Published on 12, July, 2020
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I can't work due to my autism, I find work to stressful etc.
But I hate the stigma attached to not working, and people like neighbours and family etc etc get curious and will be like "and what do you do?" "what do you work as ?" etc
I keep my autism secret from the family apart from my mum.
I used to be truthful to people and say I did not work, but they get pretty cruel.
I like to go in and out of my home (that is before the pandemic as I am vulnerable to covid) and go sit in a cafe for a coffee, it is my happy time, but even then I found that when I went to the same cafe all the time, they started saying "that you away to work?" I ended up changing cafes, and bringing a laptop to pretend i was doing something.
same with any groups of friends well not really friends but you know meetups were you might have a hobby like art or something and you meetup and do art in a community hall or cafe. Then they will ask me "what do you do".
I don't want to say well I cant work due to the type of autism I have.
I dont want to say I dont work
I wonder if anyone on here gets the same thing? and what do you say to them?
I do study sometimes via online courses (I work those around my pain days) but I cant say I am a student forever or they will be like tweaking that something is not right.
I dont go out just now, before covid I usually go out on my own to a cafe, but sometimes i be brave and do a little outside hobby or crafting thing , and right now I am between friends, but not sure what to do when i make friends.
all people my age are thinking of settling down and being all grown up. And I am still living my life like I am 19. it is hard to find anyone my age that has not really grown up in the way we are expected to
Hope this post makes sense?
Hiya Im not in the boat as you but I was about 3years ago just before the pandemic hit and I definitely struggled mentally with it I wasn’t working or anything but Noe I’m volunteering one day a week at a local coffee shop and am volunteering at a local youth club too for people with learning disabilities. It’s so difficult with the stigma around autism too like people don’t understand that people maybe can’t get jobs have you ever heard of universal credit I got put on there around two years ago and the can help you with finding some work experience honestly it genuinely helped me but it has also shown me that I need to stop being so hard on myself too so figure out what interests you and what won’t feel stressful for you but don’t push yourself to soon it’s so difficult I know. hopefully this helps
Many thanks for your answer.