Modding on the Spectrum

I'll be honest: the thought of looking for a job doesn't exactly fill me with joy.

All things considered, I'd prefer not to meet with a "hiring manager", pretend to be enthusiastic about "selling myself" to a company, etc. I'm autistic; I have a very low tolerance for BS.

Awhile back I participated in a training program for "disabled" people. I guess I wasn't disabled enough; of the interns, two had Down's syndrome. Which left me with nothing to do most days as they got most of the supervision.

Never mind that I actually wanted to get my hands dirty, or that I enjoyed my woodshop class in high school; my job consisted of raking leaves (which dropped again every day), watering plants and (when I was supervised) a bit of soldering.

Mind you, under better circumstances the soldering might've led to something. Maybe it will, someday.

I quit. As the saying goes, all I got for my troubles was a polo shirt.

I can understand you very well. I don't like the idea of having to ‘sell myself’ either. About 20 years ago, I was actually very good at it. But I was playing a role. Then I had one bad experience after another and my self-confidence became less and less. I only got my current job in a roundabout way. I did a two-year internship there, which was part of a programme. I sort of grew into the job. I started with just a few hours and gradually increased the number of hours and my performance. I've been working 25 hours a week for years and am coping well. Every now and then I have to work overtime, but that's not a problem either. About two years ago, I disclosed my autism diagnosis to my boss and colleagues and they took it very well (if you're wondering whether you should disclose your diagnosis, I'll talk about that in more detail in this post).

Are there any programmes in your area that can help you enter the job market, such as internships (as in my case) or job application training? In Germany, the Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) offers such things. Is there such an agency where you live?

There are people who are specially trained to help people with disabilities. Once a week I meet with a social pedagogue with whom I can talk about my problems and she helps me with everyday things (such as keeping things tidy, diet, help finding an apartment, dealing with the authorities). People like this could support you in your job search and help you deal with various BS issues by talking to them. Venting makes many things more bearable and they give you the opportunity to look at things from a completely different perspective.

Please don't give up. Yes, it can be very difficult for people with autism to find a job. I was close to giving up several times after so many things didn't help, after so many rejection letters. The last programme finally helped me.

These are the things that came to my mind spontaneously on the subject. But since I like to do research, I'll end this post with a link to further information:
https://www.autismcentral.org.uk/guidance/finding-job

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