advice on finding a suitable job

Same! Working from home has been a blessing for me. Let's hope employers stay open to this in future

Well, the one good thing the pandemic did was have us all working at home and a lot of organisations are now scaling down or completely giving up office space.

It might mean you can now find something where you don't often have to be physically in the office and they may be more inclined to consider working from home to be a reasonable adjustment to secure your skills.

I know I've loved escaping the hours of sensory bombardment that is the commute and the stressors of the open plan office. I have so much more time and so much more energy and so much less stress.

what was the business u ran ?

Thank you very much for posting this. I created a thread called Dream Jobs on here recently, and this link has given me some more inspiration. I would like to change job to something that gives me less anxiety and general suffering, but really struggling to know what to move to that can work for me.

Your local jobcentre should have a Disability Employment advisor who should be able to redirect you to certain employment schemes and support. 

If you request a needs assessment they could put you In touch with your local authority's employment team which is something quite new and not everywhere has them yet. They basically are a division of adult social services who work with clients with a health care plan to assist individuals with mental health, autism,ADHD and other disabilities into work. They will set up work experience and make sure your not being exploited and assist with other ways of getting you employed by advocating and communicating with business and possible employers often helping individuals to overcome difficulties such as interviews, sustaining employment and overlooking trail periods so your not discriminated against if your disability has required time off. 

Same, I loose concentration to easy and when I do try and focus or someone giving me instructions or information it goes through 1 ear and out the other I have to say can you repeat please lol it’s not that I’m being rude or not interested, I’m thinking whether I have ADHD as well as AS.

Mine would be good luck lol only reason I laugh is cause I'm ASD and can relate to the irony in the struggles not cause I'm laughing at you. I usually get the job then get told I'm slow or what ever to keep up with it then loose it after a week or two and never seem to be able to last I've had two jobs where I've lasted year one being a chef as that I actually enjoyed the only problem there was a bullying instances due to agency chefs being diks to me. And again did retail in a service station and the problem there was also bullying. I either find myself bullied out of work or strugeling to keep up with pace of work and that's why I usually end up being bullied out of the job. I'm more than capable of doing the work it just takes me a little longer to learn it than most and find a routine. But unfortunately jobs don't make compromises for Autistics even though should by law. 

Hi Chloe, sorry for the delay in replying to you. You wouldn't necessarily need to disclose autism specifically, and you certainly aren't obliged to disclose at the interview / application stage. I think the language you use when raising any requests for workplace adjustments can help too - employers are legally obliged to make adjustments for you (so far as is possible) so if you make it obvious that you are requesting x/y/z as a 'reasonable adjustment due to an existing condition' they may react differently to than if you make a more general request. Feel free to message me if you want to chat more :-)

Hi Chloe, I find that an important aspect for me is getting a job where the worker gets to manage their own workload and create their own way of doing things, without being 'managed' very much. This means that I can create my own routines and ways of doing things. This lends itself to more 'technical' jobs, such as data analyst. So I'd think of the culture of the workforce you're joining in addition to the subject matter.

Definitely also think about workplace adjustments; better employers will consider these without you necessarily disclosing autism, if you didn't want to. These might include some things as communicating in specific mediums or at specific times, flexi time, working alone or in smaller groups, or a range of other things, depending on your needs.

If you need help with interviews specifically, send me a message, as I interview people sometimes so can advise directly.

I haven't tried it before but I have always told my employers about my autism, would it affect my chances of getting a job if I asked for a workplace adjustment?

Thanks

Hi, thanks for commenting on the post, I'm definitely going to take the advice and look for something part time at the moment as I was working full time in the past and it was too much for me.

Have you thought about asking employers for Workplace Adjustments? If it is the environment that you find stressful (rather than the work itself) they may be able to make accommodations for you to make things more manageable. If you can identify the aspects of the environment you find difficult to deal with, and suggest alternatives, they might be able to help. (Although probably v dependent on the employer and the type of work.) 

Temple Grandin has advice on the types of jobs that might suit particular types of people on the Autistic spectrum, see link below:

https://www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/articles/choosing-the-right-job-for-people-with-autism-or-aspergers-syndrome.html

My daughter is in a similar position, She’s just referred herself for employment support. They do things like help you produce an improved CV, and will go over interview questions and techniques. In my daughters case, they will help her find work that may be suitable, and inform her which local employers are confident with having ASD employees. Perhaps you could try this?

Could you have someone come and help out once a week with self employment, if that mean’t you could continue?

As for work, what are you looking for? Something with little interaction? I guess you need to find out what you can and can’t manage first. And look for a part time job. Less hours and a good shift pattern goes a long way for many. Even if the job you apply for is full time, there’s no reason you can’t ask if they’d consider you for part time if you have the skills they are after.

I myself work 12 hours. It is still often a struggle,  but I need to work to support myself. I do know of the odd person that works 6 hours a week.