A pattern among employed and employable autistic people

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A pattern I seem to see is that autistic people who have even a somewhat decent employment history or those who are ready to be hired seem to not have serious sensory issues.

Whenever I look up information about autistic people seeking employment, the articles cover mostly social and communication issues. Sensory issues are rarely mentioned and are usually easily fixable (like the employee can just have a desk away from overhead lights).

Sensory issues have played a part when I was looking for jobs, because I avoided working anywhere where there are loud bells going off (not just in schools but in places like warehouses where some use a loud bell as a doorbell when deliveries arrive). But if I told anyone that I couldn't work somewhere with a loud bell, they wouldn't take me seriously. They'd just tell me that I'm being incredibly picky or even daft. But I'm not. Working near a loud bell that may go off at any time will turn me into a nervous wreck. Bells aren't something I can get used to or distract myself from. I hate them.

Restaurants retail sales

Hot and cold temperature. Working outside.

Customers, employee, blender, equipment loud. Construction

Bright lights

Smells

Crowded

Some of them inherent to the system (job)

Yeah I was expected to do a typing test in a room with loud (important) people walking past and the typing test was based on a Dictaphone of someone with a thick accent.

I can't hear two conversations at once.

They put 'interview in progress do not disturb' on the door. But what's the point in that when the door's wide open...

I had to eventually give up due to sensory issues as the multiples of partial shutdowns and a fair few full shutdowns eventually led me to quite a few burnouts. What kept me struggling on for so long was that... And I know that this sounds stupid, but I did not know what was causing it, because many years ago a doctor insisted that my issues were caused through (In his own words) "Some sort of allergy" and it took me around 20 years of asking ad being continually being refused an allergy test until around 25 years later when I changed doctors surgeries, and asked there before I finally had a basic 6 point allergy test (Wheat, egg etc) and it came up clear, so it was only then just a few years ago, rhat I realized that something else was causing it.
And my life was a sheer struggle working in such enviroments. Often it was all I could do was to try to pick myself off the floor after a shutdown and force my body to try and work. The sheer energy taken to try to push through partial shutdowns AND work left me daily exhausted so I often had lack of sleep at nights and also on particularly stressful days after work, I would have what I believe were meltdowns in the evenings after I had got home. (Did not happen often but when they did hit it was all I could do was shut my bedroom door and place my head in my pillow and silently scream at the top of my voice in a type of what I can best describe of as a claustrophobic mind as it felt like my brainhad swollen and my head was about to explode!)

It is only the last year and a half onwards since I joined this site that I have found out what has been going on all these years, and to be honest, to find out the answers to this life long search led me to the autism spectrum was quite a shock to take in! But the sense that I have made in my life since I have joined has been icredible, as there is nothing worse then spending a life of having issues and having no where to turn and no one to turn to who understands... And every path I had previously taken to find out with past doctors I knew it was not the right path but they would insist that they were right and they knew me more then I did, and when they became mystified because they could not find out what it was they labelled me as a hypercondriact and refused to see me limiting me to one three minute appointment a year, and when I did get that appointment the doctors did not listen to a thing I said and sat there looking at his watch the entire time I was there until the three minutes was up!
(And how could they think I was a hyper condriact anyway? Due to nurves and having shutdowns and partial shutdowns due to the smell triggers that cause then at the doctors, I did not even want to go there but I had to to try and find out what was causing me soo many problems!)
Working through partial shutdowns and shutdowns feels like slavery because the effort I had to do just to stand up let alone work, and BECAUSE everything ALWAYS came up clear with doctors and they could not find the cause, I had NO HELP WHATSOEVER and I had years of being unemployed and not even being up to signing on to look for work because I could not work when I had hit burnout, so I had complete years where I had no income and lost my house, a decent job, a classic car and a camper... Lots! Yet the doctors assumed I was faking it!

I was soo glad when I eventually changed doctors and the old doctors had claimed that they had lost my notes because I had a clean sheet for them to go by, and they really listened and took me seriously.

But my question is that I have really noticed from most doctors that I have seen is "Why don't doctors know much about autistic shutdowns?" Are they rare? I know they are about a common as meltdowns but are the type of shutdowns I get rare? I don't know. I know that I have never knowingly met someone who shares the exact same symptoms as I do. I am wondering how many children and adults are out there who are going through what I have been through and do not have a clue what it is. Their lives must be such a struggle!
It is only recently that my own family have one by one started to realize that I am not faking it when I get a shutdown. (The one brother does not know enough yet but my youngest brother has started to understand and my Mum has understood most of it as she has been the closest person to me that I know).

Even if I am not on the spectrum and others who experience these shutdowns may not be on the spectrum, they are something that needs more people to be aware about (Especially doctors and those in the medical profession) for the sake of the ones who are experiencing them.

Being unemployable with Autism totally sucks! I can not get a job and I blame Aspergers for being unemployable. Aspergers makes me lazy, rude and unmotivated. I do not present as wanting the job during the interview, I find it hard to maintain eye contact. Autistics that present as friendly, motivated and make eye contact are more likely to get jobs.

Autism doesn't make me lazy, quite the opposite.

It makes me intolerant to normal human laziness.

That makes me annoying to be around tbh so no wonder I have 'no people skills' when I'd rather be shelving books than taking a break with colleagues.

I get the point in lunch breaks (eating food) but ever since secondary, I have wished that other breaks got stopped. A school that finished at 3pm with no morning break would've been my ideal: then home to do my homework then specialist interest time/time to actually play with friends. Same with work breaks as an adult - I'd rather just crack on with the day.

Playtime at primary was different. Kids would engage in games. In infant school, my mum was a TA and she led us in organised party games every day which were all the year group/all the infant kids who wanted to join in, that was great. But sitting round talking/standing round talking? I'd rather work.

the army forced me to deal with it. they didn't care how, so long as i did. i jumped at loud noises and they all laughed at me and called me a girl. even the girls called me a girl.

Graduating college and becoming unemployable is a sad future that a lot of Autistic people may face if they waste their time studying. There are far too many graduates and not enough jobs.

An Autistic person is socially challenged and is unlikely to form a network that is needed to become employable with a college education. Plenty of the popular low achieving students with networks get jobs instead of the high achieving Autistic kids at college. Autistic kids at college have to achieve higher results to get a job than people that have good social networks. An Autistic kid barely passing or getting average marks is unlikely to get a job and is wasting his/her time at college.

Social network is everything when it comes to employment opportunities and high marks are needed by Autistic people to make up for the lack of social/communication skills. Job interviews weed out the social challenged applicants that performed well in academics but struggle to hold a conversation. Most jobs require decent social/communication skills that do not come naturally to Autistic people.

It depends on what you consider "Serious".  Maybe the real "pattern" here is adaptability.

I had to beg out of one of my finals because the only seat I could find was directly under the A/C vent -- what others consider a pleasantly cool breeze was like and arctic blast to me.  I took the exam later in the day and scored well on it.

There is a range of vocal pitches that sound like fingernails on a blackboard to me, I have to avoid the people who have them, and when certain TV shows come on, I switch them off.

No synthetic fabrics for me -- cotton, linen, and wool only.  Everything else makes me itch, as if ants were crawling all over my skin.

The smell of fried fish makes me feel gaggy, but sashimi is one of my favorite foods.

People often accuse me of napping in my office because I rarely switch on all the lights or open the blinds.

Serious issues?  Maybe.  I have found ways to avoid or compensate for sensory over-stimulation.

i've met too many folks who just couldn't understand why i like subdued lighting except when i'm trying to read.

The employable Autistics can find and keep jobs unlike the majority of unemployable Autistic people.

I have sensory issues, some of them quite serious, but I still work. What profession I was able to study for was extremely limited in the first place due to my physical disability, but I found a field I could handle. Took me a few years in unpaid training programs and one short actual job contract to get me where I am now, but I am working. Part time, unfortunately, and boring, but it pays the bills.

This also applies to employable NTs and unemployable NTs. Honestly, I think that many of the "unemployable" autistic people are actually just people who fail to get a chance, like because they don't know how to apply properly or don't come across as professional enough, but if they get a chance to show their skill, they'll do just fine. Assuming they're trying to get jobs that they're qualified for, of course. I myself have gotten all my jobs by being an unpaid trainee at those places first, proving that I can do it. Had I been completely hopeless, they could've and would've kicked me out after first few days with no consequences to them.

At the start of my employment, i dreaded the thought of staying long-term because of the noisy warehouse environment, and even received a few disciplinaries because I had to take unplanned / unauthorised leave as there are no real quiet places to calm myself down in. I had all my sensory issues bottled up as I undertook hours of repetitive tasks with the sound level equivalent of having speakers on at full blast or a busy thoroughfare during rush hour; was hard to convince human resources as it was a temporary job at the time and have trust issues with alot of people there, managers and colleagues alike.

Yes me too. Every room in our house has dimmable bulbs in lamps and small accent lights etc bc I can't handle bright lights unless I'm embroidering or reading. I've been accused of being a vampire especially since I have a mild allergy to the sun, break out in hives if in direct sunlight too long.

I had to leave a few jobs I think bc of sensory issues. At the time I didn't know that. Thought it was bc something in the environment was giving me severe migraines. My neurologist actually told me to leave a few bc they were making me sick. Didn't know then I was on the spectrum. Now that I know, and am learning my limits I feel some of that could have been avoided.

Just goes to show how important a proper diagnosis is. I mean I do have severe migraines but some of the triggers were brought on by sensory overload or shutdowns. Now that I know this, I'm trying to find ways to work around them.

I cant really point to any serious sensory issues i experience apart from maybe some mild photosensitivty , ( ialways wondered why bright summer sunshine bothered my eyes so much, while everybody else was immune.) and possible lower than maybe average tolerance to noise disturbances. ( yeah unwanted noise can be super-annoying.)