Which job sectors do people work in ?

I am not surprised. 

Working from home can cause lots of difficulties for employers. It tends to be a privilege, not an automatic right, and also needs to be something that a manager can withdraw at any time, without really needing to give a reason. 

Have you framed the discussion in terms of monetary value to your employer, or have you focussed more on what you want to get out of it?

Haha, don’t forget, I live in a different world and seriously, it would have been my dream job at that time. I wouldn’t have stayed too long, I never do and I move around a lot so I wouldn’t be looking at it long term. But yeah, I would have enjoyed it but I would have probably got the sack anyways as I would probably have been educating people about their shopping choices! Lol! 

Your story reminds me of the one my brother in law told. He’s a fireman and was called to a food factory that makes scotch eggs and some other things and to this day, he’s never eaten any of those products again! I eat raw fresh fruit and veg so I don’t have to worry about frozen food and scotch eggs although I’ll be happier when I grow my own food :) 

I work 5 days a week and realise that this number of days in my current role is energetically too draining if I also wish to pursue interests that have a social aspect to them. 

My preferred balance would be 2 or 3 days in my current role in addition to a good enough second income from being a self-employed Etsy art /craft seller or specialist trainer. This is my longer-term plan. 

I notice that not all social contact is draining for me, it's just the superficial chit-chat and social lubricant stuff which I find a lot of work. I do find that other types of shared interest-based conversations can re-energise me. I'm gradually recognising more and more of the ways in which I am drained or re-energised and writing a list so I can work smarter. 

Some of the strategies I could implement to find more opportunities to re-energise at work could be going for a walk around to 'check the building is ok', going to a local quiet cafe for lunch or locking myself in an empty room at lunchtime. The toilets, unfortunately, tend to be busy and some of them unisex multi-cubicle rooms. 

With regards to your particular circumstances, one approach could be to seek a relief 0 zero contract in social care and work one day a week to test how it affects you. This should minimise any impact on benefits and would allow you time to explore the role. You could then step up the number of days and look for a permanent contract when and if you find it do-able. 

Do let us know how your search progresses and if you would like any tips about approaching your application/ or interview then I'm happy to chat. 

I hope this reply gets through, I'm having keyboard issues. This is my 5th attempt.

Thanks for telling me about your job, because it really helps to hear from someone with autism in the sort of role I would like to have. It helps me to feel that I could do it too.

I also have problems with tiredness, and have to recharge when I can, but it can be hard to find the time and a place in which to be alone. But it doesn't need to be much, just a few minutes in the loo (reading a book, that is) can help to break up the day.

I have a family, and my husband is unemployed, and so I'm the breadwinner at the moment. I need to be pretty sure that whatever career choices I make will be sustainable.

Misheard Lyrics 

I know that HR departments realise that the way job roles are advertised is an art in its own right and that subtle differences in phrasing influence who applies. A carefully worded job and person specification can increase the numbers of suitable applicants significantly. 

The idealised social / teamwork skill set that you mention would perhaps be more likely to be seen in senior management/executive circles. I would say within the team I work, the main TW skills required are an ability to listen to others, to treat colleagues in a respectful way, to contribute & share ideas, to work cooperatively and share tasks. I guess it's more about a willingness to try and be motivated by good intention. 

Your feeling of anxiety is real, so I think it's less about attitude and more a question of finding a good organisation that's supportive and does it best to encourage and develop staff. From what I've observed most people will experience a degree of nervousness and anxiety when they are first learning to express themselves in a team, though this may be more intense for people on the spectrum. 

I really encourage you to apply for jobs in social care with people with learning disabilities / ASC if that's where you feel drawn. I suspect one or two of my co-workers may also be on the spectrum and think there may be quite a few of us working in social care out there!

I have a problem with tiredness too, which is why I couldn't continue the night shipts

I have a question to those who work from home.

Did you look for positions that offer working from home and got it immediately or later after started your jobs.

I am trying to get working from home from my employer and it is a battle. I would say a war.

They absolutely do not want to hear about that.

Former Member Can you say a bit more about the new strategies that you are using and what AP is doing that really helps? (If you don't mind).  

Thanks for the encouragement, BlueRay, I'll look for help with my job hunting now that I know what sort of help I need. Especially thanks for the last paragraph, I wouldn't want to work where an autism diagnosis would go against me. Although I think that might narrow down the options a bit.

Are you prepared to move (or crash-pad commute) to find work?

Try somewhere like www.arm.com/.../experienced.html

Working in a supermarket sounds like it could be fun. I

*cough* Er... educational, in a euphemistic sense.

I was unable to bring myself to eat any frozen food, especially ice-cream, after a part-time job at the local supermarket whilst I was still at school. It took a couple of years to get over it.

I've been thinking about what you asked here, and it made me realise that I have a quite stereotyped idea of the "ideal employee", and basically it's someone very unlike me.

I assume that a person with strong social skills knows what to say in difficult situations and can motivate and encourage others. And that someone with good teamworking abilities (is that a word?) doesn't have to force themselves to join in or speak up in a group. Nor do they tremble inwardly after making a contribution or fret afterwards about what they said and how they said it.

I can see that I need to work on this one, and probably work on my attitude.

NAS38148 

Yes, I find the behaviour of other staff members in general more challenging than that of the clients where I work. 

Yeah, it seems that way for all of us which tells me, blatantly, that the system isn’t accommodating us, it isn’t accommodating our needs, our gifts or our talents but the good news is, we’re talking about it now and our collective voices hold power so things will change. 

I also work in adult social care. I work in a day centre for adults with profound learning disabilities. 

I don’t struggle with our clients but I do struggle with staff. 

This is fantastic Possibly Autistic, I couldn’t agree with you more, only you said it very well.

I was only today, at my autism group, saying a very similar thing to my friend who would make such an amazing employee and it would open up his world so much. He is a true gift to humanity but he needs support. I’ve encouraged him to get his work coach to refer him for the same support I’m getting. We both want different things but the support is specialised to individual needs so it will be exactly what he needs it to be and it will address any or all of the points you raised, if needs be. There is just something that’s missing in his quest for work and I think it’s quite subtle, but with support, they can figure it out and then address it. Thanks for writing all that, it’s very helpful, reassuring, empowering and powerful. 

I’ll be needing a marketing specialist to work with me, pretty soon. It will be all working from home, choosing your own hours and rate of pay. It will be more like a partnership rather than one person working for another. I will also be needing a photographer, who can make food look classy, amazing and like a work of art and also a designer, book editor and a few other things that I haven’t yet got clear on. It will be a team, but aspiestylee style :-) 

I like that. I’ve never thought about it before but it’s true, I can see it. I just love how diverse we are. I trust you’ve had a great and geekery day :) 

Yes, this was really lovely to read, the same as seekeraftertruths comment. It’s really great that you’ve recognised you’re on the spectrum and I know that you’ll figure this out, like you have done so far. It may take some time and maybe a bit of trial and error. I agree with your decision to pay for an assessment. I had a really great experience with the nhs assessment process but I know that, that isn’t the case for anybody and I feel sure you’ll get a much more thorough assessment and conclusion by going private and it would be great if the assessor is also able to work with you to devise a plan so you get to spend your weekends and free time doing something more pleasurable than recovering. However, I have no doubt that you’ll suss this out and there is some fabulous support out there for people like us. I’m currently working with autism plus and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, it’s really helping. It’s such a huge help to work with somebody who not only understands me (as far as anybody can) but who also understands autism because she can see things that I can’t and it’s enabling me to create a plan to get things how I want them. Best of luck but you won’t need it. What I ought to say, is, we’ve got your back and there really is lots of help out there and sometimes, with just a bit of support, we can move mountains and you’re moving them already, thanks for sharing your experience. 

NAS36609

Thank you for sharing examples of other inclusion statements that your employer uses.

I liked mention of reasonable adjustments in particular.