My Dream Job with Autism

Often times, people with autism struggle to find employment. The person with autism might not be the best at a particular job such as being a bank teller, being a waiter at a restaurant, or even working the basic factory job. Someone with autism will likely be more employable in a career that they are interested in and very passionate about. It is likely that we will find employment through our special interest. The special interest is an intense or magnified interest that we know more...
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Often times, people with autism struggle to find employment. The person with autism might not be the best at a particular job such as being a bank teller, being a waiter at a restaurant, or even working the basic factory job. Someone with autism will likely be more employable in a career that they are interested in and very passionate about. It is likely that we will find employment through our special interest. The special interest is an intense or magnified interest that we know more about than other people would know or even care to know. The special interest may involve inventing objects or becoming an engineer. There are several things that someone with autism will be good at. The problem is that their special interest area may not be something that has a prominent outlook for jobs. It can be very difficult for someone with an Autism Spectrum Disorder to find employment. It is said today that nearly 80 percent of people with Autism are unemployed. Out of the 20 percent that are employed it is said that only 8 percent are employed full time. I personally have tried so many jobs. It is not the job that has given me fits or caused me problems at work. It's the people. It's the social environment. Everyone wants to chit chat at work. People like to have small talk and I like this too. But, I am not as good at it so I feel left out. I might also say something strange or a little off the subject line and will get poked fun of at work by grown adults. There have been plenty of instances throughout my short work life where I have also been bullied and taken advantage of at work.I am very easily manipulated into thinking I have to do other people's work in order for them to like me and want to be my friend. Often, I would do my job and 2 or 3 other people's jobs at a time while others just sat and talked to each other or took a break. This leads to me feeling neglected and lonely. There weren't a lot of times where people would say "thank you" for doing their job for them. There were even jobs where I would pay people to allow me to work with them. There was a time when I was so easily manipulated and would have done anything that people told me if it meant gaining their acceptance and friendship. The work place became another place for me to "escape into my imagination" and put up a wall where only I knew what was going on. It was a place where I went to get away from the problems in the work place. I was able to create a pretend job. I would imagine I was doing my pretend job and it was a really cool job. One of my jobs was being a professional trombonist for a major orchestra. I would imagine being the principal trombone player of the orchestra and playing many solos and performing many concerts with the orchestra. This positive career that I had imagined helped me to cope with the depression of working in a job where I was constantly picked on for being different. This job that I had made up in my head gave me something to look forward to and smile about as I went throughout the work day. Work was never perfect but by using my imagination and pretending that I had a different career work was tolerable for me. This boo gives my experiences in employment and shares some of my dreams for employment in the future.