What do you work as?

I work as a scientist in a University. I think it’s a good career for autistic people. many things traditionaly seen as weaknesses become strengths in scientific research. Obsessive attention to detail. Bottom up thinking. An extremely narrow focus. A willingness to question the received wisdom.

I am in that ball park but am a IT/electronic engineer. Orginally trained in the late 80's  but the electronic stuff changed massivley when I was out of the industry for about 5 years in the 90s. After a while I slipped into fixing printers, laptops, desktops and servers. Now just fix photocopiers which are pretty complex. I visit about 5 customers a day, almost all schools. I go to several 'special' schools where I am worried they wont let me out LOL. I don't find the interaction an issue as I have bluffed my way through for years. Finding the technical side more difficult as last job I was the senior guy and could cover up my screw ups, now have a guy above me who thinks I am a robot and should never make mistakes. Used to love the job but now can't wait to give it up next year and start semi-retirement.

I think it halps having a very logical and emotion free brain to do fault finding. I am not that interested in people so can block out stuff going on around me. I enjot the driving part, thats my down time. I do get frustrated by things that seem difficult and thats where I just try and bodge things, tend to make a mess and get my anxiety levels up, but thats maybe once every couple of weeks.

A useful, mobile hat stand.

Started my working life as a teacher (11-16 yr olds) which I did for 20+ years until the final burnout (undiagnosed Autism at the time).

Now I work for a delivery company. I pootle about delivering things in a van, while listening to podcasts / music.

I am fortunate that the earnings from the first career, and good financial decision making, allows me to take a much lower salary.

I think you made the right call with catering. I have a sister who does that, she's not autistic, but she says it's manic and you get a lot of shouting from customers and the head chef can sometimes be a bit of a gimp.

An electrician would be a fun job I bet. And if you're self employed if you took that route it would be less stress as well. I love electrics and fixing them, I self taught myself on YouTube to do electrics, might be worth checking that out for some guidance?

I do up classic cars and own a Vauxhall Senator on which the electrics are a total nightmare but I do them myself now and they are working, for the time being!

I hope this helps and more so I hope you can get into the field you want and enjoy yourself.

I am glad to hear you have found something that works for you, It's just the mindset I have currently. I am hoping to find something that can help me fulfil what I wanna do in life. At one point in school, I was thinking of getting into catering.

But I dropped out the sixth I was because I disliked it a lot due the not having much structure with lessons, I understand that working is not for everyone as some people with Autism get overwhelmed and have big meltdowns. 

Thank you for your advice Danny!

I work in a school with young children. I'm a part of a great team and my autism aids me in a lot of ways. I'm eccentric and childish, in a good way that the children relate well to. I'm a natural mimic and able to do voices for the children and I have an excellent imagination which is fun for role playing games and story time.

Prior to this I was working in an opticians but this wasn't ideal and led to me experiencing burnout multiple times and then a mental breakdown. A school is a much better environment for me. The biggest struggle I've had so far is with the noise, it's not easy to deal with but I'm doing all right so far.

One of the best bits of advice I've received with working is to make sure you take time out for yourself and remember that it's ok if you can't work. 

yeah. Unless you are very, very skilled and qualified, a good part of your job would be following through idiotic procedures, dealing with dumb customers and dumber management, and following useless corporate social rituals. I love solving tech problems, but that is about 20% of the job. 

That could be a problem. You will always be working in a team, sometimes with rough, loud construction workers type. They won't be supportive, and you could face some hard bullying if you cannot handle them.

Erwin said:

I have always been worried if I do a job in IT my hobby of IT would be ruined. 

I always found that working in IT gave me more enthusiasts to talk with and the opportunity to listen to others experience to make more informed choices about my hobby.

It is probably a plus to work in IT if you enjoy it as a hobby and the chances of you doing similar things in work and play are incredibly slim.

I am a social worker. Before that I worked in labouring and care work. Working as a labouer was hard work and money wasn't good. Sometimes I wish I had done training as a plumber or mechanic 

That does seem fun, I love politics if my local MP ever stood down I might get involved and see if I could join my local party and help people in my local community and make better awareness for people with Autism. 

That's great! I am glad that the job has worked out for you! But I don't think it would fit me as I don't have the greatest people skills known to mankind. I can have a short temper and be easily triggered.

What kind of IT work do you work in? I love IT which is one of my passions but I have always been worried if I do a job in IT my hobby of IT would be ruined. 

Heights also don't bother me but I am not as athletic as I once was when I was younger. 

I don't suffer from sensory issues, I mostly suffer from the social aspect of things I prefer to be left alone and work in a very small group. 

Yeah, I would have to think about it and make sure what I wanna do, I just have the feeling sitting at home for the rest of my life isn't for me I get bored when not keeping myself busy with stuff. 

I could never do anything like that, I am a lot better at doing tasks with my hands rather than thinking about stuff. I am intelligent but get overwhelmed when thinking a lot about tasks. 

Oh that's a cool job!!! It dose seem like a fun job todo! 

I'm a Bid Writer and a councillor. I am the most impractical person in the world. Give me an essay to write, and I'll do it! Ask me to fix a broken object, and I won't!

Hi I don't work as an electrician, I am a receptionist for a local council and do full time (36 hrs a week) - got a decent(ish) 29k salary (which still surprises me as I am only 24)

From personal experience I have been able to hold down jobs OK (longest was 2 ½ yrs doing part time administration work) and have had support plans and such to help me with work as I suffer from clinical depression aswell and panic attacks 

Sometimes I do struggle with masking and talking about my autism mainly due to childhood abuse and such but have mentioned to my manager and a few colleagues who have supported me

It's really strange because I am not a people person but have been used to adapting a customer service like tone in a professional way as I've done admin work for nearly 3 yrs now