If you have autism and/or ADHD and are happy in your job (if you work) what do you do?

[LegoTherapy]

I'm trying to think of ideas for myself future self.

I have ASD and ADHD. I'm an engineer and it suits me beautifully. The work tends to come in waves, I can work in whatever way suits and I spend more time working alone than with people but not all of my time so it gives me the balance I thrive with.

ADHD here 👋 I’m a Teacher at a special needs school and have been for 20 years. I like to think that I understand the Kids and they understand me!

Data

Well you have to pursue your thing. So in your case surely it’s working at the Lego factory, Legoland or at the very least in the toy shop selling Lego.

ADHD, diagnosed but unmedicated. I’m a Critical Care nurse and I love it! Plenty of variety and lots of scope for development. I’m senior so I do a mixture of clinical and non clinical trials which appeals hugely to my need for variety.

There’s a fair few ND staff - both nurses and other members of the team in my department. It’s a friendly and supportive place to work.

Strategy manager at an investment bank. Has been tough at times but generally have thrived with understanding, supportive managers who are willing to accept my quirks for my straightforward delivery which is appreciated in my industry, and ability to see the consequences of actions and predict outcomes (to me a lot of stuff is just obviously logical but NT people can’t see it). Have had periods of finding it really stressful with less supportive managers but luckily my firm is large enough that I’m usually able to orchestrate a sideways move in the name of gathering experience or progression!

I’m autistic and run my own dog-walking business. I absolutely love it but only manage part-time as otherwise I go into burnout.

DH has ADHD and works as a self-employed builder.

I’d love to work in something to do with Lego but I wouldn’t be good in a shop or anywhere I had to stand still or not move about much. I used to feel faint on ward rounds from being stood still behind curtains. I have a degree and two post grad qualifications and I feel guilty not using them. I couldn’t be a teacher of any kind. I need something that has rules that must be followed and where those rules are consistently applied. DCs’ school have rules that are not followed, not enforced and drive me nuts daily. Autonomy is good. I need structure but also a decent pace and frequent changes to keep me interested. Also relative quiet. I would love Lego to pay me to build their sets are review them online. And obviously let me keep the sets.

OP- What about a play specialist in a paediatric A&E or paediatric ward? Your lego skills would come in handy.

Registered nurse/Nurse unit manager/clinical nurse consultant. Hate it with a passion. I don't hate it because I have autism I hate it because nursing sucks!

I work in pharma and there are a huge amount of rules and they absolutely must be followed. There are some roles whose entire purpose is to make the rules into company policy and ensure people are following the rules (QA, Regulatory etc). It’s not Lego, but with a nursing background perhaps something in pharma or clinical trials/research might work for you.

I'm self employed as a traditional signwriter. I love it because it's full of variety (just have to remember whether I'm working on the village war memorial or touching up the lettering on a superyacht tomorrow) which keeps me interested, and there's a good balance between being hidden away in my studio in solitude and out in the public gaze painting a shopfront or something. And of course, it's using my creative skills.

It also means I can manage my time to avoid burnout- so, if I've had a full on week driving a 2 hour round trip every day to signwrite a vintage van in a lockup full of mechanics revving car engines for hours, under the eye of a client prone to micromanaging, which has left me so depleted I can hardly see straight, I can shut myself in the house for a couple of "admin days" to recover.

Communication with clients is my least favourite part- I manage it, but it's a strain sometimes.

I teach English in FE, mainly to teenagers, mainly students with SEND. Love being with the kids and I think they enjoy it too and they are achieving. ☺️ Less so the admin, (hopelessly disorganised and so so easily distracted - no shit!! I’m only a 0.5 and end up bringing it home to do) the politics and the unwavering commitment to doing the best for my learners despite all the shite that goes down around me.

ASD and ADHD. Doctor, in acute/emergency setting. I love it. There's something about the mix of routines and protocols, and variety and adrenaline/dopamine hits that just really works for my brain.

I'm an analyst in the public sector. It's my perfect job. Job is extremely process driven which suits me. I have the autonomy to be creative with the way I analyse or visualise the data but it's still within limited parameters.
Its very busy (but not unmanageable). I can only really complete work with a deadline, so again this works as Im always on a deadline.
I interact only with my immediate team/project team (no networking or client meetings).
That being said I'm not sure if choose it again as a career as I dont see it being very AI proof. I'm training to be a health economist now to give me another skill and hopefully can delay this a bit longer

You could do landscape gardening local authority hires gardeners.

You could also look at working at lego world or in the lego company.

See if they have programs for ND people. What do you like about lego?

Autism Adhd Data AI pays good offers full remote working of you want but you need to converse with collegues on teams and it's important to turn your camera on, bit weird my mother is NT she said just go with it lol. I think nurses are amazing btw more patient centered then Dr.

Asd
data scientist

Admin in HE but mostly short term assignments. I don’t do well in permanent roles.

Autism/ADHD. I love what I do, but it's fairly niche and I'm in the US, so I don't know if there's a comparable position there. I conduct public assistance appeal hearings.

What I like about it is that it's fairly self-directed. I'm scheduled for hearings by the agency, but on days I don't have hearings and I'm writing decisions, I am pretty much able to complete my work at my own pace.

Posting here for ideas.

I'm v well qualified in some senses but falling through he gaps in my 40s work wise. Dropped out of teaching as too overwhelming and now dropping out of my current role as I stuck in a toxic place far too long.

I originally tried to retrain as a psych but not practical where I live.

Would have done far better training as an OT OR MHN...

Need something new now. I feel such a failure.

Awaiting ADHD assessment
I'm a chef.I love cooking a variety of dishes and the time pressure.
The hustle and bustle appeals to me.i used to do 12 HR days now just regular hours.
I rush around and when I get home hyper focus on Instagram reels or restaurant reviews.
I really did make my hobby my job.

AuDHD. I'm a doctor, training to eventually be an A&E consultant. I love it because I really like people but my ASD means I can struggle with unstructured interactions - the doctor-patient interaction is very structured/ scripted which helps a lot. I'm good at the pattern-seeking element of diagnostics, and also like the constant variety/ never knowing what is going to turn up, and A&E in particular suits a short but intense attention span. If I was hunting for another job I'd look for something that ticked those three boxes:

1. Lots of interaction with new people but in a scripted or structured way.
2. Problem-solving and pattern-recognition
3. Variety and a fairly pressured environment to get the ADHD hyperfocus going!

Also, I really love my job but cannot work full time, as when I've tried I burn out very quickly- not with the job but with trying to manage the rest of life 🤦🏻‍♀️.

I'm autistic late diagnosed in my 30s. I work in Data Protection for a local government.

ADHD and a secondary school teacher. Love it - the switching focus between classes and age groups, the very structured day and plenty of ridiculous deadlines to get the hyper focus hit going!
It’s also a really creative job. I am middle management, too, so lots of interesting problem solving and ‘what if we did this…?’ thinking, which I am very strong at.
However - I do only work part time now and I think that really helps with the burnout. Now that I understand my ADHD brain better (late diagnosis) I have no shame in using my non-working days to recharge and decompress.