If you’re autistic, what job do you have and how do you cope?

[pickituppp]

I’m in my late 20s and reached burn out, and now realise that I’m most likely autistic. I powered through up until now and now feel exhausted and need a change. Im due to start a new job soon in the same field and keep crying thinking about it as I don’t feel strong enough. If you’re autistic, what job do you do and how do you cope with it?

My DS is in his early 20's and was diagnosed 18 months ago. He's doing a cleaning job, 20 hours a week at the moment, which is as much as he can cope with. Be kind to yourself and don't you're failing if you can't manage to work full time, it's too much for lots of autistic people. In the future he wants to look for something connected to music.

I work with students who have autism and learning disabilities. I do a lot of 1:1 work which suits me as I do like social interaction and spending time with people to an extent.
I work part-time though (3 days) if I do more than this I really struggle and burn out very quickly. I mask very well though which is exhausting.

I'm an academic. Total autonomy, spend much of the day thinking about one specific and interesting area. The politics is challenging but I mostly stay out of it as much as I can. I'm surrounded by other lightly autistic people as it seems 'normal'.

Hi, I also have a visual impairment, which makes things a lot more tricky, I have run my own organization for many years, and I can do things that work for me, work from where I need to, etc. and the colleagues that I do have have known me for years. I am going to take the plunge, and apply for a job with Apple, but I love languages and the job in particular requires my favorite language, so I’m hoping for the best. it is a work from home job, and again, it’s my favorite language, and even when things are difficult, I love languages so much that I can usually cope.

I've had lots of jobs. No career. I did everything wrong and couldn't understand what I had to do.

I assumed it was due to my autism but if you lot can work maybe it isn't. I have really bad anxiety and dyspraxia and don't go out much. Never socialise etc.

I was in customer facing administration, I couldn't cope with dealing with people all the time so quit. If I work again it'll be a non-customer facing role.

I’m a marketing director. I think the key thing for me is I can work fully remotely; it’s a game-changer for me. It cuts out so much of the burnout.

I've completely underachieved. I think I flummoxed trying to find the right job which I think woild have been a "good" job with some independence for hours and interests. Or a clear career progression structure.

I discovered I couldn't maintain the pace in teaching.

I wish I'd trained as a psychologist early on as its where my interest is and would have allowed me to develop and progress with an interest.

Accountant, working from home.

I work with fire alarms. It means that 90% of the time I work solo, which is great.

It could be autism. We are all different so what's achievable for one person may not be for another.

I’m a librarian. I really truly love it!

I've not worked since having children. I cannot do both without horrendous burn out. I tried but ended up with suicidal ideation and had to stop for my mental health.
I was coming home and just going to bed and also sleeping all weekend.

Was a uni lecturer, now secondary school teacher.

DN is an artist in a SME organisation, wfh 2 days per week and office based for 3. Would rather wfh all the time but unfortunately not an option.

Similar-ish I work as a SALT in Learning Disabilities.

Always been self employed, I have never managed to do a 'proper' salaried job.

I do a mishmash of things mostly dog related, including copywriting, ghostwriting, illustration, content creation...

I also work on a self employed basis for a company that provides people access 24/7 to a dog trainer.

I take on private clients on a remote basis (I used to travel to peoples homes but this is no longer viable due to wheelchair use) and support them through behaviour modification programs with their dog.

And because I can't do one thing at once I draw, paint, make things (sewing, crochet, woodwork, knitting, jewellery).

I rarely feel fulfilled unless there is something tangible that I have produced, at the end of the day!

Neither DH or I are diagnosed with anything but it is pretty obvious to us now we are ND. We were both sent on courses at work regarding students with disabilities which included ND in higher education. We both work in academia well I have retired early after 27 years. Two of my colleagues were diagnosed. But that course sparked an interest so I did some research, did tests online but also read some peer reviewed research. I taught myself to read and could read well before I started school, have issues with clothes, noise, have burnt out often in my life from attempting to fit in, have prescriptive routines, seeing patterns, making up my own language as a child. I mean I thought getting upset because the space I liked to park in on campus was occasionally taken was normal but apparently it’s not. I used to go in really early so I could always get that space it was also quieter so suited me.

I think the key is in part time work - if you can afford it.

I have seen the suggestion that the ideal would be for people with Autism / ADHD to work part time, which should be supplemented with benefits if needed. That's the way to avoid burnout, AND to have so many more ND people joining the working population (let's not forget that around 70%(?) of autistic people are unemployed).

I have been self-employed working mostly from home since my mid-20s, and I did burn out more than once, as self-emplyment can be a double edged sword, since it often comes with uncertainty, exhaustion, taking on too many roles, constant decision making... Unfortunately my work involves a constant shift in working patterns and workload, which brings flexibility - which I need - but also an excess of task-switching, which kills me.

But nothing prepared me for the raging fire that was motherhood. The overstimulation and the extreme multi-tasking that many take for granted pretty much fried my brain - and there is research to suggest excessive multi-tasking causes brain damage in 'normal' brains, so go figure what it can do to an ND one. Almost 15 years later, I don't think my brain ever recovered fully.

In hindsight, I should never have gone to work full time (well over full time, since weekends and evenings were common. Plus DC).

Yep, I'm looking toward dropping a work day once I get my move up my pay band confirmed (work are aware of this). Ideally I'd like to work 3 days a week but finances mean 4 is more likely and I'm very lucky in the autonomy I have over how I manage my diary and book in my clients to be able to balance out busy days patient-facing with admin days to recharge social batteries.

I'm.a peripatetic teacher in my specialist field, working with children. 4 days a week only, term time. 9 - 11.30 I visit schools (when my Resilience is high), home for lunch/rest then 4.30 - 8 teaching online in my pj's in my dim, cosy lounge. I struggle with admin massively and often get anxious at the thought of it, but there's not too much. I did a post grad degree to get this career so money is good so I can work fewer hours. Much prefer working with children as I don't have to mask. Love travelling about on my own and having a few hours to rest in my quiet house between work suits me well. I get lonely without some social interaction so enjoy a brief chat with various office people, TAs etc at schools but nothing too arduous.

I'm not diagnosed but my eldest DC is and I suspect I would be given a diagnosis if I pursued it. I'm a primary school teacher and I suspect it is my special interest. I coped by living alone.

After getting married and having children, my return to even part-time teaching ended in a breakdown.

AuDHD here. I think I've finally found my path, I'm training to become a counsellor. I've spent so long studying social interactions that I'm able to pick up on really weird things and make connections other people have missed, and the formalised, structured nature of the interaction really suits me.

I'll let you know how it's going when I qualify.

I've coped by staying with the same organisation for 30 years. I nearly had a nervous breakdown when I started (undiagnosed) - suddenly finding myself in an environment where I had no idea what the right things to do and ways to behave were. I was badly bullied. I'm surprised I wasn't sacked.

Having slowly and painfully learned to cope with all the unwritten rules and politics of one organisation, I have stayed there, albeit in various different roles, and have worked my way up from the bottom to middle-management level.

I write books for a living, do some screenwriting, and I also have a regular newspaper column.

I used to have a day job running and delivering science-based events for a major museum and tourist attraction.

I would not be able to do a normal 9-5 job and I've never done had one.

My job is perfect because I'm completely my own boss (self-employed but don't really have clients in the traditional sense), set my own hours, work when I choose, and I sometimes can go out and talk to lots of different people and explore different things for research, and other times I don't speak to anyone for weeks because I've got my head down writing.