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?
I get you and your position big time. I am / have been forced out of my job of over 30 years due to the fact that I asked my manager for some reasonable adjustments. I am faced with finding a job (or redeployed) into a role that I know nothing about and it terrifies me. I have little imaginative thoughts to think what role I can take on at 55 ish. I was in a pretty niche career and am angry that it is over but also realise that the environment was toxic to my health. My union is unwilling to go down tribunal route. I think I have a strong case of discrimination but am panicking that my union's dithering is going to get me time barred.
I just feel so broken and lost.
Yeah, it really sucks!
We’re at that age where we can be just tossed aside with little hope. My dad was in a similar position around this age. He was made redundant and really struggled to find a job.
It’s hard enough for neurotypical people to cope with. It’s even more difficult for us divergents.
When I think about the decades of dedicated hard slog that I did only for the fat cats to get fatter, I wish that I’d done something on my own. Be your own boss and reap the rewards of your hard labour. I fear that it’s probably too late for that now, especially when I take internet health conditions into consideration.