Only 22% of autistic people are in employment

[ofwarren]

Do you work, and if so, what kind of job?
I've worked in admin roles mainly and I qualified as a teaching assistant but I just can't stay in employment without total and utter burn out. The longest job I've had is 2 years and that was before having kids. Since having them, I haven't worked at all. I literally have no capacity to give anything else after looking after them and the home.

@EssexLioness

Both DH and I are autistic. He works as a GP and is very successful as he is hyper focused on his work. I have bounced from one job to another over the years. All of them have damaged my mental health. I now work for myself and don’t really let other people (except DH) know what a failure I am. I actually only work maybe 3-4 hours each week. I do volunteer a little too. But even with doing so little, I still struggle to keep the house nice, function day to day etc. People look at me and I seem absolutely fine and ‘normal’ but I am generally a bit of a mess. I struggle with life but constantly feel the shame of being ‘lazy’ or a failure.

I have total sympathy with this.

You aren't a failure. Despite your ND issues, you hold down a marriage, a PT job, a voluntary job and a home. That is achievement.

Juno - it's an initiative by the Institute of Physics to get more women into physics-based roles and get more girls studying physics. But I think that the IoP would be supportive on being part of a more general network beyond STEM in terms of supporting ND people in science and work in general.
I would want to find out about other organizations who work with ND people in terms of jobs and training -certainly there are major knowledge gaps that need to be filled.

And the AMA thread - it turned into Shitpost city because people accused me of being naive about long-term unemployment (I am privilidged, just not like that). But the thing about long-term unemployment is you have no idea how long it's going to be and I was unemployed for 6 months in total.

Then people started shitposting and it came something of an arse-kicking constest with one-legged participants and a porcupine.

I reckon that’s definitely skewed by low diagnosis levels. I think I may possibly have ASD but I can’t be sure and to be honest, I can’t stick the idea of a whole diagnosis process. But there are some things I do struggle with (office politics and non-verbal communication - argh) which make me wonder (my brother and DS are both diagnosed). In any case, I wouldn’t count in any statistics but I’ve always been employed other than a few years as a SAHM, and now I’m self-employed 🤷‍♀️ Self-employment is definitely suiting me better at the moment, no bloody office politics…! DH is also almost certainly on the ASD spectrum, but is also undiagnosed - he is also employed, in his case as a programmer. We have virtual get-togethers with a bunch of programmers he’s known for years to play games every week, no one is diagnosed but I tell you, every one of us has our own traits on display…! But we’re all of an age where diagnoses were much harder to come by 🤷‍♀️

It’s still not a great stat though, whichever way you slice it

I’m not diagnosed either but I’m 99% certain having been through the process with DD.

I work from home doing something that plays to my strengths. They’re talking about return to office and I’ve negotiated to continue wfh with no issues thank goodness

A lot of people seek a diagnosis after having issues staying in work which often leads to financial issues, mental health issues etc and seeking services and specialists who may then signpost/refer for a diagnosis. Those who stay in work maybe because they've found their niche or just battle on day by day, don't necessarily have a motive to seek a diagnosis which may also skew the stats.

I suspect I have aspergers.

I studied accounts in college. I worked in various book keeping and finance roles, I am 50 now.

Interviews were very hard. I found that if I went for loads over a few months, I would gradually get more relaxed and able to do a bit of small talk. When I am nervous, I go very silent.

Re office politics, I worked with non uk nationals for the first 10 years. Europeans are more direct and are less likely to be smart for the sake of it. Think smirking, eye rolling. They were all interested in the finance work and I did not have politics/bullying issues.

Then I worked in small firms as accounts for a few years. Worked alone, some phone work with other companies but it was about work so no fear of putting my foot in it. There were a few in general office, and it was ok as they were all different ages.

Now I work for a governnent organisation. Some problems with colleagues being smart i generally only make friends gradually and try not to tell too much. Wfh some of the time do no issues with breaks, making conversation and being accused of giving a dig or insulting someone unintentionally.

@hivemindneeded thank you!