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.
GPK26 said: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.
Oh yes, ageism is alive and well in the worlplace unfortunately but if you can leverage your experience then consultancy could be an option.
Business Analysis is a very portable skill so I would consider building on it. Starting with the PMI-PBA certification should be straightforward for you and there are a number of others that are relevant:
https://www.datacamp.com/blog/best-business-analyst-certifications
You have a lot of development experience too so consider being the business interface to dev teams - look for roles around this and you may be able to contract doing this for a long time yet - doing shorter term contracts (6-12 months) is good for having a break between them plus the money is quite good and you are always learning new things.
I realise you say you have difficulties in picking up new skills but where did all your current skills come from? You are more than capable and I suspect just need the drive to do it.
I would recommend learning about mindfulness to help you filter out some of the annoyances of the roles and keep a balanced approach to prevent burnout. I found it helps tremendously.
That would be my thoughts if you want to keep using your existing skillset.
As for your interests, photography is not really making people much money any more but you could always develop an interest in video work - learn about professional webcam setup and find a Onlyfans office to provide onsite support.or similar. That really is a big business at the moment (don't ask how I know)