Published on 12, July, 2020
I know that the same old question about suitable jobs for autistic people comes up time and time again, so I apologise up front
I'm in my early 50's and have always worked in IT, most often on the technical side (dev). I was pushed out of my previous job earlier this year due to my conditions (chronic fatigue, ASD, FND + more). That job was a mix of development and business analysis, working on a very niche technology. I loved that job, but I became unreliable, having to take a lot of time off and my boss didn't know whether I would be fit to work from one day to the next.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I started a new job for a local authority working as a business analyst (no technical "getting your hands dirty").I'm now starting to question whether being a pure BA is really my thing. Also, having always worked in the private sector, moving into local authority is a completely different beast (still not sure whether it is something that I will completely embrace or completely hate).
So now, after only a couple of weeks, I am starting to ponder whether I am in the right job, and if the answer is a resounding "No", then there are a number of barriers to me being a success doing something else, including...
What I do excel at (or some may say, disabled by) is my attention to detail.I'm your typical grammar police guy, but I do manage to exercise self restraint rather than pulling people up on social media regarding their inability to distinguish between "there, their and they're" or "lose & loose". Nonetheless, it does really trigger me in my mind and it distracts me from the bigger picture (I struggle to understand a piece of text because I am too caught up on what to me is a glaring error).If you've got this far, thank you for hearing me out - hopefully you cam give me some pointers?
GPK - I don't have any advice, but I can give you sympathy because I am in almost the same boat as you. Though without the current job.
Actually - this is a very long shot, but is based on what you said - what about a proof reader?
Thanks Mark (formerly Spikey). I will take a look into that. Not sure what sort of demand there is out there, what rates of pay are like, or if it WFH.Having a "job" that I can do as much or as little to suit my energy levels would be great, but would that be practical in terms of paying the bills, making ends meet, etc. Maybe I could start doing Only Fans, but then I guess that there wouldn't be much demand for a 50 something bloke with grey hair & beard! Maybe they could pay me NOT to have an OF stream!