Asperger's and Unemployment statistics?

I believe (NAS might correct me) that the 20 percent or thereabouts figures come from surveys by NAS. The surveys are I think based on voluntary responses by people on the spectrum, their parents or carers.

What we desperately need are meaningful figures by Health Authorities in response to "Living Rewarding and Fulfilling Lives" but looking at the pathetic national uptake I cannot see reliable figures coming out of that in the near future.

I am now retired. I was very lucky in being able and developing coping strategies, But work was still a precarious and depressing nightmare.

My education suffered at school, not helped by my peers finding out how to make me have a melt down, on a daily basis. Fortunately I seemed to get rid of that vulnerability for the most part by my twenties. I was also fortunate not having dyslexia, which enabled me to write well and compensate for poor face-to face. And in my twenties I did get to University, and followed with a PhD. And I got lots of useful experiences on the way.

My special interests were broader, and I found I could trade off on activities removed from my preferred activities that I could put up with. It did lead to some compartmentalisation problems - things I could do well and gaps where people expected me to be able when I wasn't.

I supposed that enabled me to follow a career in  research and later teaching, which I guess is an AS pattern.

However fitting in at work was a constant nightmare. There were always people obsessed about lots of little things I couldn't do or couldn't do right. They seldom succeeded because when brought to an investigation they couldn't make a case and my work was generally good and in some areas brilliant. But I lived under the constant cloud of these "pogroms" initiated by so-called colleagues with a perceived grievance.

It was also very hard to change jobs. I fared badly in interviews. I didn't have people skills so that blocked the promotion ladder. I lived in between being a problem to be solved and a useful asset. The things I could do I could do brilliantly and was valuable as a result.

That's why I think we should try to ensure what people on the spectrum are strong at they are encouraged to do and to build a career around (however improbable it seems to parents).

Until my diagnosis I suiffered badly from low self esteem and very poor self confidence, and was very prone to anxiety spira;ls. The diagniosis helped me resolve that.

I believe (NAS might correct me) that the 20 percent or thereabouts figures come from surveys by NAS. The surveys are I think based on voluntary responses by people on the spectrum, their parents or carers.

What we desperately need are meaningful figures by Health Authorities in response to "Living Rewarding and Fulfilling Lives" but looking at the pathetic national uptake I cannot see reliable figures coming out of that in the near future.

I am now retired. I was very lucky in being able and developing coping strategies, But work was still a precarious and depressing nightmare.

My education suffered at school, not helped by my peers finding out how to make me have a melt down, on a daily basis. Fortunately I seemed to get rid of that vulnerability for the most part by my twenties. I was also fortunate not having dyslexia, which enabled me to write well and compensate for poor face-to face. And in my twenties I did get to University, and followed with a PhD. And I got lots of useful experiences on the way.

My special interests were broader, and I found I could trade off on activities removed from my preferred activities that I could put up with. It did lead to some compartmentalisation problems - things I could do well and gaps where people expected me to be able when I wasn't.

I supposed that enabled me to follow a career in  research and later teaching, which I guess is an AS pattern.

However fitting in at work was a constant nightmare. There were always people obsessed about lots of little things I couldn't do or couldn't do right. They seldom succeeded because when brought to an investigation they couldn't make a case and my work was generally good and in some areas brilliant. But I lived under the constant cloud of these "pogroms" initiated by so-called colleagues with a perceived grievance.

It was also very hard to change jobs. I fared badly in interviews. I didn't have people skills so that blocked the promotion ladder. I lived in between being a problem to be solved and a useful asset. The things I could do I could do brilliantly and was valuable as a result.

That's why I think we should try to ensure what people on the spectrum are strong at they are encouraged to do and to build a career around (however improbable it seems to parents).

Until my diagnosis I suiffered badly from low self esteem and very poor self confidence, and was very prone to anxiety spira;ls. The diagniosis helped me resolve that.