What is your experience of volunteering?

I volunteer for a couple of hours monthly for Contact the Elderly as a driver, they have groups all over the UK. The charity sets up tea parties at a different hosts house for older guests and I drive one of the guests and stay for the tea. I've done this for 5 years now, I  do enjoy it and because we are encouraging the older guests to share their stories I can disappear into the background if I want. If there is a time I can't manage it they have relief drivers to step in and take my place so there's no pressure.

I’m a school governor at 2 very different schools.  I find being autistic means that I am more willing to challenge and query than NTs.  I love it. I did volunteer in a shop years ago which I hated.  I also sometimes help out with my local cat rescue if they need an extra cleaner in. 

I did ‘suffer’ on a former church’s PCC which was an interesting experience and not one I’m overly keen to repeat!

Hi all

I have spent 42 years volunteering for NTs. This has involved many things to support them meet their aspirations and ensure that I don't disrupt their desire to carry out their day to day activities. I have volunteered at events that have caused sensory overload and stood by NTs when I have been isolated and rebuffed. I have provided my services and sacrificed my own needs in order to make NT folk feel better about themselves and be able to inflate their eogs. I have tried to reduce their embarrassment of me by constantly monitoring my behavior for errors even though this was often exhausting and demoralizing. I have picked myself up and continued this role despite meltdowns, shutdowns, depressions, anxiety being the result.

Conversely, they have been kind to this volunteer and politely ignored my ability to not hold eye contact 

Due to my ND skillset I am of use in my volunteering capacity, as aspies....

1. are able to easily forgive others
2. are conscientious, reliable, and honest
3. are enthusiastic and have a propensity for obsessive research, thus developing a broad and deep base of knowledge in subjects of interest
4. are free of prejudice
5. are intelligent and talented
6. are less inclined to be fickle or bitchy than their neurotypical counterparts
7. are more likely than those of the general population to pursue a university education
8. are not inclined to lie to others
9. are not inclined to steal from others
10. are not likely to be bullies, con artists, or social manipulators
11. are not motivated by an intense social drive to spend time with whoever happens to be available
12. are persistent, and when they set their minds to something or make a promise, they can usually be trusted to follow through
13. are unlikely to launch unprovoked attacks, verbal or otherwise
14. are untainted by the judgments that people often make regarding one another's social position or social skills
15. are very accepting of the quirks and idiosyncrasies of others
16. bring a highly original perspective to problem solving
17. can be selective, choosing honest, genuine, dependable people who share their interests
18. can bring up a variety of interesting facts
19. can listen to people’s problems and provide a fresh perspective, offering pure assessments based on the information provided
20. can recall fine details that others miss
21. can relax and be themselves without fearing social censure
22. don’t attack the reputations of those around them
23. don’t discriminate against anyone based on race, gender, age, or any other surface criteria
24. don’t force others to live up to demanding social expectations
25. don't have hidden agendas
26. don’t play head games
27. don’t take advantage of other’s weaknesses
28. don't usually recognize hierarchies, and so are unlikely to give someone superior status simply because that person is wealthy or has attained a high position in an organization
29. have a good work ethic
30. have a lot of passion when engaging in activities they like.
31. have a tendency to adhere to routines
32. have above-average intelligence
33. have an acute sensitivity that supports creative talents
34. have exceptional memories
35. have extreme endurance
36. have high integrity
37. have no interest in harming others
38. have one or more highly developed talents
39. have values that aren't shaped by financial, social, or political influences
40. judge people based on their behavior – not the color of their skin or socioeconomic status
41. like to spend time alone and are perfectly capable of entertaining themselves
42. loathe small talk and trivialities, preferring instead to talk about significant things that will enhance their knowledge base
43. make very good employees if able to control their pace and work within either a solitary or socially supportive environment
44. pay attention to detail
45. stick to their positions, even in the face of intense social pressure
46. tend to become proficient in the technological media required for lucrative employment in the “information age”
47. tend to prefer individual sports to team sports, as there are no social demands and they can exercise complete control over the activity
48. who develop an interest in sport or fitness are likely to work at it every day, often for long periods of time
49. will not go along with the crowd if they know that something is wrong

in 2018,  I am giving up volunteering x

All the best guys xx

I did 8 years in the Royal Observer Corps (now defunct) as a 'spare-time, voluntary, uniformed civil-servant' - that was OK as my little unit only had 5 or 6 people in it, we were usually deployed in groups of 3, and most of them were pleasantly odd and/or eccentric.   

I was a Parish Councillor for 5 years, and a School Governor for a secondary academy for 5 years.  Both took up quite a lot of time and although I contributed well out of meetings, I mostly remained silent at meetings (listening, absorbing, thinking about it then when I had something to say, the rest of the room had moved onto the next item).  Both were before I realised I had a lot of Aspie traits - which explain a lot about my approach.  Luckily, at the time, the Parish Council was not run on political lines, otherwise I might have got very wound up.

Now I'm doing less.  Not sure why, but cutting down on some music activities (many of which are voluntary).

One thing I do currently do are the teas, coffee's & cake for rehearsals of a local Gilbert & Sullivan company.  Come the performances I'm in the band anyway, but me going along means one or more of the cast don't have to drop out half way through rehersal to go and make 28 drinks.  I also make cakes each week for them (bought 5Kg of chocolate for cooking last week) which they wouldn't get if I were not there.  I do feel awfully embarrased & cringy when they clap me each week.

Finally I'm on several Independent Schools Admissions Appeals Panels.  Three people, plus a clerk, listen to someone from the school saying why they can't allow a place for the child, then the parents saying why they want their child to go to a particular school. Both sides, and we, get to ask lots of questions.  It's a very low-level court (a Tribunal) so is a legal process but we try to keep it relaxed.  We get (sometimes a huge pile of) paperwork to read in advance and make notes on, check the admissions law has been complied by the school/LEA, then wach appeal lasts 30 mins (often more).  We can hear up to 16 a day.  We're not paid (apart from petrol/childcare expenses).  I find it very interesting - I'm quite nosey.  We get a free lunch (dried up sandwiches) but I usually escape from Shire Hall to decompress from polite conversation.

Sometimes I chair the appeals, which simply is reading a script and gently keeping to the right order.  If it's overrunning we can ask people to move on if they're repeating themselves.  But a few weeks ago, a parent wanted their child to go to a certain school and spoke for 1 hour solidly - and it was all compelling, fresh information.  Sometimes it's easy to allow the appeal, other times we can't - say the parents had a great case but the school already was overfull and with loads of kids with SEN.  I've heard several appeals recently where the child had ASD - and watching their parents present, they had ASD as well (both high functioning). We always ask lots of questions to help make sure the parents (and the schools) have said everything they need to say, even if they didn't think it important.    I'm also happy to give advice to anyone about schools admissions appeals if it's not in my area.