, which was hidden in the packaging, or the meat wasn't refrigerated properly, so it's bad. And then you have to get back on the bus and return the stuff. It's a huge problem, because it creates a constant state of stress for low-income people, which makes it even more difficult to do well and get ahead. Grrr.

guess i'm pretty lucky then. i've worked at the railroad for 9 years and working at the railroad is like working at the circus. i fit in juuuuust fine

truthfully though if not for that i'd probably still be working at mcdonald's. i really thought i was going to spend my whole life working there. and customers suck. having to interact with my co-workers sucks a good deal of the time (though we also share a lot of laughs) but it doesn't come close to the suckitude of having to deal with customers.

I haven't worked since 1996.

it's not just because of AS, however. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue in 1995. THis turned out to be lyme disease and babesia which I contracted in 1990.

First job I had was selling Avon. I SUCKED at it. I only did it for 2 years, and I learned from it that I didn't want to be in sales. EVER. I hate dealing with people.

Second and last job I had was working at McDonald's. I was there for 3 years. And the ONLY reason I got in was my brother was already working there. My AS definitely made things difficult as well as the Lyme, and I ended up being 'let go'.

I tried getting another job but was unable to. Then my mom got me to go on disability in 2000. It's only a few bucks short of 900 dollars Canadian a month, but it's not enough to really live on.

I haven't worked in four years and it's largely because of my MI issues. Whether I'm aspie or not is still under debate but I have other issues that have kept me from working.

But I was very good at my job. My job required close attention to detail and the ability to concentrate on something for a long time, and being able to reason things out. I excelled at these things.

So, what was the problem? People. I couldn't be the social butterfly that they wanted in the office. It shouldn't have mattered because I wasn't in customer service. All I wanted was to be given my assignments, go to the lab and work on them uniterrupted. And when they gave me that, I usually got my work done faster than the other techs and with fewer mistakes.

But that just wasn't enough for them. They wanted me to make nicey with other people in the office. I even had an a**hole boss tell me I needed to smile more. What? I'm a tech working in a lab. Why in the world do I need to smile? He was a jerk.

I'm usually okay dealing with the public when I'm in a good mood. I've snapped at a customer before cos one of my managers was being a b***h to me for not learning everything as fast and perfectly as she wanted. So yeah.. I was let go after the holidays. Other than social and memory stress, I have a bad back and arthritis in my ankles. If I can find a desk job where I'm just typing or filing all day that would be ideal, but so many times those jobs want a 1-2 years of previous experience. How the hell do you get the experience if you're never hired?

I'm only 23 and I make $8 an hour retail. But beyond that, I'm getting scared. I don't know if I can make it to college. I hardly made it though high school. I'm living with my boyfriend right now, and he has a steady job. I keep on wondering, can I make it out on my own? Or will someone have to take care of me for the rest of my life?

Even worse, I'm very, very bad with money.