Different career?

[Martha Ferris]

So I have been thinking a lot about how my life would have been different if I had made different choices. One of those choices was about my career. I went into health care for three reasons: to help people, it would force me to have to interact with people and it would presumably provide me with a stable income. Did it make me happy? Not really but I made the best of my decision.

Now that I have accepted that I am on the spectrum I return to that choice and come to this conclusion: if I had known that I was on the spectrum and all that entails I would have made a different career choice. If I had it to do all over again I would have been a Research Librarian. Kind of sad about that. Finding and sharing information, research papers and supported evidence is what I love to do. Finding these sources is like a treasure hunt to me.

I suppose that career would have also given me solid ground to stand on in an unstable/unpredictable world. I imagine that the stress level would have been considerably less as well.

Would anyone else have also made a different career choice if they had been diagnosed earlier?

 

[Raggamuffin]

I wonder if my teachers would've pushed me towards my passions, rather than outright telling me I'd never make anything of myself if I chose to pursue my dream. That still hangs over my head to this day.

Ed

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I do not honestly know. I got to try out several different things which expanded my capabilities and be secure. My relationship with my now spouse provided the security that gave me the incentive to move to Chicago. Rewind that, and my loss of her through a different timeline would be soul bruising. Thank you for a question that let me feel good about my choices and put my negative experiences as what helped shape me in perspective.

(Added) I think had I been diagnosed earlier I may have been helped socially and not be damaged by my isolation. Perhaps little in my trajectory would have changed, but having that need for social and intimate connection met could have helped the energy I had for my studies. But I nonetheless perservered and ended up secure and loved.

 

[Telepath John]

Would anyone else have also made a different career choice if they had been diagnosed earlier?

My career choice was perfect for me. I feel it was divinely planned.

Other choices I have made I would do differently. Not the big ones. Those all seem best and part of my life plan. I find the process of choice making very interesting. When we get thoughts and inclinations we tend to follow them. They are not always as good as we think they are in the moment.

I do not think knowing I was on the spectrum at an earlier age would have helped me that much.

John

 

[James45]

Yes, if I had known about my Autism earlier I would have respected my preferences more rather than try to 'fight' them to conform. That would have lead me to different job choices.

 

[Suzette]

If I had been diagnosed as a child or teen I might have been able to persue my interest in anthropology and go to college. Would I actually be happier? I don't know. Perhaps. It might have made a difference on an interpersonal level so that I might have "found myself" much earlier in life. Maybe.

Funny enough, I don't really want to think about it too deeply. I am 54 and real happiness has been an uphill slog for my entire life. I have only achieved happiness in the past 10 years or so. I don't want to undo any gains by playing the "what if" game if it might lead me to backslide. "Leave well enough alone" seems to work better for me for now.

However, I do wonder what kind of career might still be open to me if I went to college now. Maybe nothing. I don't know.

As an aside, the one person who ever said to me "you might be autistic" was a friend who happens to be a research librarian.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I got myself educated as a chemical engineering Technologist. Was employed on processes that required this level of education. upgraded my education a few times , mainly specialization, industrial painting, built a good career, retired, quite content with the way it turned out.

 

[clg114]

As it turns out, I am a very lucky person. I was in my early sixties before I was diagnosed. During my working career, I worked on heavy equipment and my special interest is machinery. I was a field service technician which means that I worked alone. To me, working was like being paid to play. I had no idea that I was on the spectrum. It just turned out like it did.

 

[Progster]

Like you @Martha Ferris I'm making the best of a profession (as a language teacher) that doesn't really make me happy, doesn't suit me and in fact makes me feel trapped, but that's all that's available to me here and I have no other choice if I want to work.

I would definitely have done something different had I known earlier, a career in the sciences or perhaps as an engineer.

 

[unperson]

Would have like to know that 'self employment' is often recommended.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I don't want to undo any gains by playing the "what if" game . . .

Agree. The "what if?" game has been destructive for me. I know that there were experiences that I could not have and are lost to me, and I want to relinquish its power over me and enjoy this slice of life I am living in.

 

[jleeb05]

I also don't like "what if's." My motto is, "Life is not about the things you didn't do." Still, it's an interesting question. I guess my situation is slightly different because I was suspected of having autism as a child. So I knew that was a possibility when I decided I wanted to be an attorney. I remember people questioning how I could be practice law when I was socially awkward and introverted. I know they meant well but I guess they assumed I didn't have it in me. I even remember one of the Dean's in law school saying that my quiet demeanor was a "nice persona" but as a lawyer, I'd need to be loud and aggressive. It was like she was telling me to mask.

So in some ways, I'm glad to have proven them wrong. I've never changed my so-called persona to be more in line with what people expect. Still, I've managed to be successful.

That said, I majored in psychology as an undergrad and strongly considered pursuing a graduate degree in psychology or social work. My law school even had a dual JD/MSW program but I was talked out of it by that same Dean. In hindsight, I wish I had gotten the MSW. I think one-on-one clinical work fits me better. Plus, I've pursued non-traditional legal roles where an MSW would have benefitted me.

Since joining this forum and going through the diagnosis process the MSW or other graduate psych degree has been on my mind a lot. I actually looked into it yesterday. Not sure I'm willing to put in all the clinical hours to become a social worker but I feel it's never too late. I knew a woman in her 70s who was going to school for a new degree/career.

 

[Suzette]

I knew a woman in her 70s who was going to school for a new degree/

I was just thinking about late life school / careers. Why not? What else are you going to do?
If I didn't live on a boat in Mexico I would seriously think about getting a job. Something low key though. I don't think I could face the disappointment of burn out again.

 

[rach3rd]

Would anyone else have also made a different career choice if they had been diagnosed earlier?

I was fortunate enough to switch careers into something that I could manage better. It was hard dealing with the social interactions at work until I landed a job where I could work from home. That has been really great for me.

 

[Aspychata]

Used my talents and actually helped my partner get a fantastic well- paying job. I groomed him and took the necessary steps including a shot of confidence and he is in a better place. My attention to detail and sticking to a goal despite the roadblocks. Maybe l should have been a career counselor. Lol

 

[Judge]

Would anyone else have also made a different career choice if they had been diagnosed earlier?

I wouldn't go as far as citing that career choices are mutually exclusive of one's autism, though I would cite something I heard some years ago. That the average American is more likely to have three careers or more in their lifetime. Likely regardless of neurological considerations or other personal choices.

Even without a formal diagnosis as an adult it was no secret that I had an aversion to more social jobs. Yet the job market itself seemed to dictate my options more than anything else. I took what I could get, which more often than not was in contradiction to my autistic nature. Something that sadly leaves most of us having to deal with head-on.

That all said, retirement seems to suit me just fine.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

my dad started university courses, history when in his eigthies, died soon after, never too late if you enjoy it, Tuition free if over 65.

 

[QuestJan]

I would have made a different career choice. If I had it to do all over again I would have been a Research Librarian.

This is exactly the career my mom, an aspie, encouraged me to pursue. I could have gotten a PhD in Library Science a half of a mile from my childhood home.

I shoulda listened to Mama!!

 

[Magna]

Would I actually have made a different career choice when I was younger had I known then that I was autistic but without any hindsight about what my actual life has been like? Likely no.

If I had full hindsight into what my actual life has been like, in effect a theoretical concept of traveling back in time to my younger self, do I think I should have picked a different career path? Absolutely.

My dream career out of high school was to be a zoologist and spend most of the time by myself in nature observing animals and working around few if any other people. That would have been a very suitiable career for an autistic person. I bailed on that major when the chemistry and math requirements were too difficult for me. Knowing what I know now about my life and the customer service heavy jobs I've always had I would want to force my younger self to do whatever it took to follow through with a zoology degree.

 

[Thinx]

I mostly enjoyed my work. I actually liked being employed and having a regular, good wage, I never wanted to be self employed.

I'm currently too busy to do paid work, but I may yet find some more paid work I would like to do.

I loved going on trainings and courses, especially when there was lots of interesting reading that was relevant to my work or interests. I am always learning new stuff, the Internet is an amazing resource.

The jobs I chose fitted well for me on the whole.