what kind of work do people do?

You're welcome and Thank You :-)

No problem! What you are saying sounds like an excellent plan. I'm glad to hear that you have such passion for learning! The person I know who is doing a part-time masters also has children, but her children are in school. It'll probably be easier to find time for yourself during the day when all your children are old enough to be in school. 

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense that MH and LD have a lot of cross-overs. And I guess those with ASD that require nursing support will most likely be those that have additional learning difficulties. 

Thanks for sharing your journey of how you became a MH nurse. It does sound like a lot of hard work to squeeze a 3 year course to a 2 year course. But you've clearly done an excellent job of getting your degree.

It's interesting that you're working with children with ASD. I think I'm both good and bad with children. I think if children are well-behaved, I can easily get in sync with them, play their games with them, and therefore children like me. However, when children are naughty or having tantrums, I can't stand them and would like to be as far away as possible, largely due to sensory issues. 

NAS39242 said:

I think I should have probably gone down the mathematics route and into a more asd job! X

Haha, I sometimes feel that way too!

Yes, I wouldn't just need some noise cancelling headphones.  The whole culture would need to change.  

Jenny Butterfly said:

'All too relevant to work, I think.  My own work experience has left me with the strong feeling that many workplaces are toxic and draining to me and that I need a long convalescent period after each one.  

The minor accommodations that most employers are able to offer wouldn't make much difference either as the stressors are embedded in the very fabric of these workplaces.'

Me too, this is so like me as well.

After everything that happened I also don't know whether I can cope with people at work.

It is true that it's difficult to even imagine non tokenistic accommodations for a person like me. How do you do adjustments for managerial prejudices, bullying and office politics?

Thank you for letting me know about this. At the moment I can only do part time agency Nursing because of the litluns but it might be something worth considering in a few years time.

I have a fair degree of knowledge about the brain from my undergrad and I love reading about brain function :-)

I think the reason that Autism falls under the Learning Disability branch of Nursing is because most people with Autism who require Nursing level support, usually the inpatient LD wards or the secure LD units (I've worked in a few of them as an agency nurse as there is a degree of cross over between MH and LD) will also have associated learning disabilities so the nurses that are treating them need to have good knowledge of learning disabilities.

I ended up going into mental health nursing purely by chance. It was the summer and I'd finished my undergrad and wanted to go into Clinical Psychology But I needed clinical experience first. So I was wondering what to do. As luck would have it a flyer came through my door advertising that my local University was starting up accelerated Masters Degrees (2 year MSc instead of the usual 3 year BSc for Nursing) for Mental Health Nursing/Adult Nursing/Physiotherapy, provided that you had a related undergrad degree, which I did, so I applied and started in the September. It was hard work though as it was 3 years squished into 2 years and at the higher MSc academic level.

I would absolutely love to do a part time MSc in Neuropsychology leading onto a part time PhD in NeuroPsychology,, but, time will tell. My youngest has such high needs that I will have to see how she progresses.

I trained to be a primary teacher, dropped out mid way through the course as I really struggled with the social aspects when on placement. I worked as a teaching assistant for children with asd for a while and then plucked up the courage to go back to teaching.  I worked in the same school for 10 years predominantly with children with special needs (mostly asd). Until I got to a point of mental exhaustion on the social demands and organisational demands upon me and had to leave. I loved being in a class with the children but found the other demands just too hard. I started childminding from my home with my partner, she dealt with the majority of the parents/phone calls etc and I spent time with the kids and did the paperwork. Our business grew and I now Co manage a nursery and forest school with my partner. We still have more or less the same roles. We have staff and those staff are fabulous and although, all but one, don't officially know about my asd (I'm undiagnosed) they are very aware of my quirks and difficulties (and my strengths of course). My main issue when dealing with staff is I am almost too empathic and find it hard to tell them what to do or if they have done wrong. When I was teaching I always put my asd down to anxiety and have been medicated for anxiety/depression for many years. It has only been recently I have begun to come to terms with the fact my difficulties run deeper and aren't going away with a pill. Im thinking about formal diagnosis but not sure... Its interesting to read others experiences of work. I think I should have probably gone down the mathematics route and into a more asd job! X

It has it’s up sides. And it’s down sides!!!

and I couldn't imagine being a nurse!

Northern Exposure is a Dr in Alaska, Due South is a Mountie in Chicago - both are great.

Looking back, I think Benton Fraser (the Mountie) shows definite ASD traits

I had the total hots for 'Maggie' (Janine Turner) from that show...

Oh god... when EVERYONE in your family acts like you're their personal IT support...

"Have you tried turning in off and back on again...?"

Though with my in-laws it's often a case of "Have you tried turning it on...?"

Fully agree.  I just struggled to make a decent living without giving my all to work.  And I think this probably related to autism because I seemed to have to work hard not only at actually doing the job but also at presenting appropriately, fitting in and behaving in a "normal" fashion. 

More balance would have been extremely welcome but to get that I felt I had to hide behind my liver condition.  

Yes, very likely the same here, that my autistic self was secretly pleased with being able to enjoy a bit more balance and a bit less stress. The thing is we are able to make positive contributions to society outside of work. The emphasis shouldn't be solely on what work we do or how much we work.

I agree but at the same time feel concerned about wealth inequality and how this also impinges.  

A psychologist once suggested I might be better suited to a support role and, although this might have been true, my immediate concern was whether this would still pay the mortgage.  

My own upbringing (with a parent who worked as a bus driver) was blighted by poverty and due to familial issues which probably related to undiagnosed autism, our inability to escape this.

So yes, there can be all of the judgemental stuff associated with class.  But I think this is also linked to economic disadvantage which can affect the whole family.  

All too relevant to work, I think.  My own work experience has left me with the strong feeling that many workplaces are toxic and draining to me and that I need a long convalescent period after each one.  

The minor accommodations that most employers are able to offer wouldn't make much difference either as the stressors are embedded in the very fabric of these workplaces. 

As a result I can only see me working on a self employed basis in the future, although I'm not at all sure that the DWP would accept my assessment of the situation.  

It does sound as though it would suit many - long periods on your own and your own choice of listening material.

I personally wouldn't be able to do it because of what we jokingly referred to for years as my "driving disability".  This was a big issue, almost a phobia even, for decades before I was diagnosed.  And now, in autism groups, I see driving difficulties referred to a lot and realise too that it's a definite thing.  

Yes - my body started making the big decisions that my brain wasn't able to.   Time to re-evaluate my life's purpose...