Best careers for autistic people?

I'm an artist and freelance designer. Tough sometimes socially, but compared to Manu professions I have it good. I worked in TV for years, too stimulating from a sensory perspective, so I moved to moremdigital work. Helped a lot working remotely.

It's very competitive though so it's important to build up a good network of old colleagues to stay connected to. I struggle still with that.

AI is about to change the game though. And fast by the look of it. Scary time to be a creator, but I've adapted before so will have to figure it out

I can relate to this so much!! A job with fixed hours where I have to be in an office is just not for me. I do sometimes work much longer than a normal working day but sometimes also much less, depending on what needs to be done and my energy levels. Luckily as a scientist I have flexibility though especially when I am new I feel bad if I am not there at conventional hours or do desk work from home or need to take a longer break during day ... I’m hoping that now that I am doing my PhD I will figure it out and allow myself to work in a way that is best and most efficient for me. I had a really hard time in my previous job where I was working as a research assistant- i felt compelled to be there during normal working hours but then on top of that was also there weekends evenings etc and I didn’t feel like I could claim time back to rest in week if I had had a crazy weekend.

Does anyone else struggle with weekends? I find it very difficult as it is a change in routine and I very much prefer it if each day I just work as much as I can depending on what needs to be done and my energy levels. I find it unsettling to push to fit everything into the week to then collapse at weekend. But I’m not quite there yet where I give myself permission to work in this way where I take each day as the same. 

I also find it impossible to do desk work anywhere other than my room.

But I am lucky. I have found a job I love which is my special interest and which also gives me a lot of flexibility- there are a lot of challenges too (like not burning myself out, coping with stress, lots of new things to try all the time, very long hours at times, unpredictability).

I think it also takes time to find the job and place where you feel good. 

What would work for me isn't a job where I'm expected to show up in an office or anywhere Monday to Friday 9 to 17. This is just not for me. My mental energy isn't that stable to guarantee that I could always be ready to work in a certain schedule, maybe I can get better at managing my mental energy and therefore can rely on it to be there for me consistently in certain hours in certain days but for now it just doesn't.

Also I know that I need a job that gives me breaks from social interactions, again the office example is just not going to work because I'll have to be around people much more than I want and eventually burn me out. I could do 3 days or better 2 of professional conversations ler week and that's it. The rest, I need to be independently working.

Again about my brain, I work max 7 hours per day. I mean 7 hours of being productive and efficient, and 7 is my best performance that I can't reach daily. People work for 8 daily, but most of them slack the half of it. The ideal world for me would be 4 days work per week and 7 hours work per day. I choose which days I work in and I choose which day I'm off. Sometimes I have the mental energy on Sunday and just burn and crash on Monday.

I like art, design, creating music or making food, researching, energy efficiency, recycling..ext. my ideal world would be working in one of these professions as a freelancer because it gives me the possibility to do all what I mentioned above.

I recommend that you rely on your knowledge of yourself and based on it figure out what suits you best 

Stereotypes exist for a reason but the reason isn't always because they are realistic, true or beneficial. There are plenty of reasons why a stereotype could be generated and made popular. I think it's better to rely on personal experience rathar than a stereotype.

Id say engineering or something with computers .. these sterotypes exist for a reason.

Hi, I don’t think there is a generalised answer here as it really depends on the person! I also think it is not always the profession alone but also the environment and people you work with that makes a huge difference. I am a scientist and I have been in some labs where I really struggled and ended up very burnt out and physically unwell. But I love science and I have been in labs where I flourished- it depends so much on how much support there is, the people you work with, the place you work in (eg. big lab vs small lab) , the city, how close you live to work, how much i like the project etc. Maybe in the teaching profession it is the same? And it might depend on the school you work in, which subject you teach, your classes etc? I just thought I would mention this - just in case you really wanted to stay in teaching and maybe a change of school would be an option.

I’m not very familiar with the different alternative teaching associated jobs but maybe tutoring? Or giving classes for adults? My mum who we suspect is also autistic used to teach in primary schools and loved it but there were also some aspects that were very stressful (especially associated with not being guaranteed permanent position and lots of unpredictability) so she did an extra qualification and now gives language classes to adults- all online and 1 to 1 or in small groups. 

I think any job has the potential to be autistic friendly but it depends on the environment and support available. And it really helps when you do something you love.

I am sorry that I can’t give more concrete suggestions. 
I hope you find a job you feel happier in. The one thing I have learnt is that if things don’t feel right , it’s worth to leave and go for a change. I struggle with change but I’ve recently got myself out of a few situations and jobs that weren’t good for me- it took a lot of courage to go for it but I have no regrets and I feel more confident now because I know that if things really don’t work out I can and I will get myself out of that situation. Of course I also work on myself to try snd make things work out. But I strongly believe that if things aren’t good, change is the way to go whether that is changing things within the job or leaving.