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Do you work?

Daydreamer

I've heard before that a lot of people with autism don't work. Some do part time or volunteer but working full time 5 days a week can be overwhelming.

I don't work. It's annoying because I really want to and a friend has managed to get me in somewhere and I did a days work there, totally nailed it and then after work I had a massive meltdown, and then another the same night and was hit by fatigue the next day that left me bed ridden.

But I would still like to work full time as it would be a way of keeping busy and escaping my anxiety but the pressure it puts on me is difficult to avoid. I'm still thinking about how to get around that.

They reckon ideal jobs for people with autism is in libraries and working with computers. The job I tried was working with children.

Parents

  • Yes, I work full time- but I work from home, doing a desk job that's already very autism-friendly, and I'd been working full time for over a decade before I got diagnosed so it was already part of my everyday life.

    I've done retail, fast food, and in-person office jobs in the past, and I could never understand why it was so exhausting for me when everyone else seemed fine. It was only during that first lockdown that I realised exactly how hard it was for me to commute five days a week and then spend eight hours in an open-plan office pretending to be 'normal'.

    Ideally I'd like to work part time, which would leave me with more energy to get things done around the house, but I'm not sure that's a possibility in my current role and I do need the money! I'm holding out for the four-day work week to become more popular as I think even that would make a difference.

Reply

  • Yes, I work full time- but I work from home, doing a desk job that's already very autism-friendly, and I'd been working full time for over a decade before I got diagnosed so it was already part of my everyday life.

    I've done retail, fast food, and in-person office jobs in the past, and I could never understand why it was so exhausting for me when everyone else seemed fine. It was only during that first lockdown that I realised exactly how hard it was for me to commute five days a week and then spend eight hours in an open-plan office pretending to be 'normal'.

    Ideally I'd like to work part time, which would leave me with more energy to get things done around the house, but I'm not sure that's a possibility in my current role and I do need the money! I'm holding out for the four-day work week to become more popular as I think even that would make a difference.

Children
  • in reply to battybats

    Working from home must be nice. It’s got to be the best kind of work and the perfect environment because home is most people’s happy and safe space. It’s mine, anyway, has everything I need and love, including my cat Whiskers.

    I would love to work from home. I do a lot of writing, and have thought before what if I could do it for a living, writing stories, or news for businesses? But sadly I don’t think my writing is good enough for that. I have this job available at a children’s school but like you found, I think the exhaustion and general negative effect on me would be overwhelming and too much. I envy you with your being able to work from home. I hope it continues to work for you and you enjoy it :)

    Working part time sounds like a good start, would give you more time to do things and also more time to rest if you need to. If I do work I'll be starting part time as well, a few hours in the afternoon, which doesn't sound too bad but it's actually exhausting lol but baby steps first.