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Part-time work crippling me

Lumos

Working 4 hours doesn't sound a lot but for someone with Autism it's soo much, especially when it's in a busy toy shop. My parents thought me getting a job would be good for me, they are under the illusion that it will cure me of my Autism. So far I've managed to go in and done the full 4 hour shifts but the exhaustion and fatigue is awful. It genuinely leaves me feeling like I've got the flu, I get home and literally fall on my bed and then sleep for about 10 hours.

The job isn't hard work, I don't really have to do anything, I'm Santa's elf helper and open a gate so kids can go and see Santa but the noise is overwhelming and some of the kids are horrible. Yesterday one little girl who couldn't have been older than 6 kicked me repeatedly and when I told her mum which took a lot of courage to do, she didn't stop looking at her phone once, she just said her daughter was probably bored like the rest of us. I'm not a mum but if I was I like to think I would raise my kids well and teach them not to kick people.

I'm working today, tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday and then on Christmas Eve. If the exhaustion doesn't send me in some sort of overwhelm coma first. Any Autistics who work full time, you have my eternal respect.

The only nice thing about it is I got this cute elf outfit, complete with the pointy shoes! It's the one good thing to come out of this.

  • Children in a confined space are too much.

    Your parents are partly right though. Repeated exposure helps to acclimatise you to it. While this is not the best job, if you do something easier in future you'll be able to cope better. You'll always know you managed something worse and you can do it.

    You need to push yourself a bit to grow. But, it needs to be either in small doses or for a limited time, so you learn but don't get overloaded.

    By February you will think this was a good idea to try, even if you don't do it again.

    Everything had positives and negatives. In pleased you like the costume. Slight smile

  • That sounds like really hard work for me, and I could definitely not do it! I work full time and let me tell you, I would do my 7,5 hrs over your 4 hrs any day! Children deplete me so fast, and then you the loud environment in addition to that. There is absolutely no wonder you get exhausted from this. I am in a similar-ish situation at the moment, being completely drained after work. It’s like I’m running on low battery all the time and never manage to recharge. 

    Anyway just wanted to tell you that your 4 hours is not as little and easy as you might be telling yourself and it is completely understandable that it drains you! 

  • in reply to Lumos

    I'm a computer games animator, and I now work remotely so I don't need to deal with commutes or offices. I had got up to lead at the last place till that made me burn out (and discover my autism). The company I started at in September, I'm not lead just senior, and I only have one meeting a week so it's helping as I'm not working as hard as I was which is helping me recover.

  • This kind of job seems particularly poorly suited for an autistic person - no wonder you're exhausted! If you get through the next few days, you can be really proud of yourself and your resilience. Even if you don't you can still be proud of yourself for getting this far.

    You might find that working a few hours somewhere that's quieter and doesn't involve noisy kids is much more manageable. I work from home - sometimes it's P/T, sometimes F/T, and although I can find the workload challenging at times, I can at least control my environment.

    Good luck and best wishes for the next few days!

  • in reply to Cinnabar_wing

    What's your job do you mind me asking? I have thought of other jobs but I don't know what I would be good at. If anything.

    Cinnabar_wing said:
    Plus horrible kicking kids should go on the naughty list. (Maybe you could just mention the words naughty list next time, no threats just say those two words quietly).

    Thanks for the suggestion, I'll mention the naughty list next time that should definitely help. SHould be the worst nightmare for a kid.

    The outfit is so cute! It's offically my favourite item of clothing I own now. lol.

  • I work full time, but I have to say I don't think I could do your job! That sounds exhausting to me, there are some jobs that don't use all your energy so maybe when you recover from this, it might be worth trying to find something yourself that actually is more do-able!

    Plus horrible kicking kids should go on the naughty list. (Maybe you could just mention the words naughty list next time, no threats just say those two words quietly). The outfit sounds cute though!