Why do people recommend working in IT/Computers for Aspies?

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steve30
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Yesterday, 10:13 am

Just wondering, whenever you get articles and forum posts about people with aspergers/autism looking for work, it is quite common to suggest that they work in IT or computers. Any idea why this is?

I know some people take a particular interest in computers, which is fine, but plenty don't. I was interested in computers in the early 2000s and considered it a potential future career option. That interest really dwindled a few years after I got my AS diagnosis. My computer knowledge is now very outdated. I struggle with a lot of modern systems, and due to worsening health I find it hard to concentrate on computers a lot of the time.

People also tend to advocate "working from home", and this really took off during the so called pandemic. What is special about working from home? And how does one actually go about it? I have never done a job which could not be done without other people or without products/paperwork/tools/etc. People often say they "work from home" but it is always very vague as to what they actually do.

I have had intermittent internet & telephone access over the last few years. I ended up sleeping rough for some time last year. I often have to leave the house at no notice due to other people being here. I do not know from one week to the next if I will have a house to live in, let alone work from. So I am at a loss as to why 'work from home' is often recommended for people with Aspergers Syndrome.



LittleBeach
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Yesterday, 12:54 pm

Working with computers suits me because it mainly involves following very logical steps. In more people based jobs the rules you have to follow are less obvious, and things are more subtle. Working with computers often involves less human interaction than other jobs.

Working from home suits me because it allows me to work in a quiet environment. I Remote Desktop to a computer that sits in the office and has all the resources I need on it , I communicate with my colleagues mostly by instant message.

That’s just my preferences though, we are all different.



JamesW
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Yesterday, 3:10 pm

What LittleBeach said. The tech trade works for me because it's non-people-facing, non-multitasking, logically sequential and repeatable. It's also a trade, not a career. The better I get, the more I earn, and I am rated solely on my technical ability rather than any capability or potential for management. Beware though; a disturbing number of employers simply do not understand that 'development' and 'support' are entirely different vocations.

Working from home avoids the overwhelm of the typical office environment - open plan seating, noise (audio and visual), bright lighting, people talking, interruptions, enforced socialising. Again though, I have to remember that as an elderly childless homeowner I'm very lucky. A lot of people increasingly find themselves in living arrangements which make working from home more or less impossible.