Getting a job in construction with autism

If you’re thinking about doing laboring work or learning to use machines like excavators, definitely mention it to the disability advisor. They might know about training programs or companies that are chill about stuff like autism.

honestly if you have secure lifelong benefits that cant be touched and you cant get pestered for and you can live your life off that, id stay on that. work is aweful, even when the actual work is good you always get a boss or supervisor that will want to target you and make your life  hell there.

but its likely a itch you want to scratch, how you are, not talking until someone does all the talking and you respond, needing orders or to know what to do, that all sounds like me. youd be a good worker, a hard worker. youd be fine i think even with the loud noises. its likely that any stress it causes will be backgrounded and you wont notice until it all explodes, but the explosion and realisation of environmental stress will only likely come when prompted, when attacked or provoked by a ungrateful boss who would press the wrong buttons. thats how i find it anyway. once some idiot or boss opens pandoras box and presses the wrong buttons with you you will feel all the stress you at first was unaware of.

one things for sure though, its a commitment.... when you work, the jobcenter/welfare office will note that, and note you can work or have tried to help yourself... they may never allow you to get the same benefits again. thats what they are like, if you try to help yourself they throw you out of the door.

I wonder if there might be a small building company near you. There is a new house being built near my home by a local company. There are two young men who seem to be learning and the foreman sounds very understanding and gives a lot of clear instructions. Also there mostly seems to be a maximum of 4 people. I have also come across other companies where they are not so understanding so I guess it is a case of finding the right person/company to work for. Walking past any local sites may give you a good idea.

If you are noise sensitive, one thing to consider is that building sites often have those warning bleepers going constantly as the machinery is moving. They can't switch them off for health and safety reasons.

I've never worked on a building site but I have lived and worked near them in the past. A few years ago there was a new housing estate built near me and the relentless noise from those bleepers drove me mad for nearly three years. I could block out the drilling and hammering with ear defenders or ear plugs but nothing would block out that bleeping noise Even now I am much more sensitised to that noise than I was before.

And it's often better paid

I think it's a good idea! Even if the noise is an issue, I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to get a reasonable adjustment for good ear protection/ noise cancelling equipment?

I think a lot of people to this day still look down on manual work as "less than" which could be why your mum is against it. For some people though, they thrive in it where they would completely flounder in a more white-collar job.

I think it's really admirable that you want to get a job and do something!

There are definite advantages, construction is not public-facing, so communication and social skills are not at a premium. Also you will tend to be working with relatively restricted numbers of other people. There is a tradition of leg-pulling, especially of newcomers, that you would have to be OK with, being sent for a 'long stand' etc.

If you are unaccustomed to lots of physical work, it might be worthwhile building up with some cardio-vascular and strength exercise. I have only ever done intensely physical work once in my life, when I worked backstage in a theatre - scene shifting, moving props around, making props and scenery and dismantling old stuff. Believe me, stage scenery and props are solidly built and heavy, not flimsy at all. Every morning muscles ached and bruises were discovered. Every evening I ate a meal and went straight to bed. Physical work is tough and exhausting. Also, in a production of Moby Diick, I walked into the business end of a harpoon in the dark. It went straight through my jeans and into my leg, just a flesh wound though, as they say.

Stephen. said:

The autism I suffer with is mainly communication so like for example I wouldn’t start a conversation with someone about football but if someone talked to me about it I’d speak. Or if I’m not sure what I need to do I tend to stand around until someone tells me what to do.

For the conversation starters, that is a fairly easy one to address - you can learn how to do it.

Like many autists you never developed the neural pathways for that led to the intuitive social communications / expectaions so you need to actively learn them if you want to "fit in" - no judgement if you are happy not to do that though.

Some simple guides like this one are the best place to start:

How to Make Small Talk - Conversation Starters, Exercises, and Scenarios - Wadsworth, Melissa (2018)
ISBN 9781507204993

You don't need to be out there talking the back legs off a donkey but if you find silences awkward around others then this is a good way to change that dynamic.

As for standing around until told what to do - you can get away with this as a labourer (so long as your foreman knows about your autism I suspect) but for a more skilled profession (eg electrician) then you need to be able to use intuition.

The simplest way to deal with this is to ask. Especially when you are a trainee it is best to ask what your boss wants done next when you finish a task, what to do if you run into a problem you have not seen before, if something is not clear - basically build up your own mental map of tasks and how they should be done to give you a framework for future situations like the one you are in.

I think you will find that your boss will appreciate you doing this much more than you just standing there doing nothing, and it will be good practice to make the conversation down to you initiating it - familiarity with doing this should ease the resistance to it.

One last thing, if you are going to be a labourer, be sure to get into a passable shape physically before starting as it can be gruelling. I recall having to carry dozens of 30kg boxes of floor tiles up 99 steps (I counted them being an autist) to my 4th floor victorian apartment and was a wreck by the end of it.

Also make sure you understand the basic safety around moving heavy items (for the sake of your back especially) so you avoid physical injury.

Truth is you won't know until you try.  Unless your mum has ever worked on a construction site, she might not be the best source of advice.

I can see the possibilities in it for you though.  With an employer who is willing to learn about your autism, they could adapt.  Knowing you struggle to ask for help, they could pro-actively check in and make sure you've got all the instructions you need to just get cracking.  I imagine this could be the kind of environment where they'd leave you be to crack on.  As for the noise - that can be too much for anyone's ears so, ear defenders I believe come as standard as part of the protective kit anyway.

If you enjoy manual labour, it might be a good bet for you.  And you'd enjoy having the cash!  If it doesn't work out, well you've lost nothing by trying.

Stephen. said:

I don’t like the thought of sitting at a computer all day even though my mum is insisting that I get either get a computer related job or stay on benefits.

Well AI is goint to take over most of the straightforward types of IT role that we are good at so I would be wary of chosing that route now anyway.

Stephen. said:

I’ve looked a lot this week into taking steps towards working as a labourer on construction sites. As someone with autism how advisable would this sort of career be.

Are you good with dealing with colleagues goofing around and causing problems? Pranks and the odd thief? These are the worse parts of some teams unfortunately although most are OK.

I would recomment learning a trade - bricklaying, plastering, carpentry etc as these are all roles where there is a significant shortage of qualified staff so you can get on accellerated training courses easily and get a rather decent wage at the end with plenty of work, even in a poor housing market.

You can probably also get benefits while going on the training course (they last about 6 months I think)