Asd and jobs you do

[tobee]

My dd is diagnosed as having Aspergers traits and is in her final year at university. She's trying to ignore the fact that she'll need to start thinking about work soon. I wondered if any asd mumsnetters can let me know what jobs they do, how they got over an hurdles to do with their asd; for example dd is terrified of having to do an interview. I just want to be able to show her some examples, even if they are in unsuitable fields for dd. Google isn't very helpful on this. Thank you so much.

Thanks for the swift reply. Dd's secondary school recommended strongly that she saw a clinical psychiatrist who initially did a series of tests on her and then gave her some counselling sessions which were largely cbt based. One of the tests was for asd and those were the words that he used "some aspergers markers" which we took to mean borderline. But she has never been further tested by an asd specialist. And as she had lots of school work (GCSEs etc) she didn't want to be further assessed at the time. She's very low in self esteem and has difficulty working in her own time. But she's doing mfl at an RG university and is a natural with children and also interested in teenage mental health services. When I've looked up about asd and employment it's all been very general and I was hoping for diverse replies to bouy her confidence a bit.

Oh yes, she has school scheme work experience at a primary school for a week. She's worried about the lack of experience too.

I've never really had a career as such however right now I'm an office administrator so not really exciting and I'm not sure what you're looking for...? Having said that I'm still willing to help if there is anything specific you want to ask?

I just want to be able to say look there are jobs you can do. A lot of stuff on the internet is quite downbeat and generalising. I thought telling my daughter real examples would help her. I just get a wall of "I won't be able to do that!" And "I won't be able to do an interview" and "no one will employ me" and "you only say that because you're my mum!" when I put out her strengths. And I thought mumsnetters would know so I could back up what I'm saying iyswim. She doesn't know what she wants to and thinks everybody else in the world knows what they want to do and aren't fearful about the job hunting process. Office manager sounds interesting to me. Do you have to be very organised? Dd is not. She's also worried about social interactions at work. I've looked on the teen and young adult sn pages but wanted to hear of people with asd rather than parents.

Ps I think dd would suit a job with a lot of structure. She finds self motivation quite hard.

I work as a nurse, but can only manage part time in a care home. I find it easy enough to organise my work as long as the routine is in place, which is easy in a care home environment. I write everything down so I don't forget things.

If I'm stressed, my communication can falter and I can come across as a bit abrupt which has been picked up on.

Your dd really needs to be assessed because it will make a huge difference to her work abilities if she has aspergers and it will help her plan her future. A job with a lot of interaction, lack of predictable routine or stress would be difficult for her and can lead to long term stress. I can't earn much money due to my employment struggles. I'm also on long term medication and generally change jobs every few years.

I paid around £700 for a clinical assessment by a professional who specialises in asc in women if that's any help.

Thanks for your replies. I messaged dd last night and she seemed happy to get a proper assessment.

Poltergoose I've suggested volunteering with a charity. I persuaded her to join some charity societies at uni but they've not called on her to help yet. I thought volunteering for the brownies might be good too as she volunteered briefly in the past with them.

PS I feel like there's some work out there she'd be really suited to and happy in but don't know what it is yet. She's very loyal, reliable, abides by rules and totally lacks bullshitting qualities.

I'm a nurse too. I work in a hospital, have done a variety of roles/areas since I qualified nearly 10 years ago. I tried a few different jobs/areas before I went into nursing. Childcare - too noisy! Office admin - found it boring! I like nursing because every shift is different (I also like having days off in the week) but there is an element of routine to the role. I like the caring aspect. I love medicine and find the human body fascinating. I hate it when they move me unexpectedly, when it's busy it's really stressful and it can be very noisy. I'm about to move to theatres which I think will be calmer and quieter

Basically, thinking about your DD, she needs to think about where her interests really lie. I cannot apply myself to areas which don't interest me! If she finds her passion, then looks for roles within that passion, she'll find her career.

I don't have time to say much right now but I just wanted to agree with others about her getting assessed and getting an official diagnosis.

ASD is classed as a disability so any employer will have to make reasonable adjustments for her however they can only do that if she is diagnosed.

I had a couple of jobs before getting diagnosed (retail and hospitality) and I really struggled and it did cause a few problems between my colleagues and my managers. Because I wasn't diagnosed everyone just thought I was being difficult, slow, disorganised, etc. However now I am diagnosed everyone knows it's just me and who I am and I have adjustments and protection in place for me.

Also make sure you consider the difference between a field of study and a job. I excelled in my last degree, walked away with all sorts of academic awards - but I'm unemployed because I can't cope with the unpredictable nature of the work or the social expectations of the job.

I'm a GP. Not sure how well it Suits me really, but definitely a lot better than working in a hospital. I think you can probably find a role to suit in most secties, it might take a bit of experimenten, time and understanding from others though, which aren't necessarily easy things to come by. I'm trying to decide what to do once i finish training. Do i want to work in a group practice or Solo, city, country, rural ir remote etc there are options.
Interviews were horrible though and i'm really really dreading doing them again (a tick in the pro staying on where i am column)

I don't have ASD (although I sometimes wonder) but I definitely have some traits, and I have 2 kids with ASD and I assume they inherited it from somewhere....

I'm an analyst. I deliberately picked a career that didn't involve working with the public because I knew I'd find it stressful and I'd be shit at it. I'm good at maths so I find it fairly easy, I'm organised and work well on my own, and get on ok in my small team. I'm dreadful at interviews which is why I've worked in the same organisation for 15 years. I have been promoted in that time, but presumably because they know I'm good at my job, not due to my interview technique

I'm also an analyst, and contracted for a long time as the interview's aren't the same for contractors and permanent staff. I'm now trying to get a permanent role in the civil service (near my house and minimal travel). There's a lot of similar work in finance and TBS and RBS both are good with disabilities like ASD. Again though, she would need a formal diagnosis.

I am a university lecturer. I think a few of my colleagues also have ASD but are undiagnosed.
The interview for my job was horrendous ( I was a whole day, which is standard in academic jobs) but I am fine doing it.

I have never been diagnosed, but have suspected for a while that I may have aspergers (I'm in my 30s now). I was similar to your daughter at that age, I graduated with a first class degree but had no confidence in myself at all and ended up temping in minimum wage office jobs and then working as a secretary in a hospital. As this involved lots of phone calls from upset and often angry patients I ended up with awful anxiety, and moved to secretarial work in a different sector (more related to my degree). I then worked in market research (which I hated - again the people thing) and then trained as a teacher, which I really struggled with and also made me anxious but I passed my training. I couldn't face getting a job as a class teacher so I went for a job as a peripatetic music teacher which I actually enjoyed. Then I had my kids. Now I'm starting to do bits of work - private musIc teaching from home, and a cake making business (had been a hobby for years). I'm the happiest I've ever been working on my own terms, and doing something creative I can do well. I know my strengths and weaknesses now and have stopped trying to prove myself in jobs that just don't suit me. That your daughter has awareness of her difficulties is good (I just thought I was unlikeable and stupid for a long time). My only advice would be to really focus on what kind of working environment she'd be most comfortable in. Had I done mfl I'd probably have tried to be a UN interpreter or something equally stressful to prove myself, when really I'd have been much happier translating novels by myself for hours on end. However, even though I did the wrong jobs for me for years, I did learn things from all of them and getting pushed outside my comfort zone was good for me in lots of ways (well, apart from the anxiety). Tell her not to worry, it might take time and a bit of trial and error but she will find her thing. In the meantime any work is good experience.

Thank you for these very thoughtful replies.

Hi, I'm also a final year student and I have Asperger's Syndrome. I currently also work a part-time job in my SU in admin, which I am really enjoying. My colleagues all know about my disability and are very supportive and make adjustments where necessary (including my manager), I was up-front about it as soon as I got the job, but obviously it's easier as it's a job just for students at my uni so not exactly the kind of place they could easily discriminate. I also have mental health problems including quite a severe anxiety disorder. Adjustments have included a very slow & gradual induction process to the job that was basically 1-on-1 with my manager until I felt confident enough to speak to other people, likewise my manager always being around and ready to answer questions at the beginning, almost complete flexibility about my working hours including ability to work from home when needed etc. Just the positive culture towards disability I think is really the main thing though.

Not sure exactly what I'll do when I graduate, unsure if I'm capable of working part-time with my mental health being how it is. Have applied to a graduate programme in the charitable sector and waiting to hear back about whether I've made it to the second stage of the process which is a full-day assessment centre . I was very up front on my application about my disabilities and got extra time in the online assessments.

My friend who has Asperger's and also has a degree now works in telephone banking (completely unrelated from her degree subjects). She was upfront with the bank about her disability right from application and has adjustments in place like being able to split her break up into lots of tiny breaks, she has worked there for a about 2 years I think and was promoted a few months ago. My academic mentor at university also has Asperger's as well as mental health problems and a physical disability to do with her back that affects her mobility and causes her pain. She graduated from her undergrad with a first and has been in education at the same uni most of the time since graduating, but she studies part-time and then has been a note-taker and academic mentor for disabled students part-time. Now she is doing her PHD and mostly tailing off her mentoring work, I am part of her last cohort of students as she has started taking on some teaching of tutorial groups at uni and is hoping to go on to become a lecturer.

Just some stories for you.

I've worked in retail and offices and hated both. I'm currently self employed starting up a web design firm. I can control my own environment this way which helps me.

Just found this thread again. Thank you for all the replies.

If you're still interested I am a compliance analyst in a major investment bank. My job is to review our client's file to ensure we are complying with worldwide regulations. It's very documentary and interesting; a good memory helps as a lot of knowledge is acquired and we are crying out for people with good MFL skills as there are anlot of documents in different languages. There is a fairly strong element of social interactions but I am well supported in this by my line manager and OH.

I have a full OH review and many reasonable adjustments in place (including extra training/support with communications) and my employer actively recruits people with ASD as we're usually good at following processes/rules, quick minded and they appreciate a different view on things. They are also happy to recruit people with ASD into roles identified as more process driven and less likely to require communications (my role was very much a personal choice).

Ooh yes, I'm still very interested, thank you user, and will tell dd.

I showed dd, user, and was very much interested but was interested to know how to find out about what such a job entails in terms of getting into it etc.