What job should we do?

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I want to know do autism/asperger in the western world have jobs ? Or how do we make money to survive ? Does your country provide special jobs for autism/asperger? Thank you for sharing this!



Brief self-introduction(my English not good) :
I'm Chinese(live in China now),male,31-year-old,bachelor's degree. I started working from 22 to 30 and my work experience is bad.I have changed serveral companies but all of my leaders and workmates don't like me and want me to resign.One of my leader told me "Why don't you usually talk? I think you have communication difficulties".I had no idea what he was talking about. Finally I stopped working since 2019.12 and just stay at home because I was diagnosed with depression at Beijing. Then I heard about autism by chance, so I went to hospital, the doctor's result is "Communication disorder". Then I check the information about autism/asperger on the Internet every day. I felt so desperate even I didn't even want to live sometimes.I have to thank the doctor who discovered autism, otherwise I still don't know what happened to me.

歡迎

Many of us who have Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have jobs; sadly, most of us do not.

To the best of my understanding, my country's government provides few (if any) jobs specifically for people with ASDs.  It is in the private sector (non-government) where most jobs can be found, and where most job types that are compatible with the sensory and social needs of people with ASDs can be found.

Sadly, most jobs also require some amount of social interaction -- the ability and willingness to make small talk, eye contact, and relevant cultural references are important; more so in retail work, less so in engineering work.

My job is in engineering.  Most of my work is either in my office or in my electronics lab/workshop.  Most of the time, I may interact directly with only one or two people a day, relying on them to convey my directions and needs to others.  I keep the lighting dim and an air purifier running at all times.

The hardest part is convincing others that what I tell them is both truthful and correct.  This may have to do with my own difficulties in maintaining eye contact and speaking without     extended pauses between     words.  Only when I can demonstrate that my ideas work, or that their ideas will not work, are they convinced that I know what I am doing.

It saddens me to read about anyone else's difficulties, especially when they have tried hard to earn a degree and yet cannot maintain their employment.  Will your government allow you to relocate?  I hear some regions of China are better for people with disabilities than others, but I do not know this to actually be true.

Again, welcome!

Thank you!

I am also engineer(Software development in Linux C++).Yes, the Google and Quora both say the programming is best for autism.I think that is not true.I thought the "Programming/Software development" is just keeping coding all the day, but I'm wrong. The fact is that I have lots of social works such as have meeting with PM(ProjectManager), have meeting with my team, discuss projects/service API with my team, communicate with the test team to find out the bug, and so on.I don't know if it's the cause of autism, my programming skills is pretty good, and it makes others jealous ---- this is terrible!! Besides, there's so-called office politics ... I think this is so crazy.

In terms of disbaled, I have asked the relevant agencies but they only think the children with severe autism as disabled. In fact most of Chineses have never heard autism/asperger, they just regard people like me as idiot，will not sympathize with us, only discriminate and bully us. In China, there are even some deceptive institutions claiming then can cure autism to defraud the money of those autism's parents . According to current data the autism is born and can not be cured. This forum has a good name, the earth is really a wrong planet for us.

Anyway, I hope I can find a job like yours that only interact with one or two people. You are really good people and lucky!

I struggled for a long time before I found my current niche.  Fortunate for me, my employer is results-oriented, and could not care less about office politics and idle gossip.

Many people in America seem to believe that autism can be "cured" or "grown out of".  Some individuals seem to believe that autism can be beaten and shamed out of a child, or that it is somehow a curse or possession by demons.  Others believe that people with autism are essentially human robots -- physically clumsy and socially awkward calculating machines that can solve any problem if given enough time and data.  Still others consider people with autism as tragic burdens of their families and society.  There are even those who believe that people with autism are the next step in human evolution, and that people with autism have paranormal/supernatural abilities (I wish!).

There is no common consensus on what autism is because no two people with autism are exactly alike.

Scientific consensus, however, seems to suggest a sliding scale or "spectrum" to the severity of this disorder.  There is even a suggestion that autism is a multi-dimensional disorder because it is presented in many different ways in many different people.

I wish I had a "magic" procedure for you to use to achieve your goals, but the only advice I can offer is to focus on self-development: improve your technical skills and (if possible for you) work on improving your social skills.  Try not to dwell on past failures and humiliations, and try not to obsess over what others may be thinking.  You be you.

I hope you continue to post on Wrongplanet.

Nin hao, welcome to Wrong Planet, we don't get to speak to many from China so it's really good to hear from you.

It can be difficult to find suitable work here in Australia, too.
It is possible but you need to find a place with an understanding boss and a good team.
I'm doing OK at the moment in a state government job in a technical field.
The rest of my unit are in the state capital and I'm in a regional town, so that helps. There's not much need to socialise.

I was 45 when I started here, working as a contractor, and I got the permanent position at 47 - so it can take some time and luck to get to a comfortable place.

I suggest you keep trying, but don't be hard on yourself when jobs don't work out. Usually the problem is with the ignorance or incompetence of other people. When you find somewhere that recognises Asperger strengths it will be better.

Never had a proper job in the West. Not because I couldn't, but because I focused on academic performance and moved to Asia as soon as I graduated. Never worked in China, but have worked with China quite a lot, both mainland and Hong Kong. Had two projects in Zhengzhou of which at least one of them is currently under construction. Never stayed overnight in Beijing, but transferred there, and also Harbin and Shanghai. The food in China is amazing. Cheap, filling, and full of flavor.


It's pretty much the same here.

I don't know a shred of programming. My working memory for numbers is hideously bad. I work as an architect, with is basically engineering for people who can't do math. Right know I'm trying to get a hotel built ... during the Corona crisis. It's like selling sand in Sahara. I make enough money to not have to worry about money, though. AFAIK, no government assistance for employing people with ASD. They seem more attentive towards getting the hikikomori out of their apartments.

Know thyself, strive to improve, and take your time and the setbacks as learning opportunities. In my home country, we have a saying that goes: "Everything is possible with will, sweat, and vaseline."

Don't mean to sound patronising. I genuinely wish you good luck.

Ni hao, welcome to the forum. Its not common to find Chinese members on here.

I had a few paid temp jobs 10 years ago but nothing permanent. The last one I had I was treated really badly

Ni Hao , welcome to Wrong planet .

I think this article is relevant:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog ... dern-china

What the writer says is consistent with the experience you describe.

I work with computers. Working with technology may be more interesting than working with people.
One of the reason I went into computer work is because I work better with computers than I do with people.
However all jobs involve people. People might be my co-workers, my boss, or my customers. Even with the type of work I do, where most of the people that I work with are in the same company that I am in, I have "internal customers". I live in the USA and am not very familiar with the culture of China, but I believe that most jobs are government jobs - or "belong to the people" some might say. If your country's healthcare system would be willing to treat you for something they call "Communication Disorder" I think you might try it and see if it helps.
Many people with Autism have some trouble with language, or with "non-verbal communication". It couldn't hurt and might help. You can also look for on line resources on "Business Etiquette" which basically means how to communicate with people so they will like doing business with you.
If you are right and you really are Autistic - you can continue to learn about it even if the Government wants to call it something else. Everyone can learn and grow. Autism cannot be cured, but we can still all learn and grow somewhat. You are already able to communicate in English so you have already learned a foreign language. Perhaps you can treat Chinese Business Etiquette like a foreign language and see how much you can learn?

We say "Will, violence, and vaseline."

/Mats

It's a good maxim.

Hello,

I'm on disability and i work part time. I live in the United States. It took me about 25 years to get disability. I was on unemployment for many years in two different states.

I'm 46 and I live with my parents. I never got married or had kids. I lived alone for ten years.

I've lost 28 jobs or so in my life. I take medication to help with sleep, anxiety, and depression.

It's hard. Autism doesn't go away. If you can work for yourself, that's a good thing. Or perhaps get some cognitive therapy. I'm a lot smarter now about people, but it's too late. You can take your work experiences and analyze with a good psychologist where and why you had problems. I was expected to "blend in" and I tried. I saw doctors for years. Or you could find an autism-friendly employer.

Good luck.

Thanks for sharing DesertWoman - I really appreciate your.

I work self-employed, and most of my clients are people I studied with who aren't as specialized as I am.
This means for me that I can talk very specifically about my area of expertise with them, very technical, and it also means I don't have to deal with clients who don't understand any of this.
I also don't have to deal with a lot of different people, but only with a few who I have know for 15 years or so. Of course, whenever tgey hire me, they are charging the client more, so they are making money off me, basically, but I don't have to find new clients or sell my work directly, so it's a symbiotic relationship.

Machine work and computers might be a good niche. Engineering like Fnord said and any job that doesn't deal with people much is probably the best bet for Aspies in general. I work with metal and machines but sadly have to deal with people too but not in a social sense. They all think I'm weird and tell me I'm weird but I call them useless, balding, brain dead idiots who's lives will amount to nothing who should wear paper bags over their heads to make people feel happier and they find it amusing.........it's an odd work environment.

As other members of the forum might not have not surprisingly noticed, I think blue collar work shouldn't be overlooked by people with ASD. The hours are often long, you'll complain a lot about it and it's stinky, noisy work but the pay is often decent and depending on where you work it has one huge benefit for people with ASD and that is work colleges will have very thick skin and probably won't give a damn about how socially inept someone is. You can swear at your manager, throw things around the workshop and make obscene comments and most people won't care.......usually. It's not like the clicky drama and gossip you'll often see in an office environment or retail.

Just as for non-autistic people, ideally we work at a job that we do well and that we enjoy.

For many autistic people, including me, that completely rules out office work.

Jobs in science, IT, engineering, and academic scholarship are good for many autistic people.

Do you have any artistic skill? Painter, writer, sculptor, animator, film editor...and many more.

But don't look down on so-called blue-collar jobs. Many require high levels of skill and minimal social interaction and can be well paid. I'm thinking of carpenter, baker, jeweler, mechanic, chef and the like.

I'm autistic and a writer / director / occasional actor / part-time teacher / single parent (yes, it's a lot). My autistic son enjoys computer coding and animation, but he's just 13. I find that here in Taiwan the level of understanding and acceptance is equal to most Western countries.