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Financial Problems anyone?

paloftoon said:
Catlover614, have you tried working with your local OVR (in PA it's OVR- something vocational rehabilitation, but different states usually have a different name for it.)? Also, if your area doesn't have a lot to offer, it might actually be best to consider moving if you can get something somewhere else. OVR can help you not only get that minimum wage job, but they can support you to get some accommodations and be a good 3rd party backup for your needs. If you aren't officially diagnosed, they may be able to help in that regard to.

Also, in the mean time, besides updating your resume and just putting yourself out online with nothing to lose really, you can also try looking for side jobs to help hold you up like babysitting or tutoring possibly.
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Thank you for your good advice. At this point, I'm willing to scrub toilets with a toothbrush. It's my bad back that makes it rough on me...can't stand for long periods of time. I'm hoping that once I get my official diagnosis, they will make program available at no cost in vocational rehabilitation.
 
Catlover614 said:
Thank you for your good advice. At this point, I'm willing to scrub toilets with a toothbrush. It's my bad back that makes it rough on me...can't stand for long periods of time. I'm hoping that once I get my official diagnosis, they will make program available at no cost in vocational rehabilitation.
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Each place is different, but certain OVRs may have everything covered for you. Some OVRs may even do the diagnosis for you, and I believe they may do it at no charge depending on their funding, how the process goes, etc. Depending on your situation, what they are looking for, what their partners are looking for. It's a bunch of complicated webs, and in the end, it's just good to have anything to go to at all, and that at least some people are getting something rather than no one getting anything at all.
 
Catlover614 said:
Thank you for your good advice. At this point, I'm willing to scrub toilets with a toothbrush. It's my bad back that makes it rough on me...can't stand for long periods of time. I'm hoping that once I get my official diagnosis, they will make program available at no cost in vocational rehabilitation.
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Don't feel too bad.
I've been working with Michigan Rehabilitation Services (state agency) and so far it hasn't turned up anything.
I've been there for almost a year and I'm 31.
Every job in the Metro Detroit area requires X amount of industry experience, X certifications and others even for unpaid internships.
 
Xenocity said:
Don't feel too bad.
I've been working with Michigan Rehabilitation Services (state agency) and so far it hasn't turned up anything.
I've been there for almost a year and I'm 31.
Every job in the Metro Detroit area requires X amount of industry experience, X certifications and others even for unpaid internships.
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That's a whole lot of hooplah to go through, sorry. :eek:
 
I blame successive governments in some countries like US & UK who charge fees for the higher education programmes which leave students in debt. This is not a worldwide common practice & nor should it be IMO. I lasted precisely one year as a full time undergraduate in 1997-8, which was the first year here that student loans & bank overdrafts took the place of maintainance grants & I was headed into rising debt. I had to stop my course as a full timer & re-engage with it part time, which allowed me to reclaim & live on the welfare benefit I'd previously claimed prior to starting full time study.Financial problems aside, I found the organizational stuff required for study really challenging & even small group seminars made me feel extremely nervous & fearful, the whole thing was really difficult for me & I eventually graduated with a 2:2, which I know I could & should have improved on. That said, I'm just proud now that I managed to last the course lol.

Life can be really tough, even when working I never earned above minimal wage & living in or near poverty is what I have been mainly used to & that's quite scary but I try to remember & practice Gratitude for what is, rather than sadness at what isn't because that helps keep me sane.

I feel like a prime example of how badly wrong an unsupported autistic woman can go, sometimes: I have prison, homelessness & worse in my memories so I try to take pride in even the small positivities in my life, the best of which arose out of accepting my ASD self.
 
Elemental said:
I feel like a prime example of how badly wrong an unsupported autistic woman can go, sometimes: I have prison, homelessness & worse in my memories so I try to take pride in even the small positivities in my life, the best of which arose out of accepting my ASD self.
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Finding out the truth about myself was also incredibly liberating; I had to adjust my expectations, but now it is more likely I can achieve them.

I was fortunate to start my working life at a time when being the geeky computer person in an office was a serious asset. It wasn't until I was given a task that I did so well I created a situation I could not handle that I landed in my current state of serious illness.

Now I have to figure a way to handle it, in some way.
 
Elemental said:
I blame successive governments in some countries like US & UK who charge fees for the higher education programmes which leave students in debt. This is not a worldwide common practice & nor should it be IMO. I lasted precisely one year as a full time undergraduate in 1997-8, which was the first year here that student loans & bank overdrafts took the place of maintainance grants & I was headed into rising debt. I had to stop my course as a full timer & re-engage with it part time, which allowed me to reclaim & live on the welfare benefit I'd previously claimed prior to starting full time study.Financial problems aside, I found the organizational stuff required for study really challenging & even small group seminars made me feel extremely nervous & fearful, the whole thing was really difficult for me & I eventually graduated with a 2:2, which I know I could & should have improved on. That said, I'm just proud now that I managed to last the course lol.

Life can be really tough, even when working I never earned above minimal wage & living in or near poverty is what I have been mainly used to & that's quite scary but I try to remember & practice Gratitude for what is, rather than sadness at what isn't because that helps keep me sane.

I feel like a prime example of how badly wrong an unsupported autistic woman can go, sometimes: I have prison, homelessness & worse in my memories so I try to take pride in even the small positivities in my life, the best of which arose out of accepting my ASD self.
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Keep that attitude of gratitude and be thankful for the smallest things in life! I don't have any problem with the fact that I have Aspergers, it's just a part of me I can't deny. Thank you for your awesome input.
 
Been broke when I was younger and made all that was humanely possible not to do it again. Was like a kick in my ass and I never stopped working hard since. Before that I was a lazy man, too afraid of the world to get a job. Things can change drastically sometimes.
Now I'm my own boss but I still have to deal with customers. They're professionals so it's easier than working with 'masses'. Doesn't mean it's piece of cake, but it's manageable.
I think your enemy is fear. Just like it was for me. But now I'm more afraid of being broke that I'm afraid of work. I even enjoy doing what I do, as a software engineer (made it without going to school BTW. Student loans are not mandatory).
You can do it, you need to take your courage with both hands and a keyboard in the other one (for example). Being broke is not a fatality, just listen to the Dave Ramsey Show. This man gave me hope when I lost everything, he's a real magician.
 
rickxxxblaine said:
Been broke when I was younger and made all that was humanely possible not to do it again. Was like a kick in my ass and I never stopped working hard since. Before that I was a lazy man, too afraid of the world to get a job. Things can change drastically sometimes.
Now I'm my own boss but I still have to deal with customers. They're professionals so it's easier than working with 'masses'. Doesn't mean it's piece of cake, but it's manageable.
I think your enemy is fear. Just like it was for me. But now I'm more afraid of being broke that I'm afraid of work. I even enjoy doing what I do, as a software engineer (made it without going to school BTW. Student loans are not mandatory).
You can do it, you need to take your courage with both hands and a keyboard in the other one (for example). Being broke is not a fatality, just listen to the Dave Ramsey Show. This man gave me hope when I lost everything, he's a real magician.
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You're correct, I'm bound by fear. It's something I must overcome in order to become self sufficient. I am determined to make it in this life and I will. Thank you!
 
autism finances.jpg
 
I stumbled upon this and it hit home with me. Checking the mail and walking my dogs and cleaning the house, cooking and tending to my cats and fish are daily achievements that I feel happy that I complete each day. I remain a recluse and I fear what my future has in store. I'm not lazy, but I just cannot, at this present time, work outside. I'm looking for a live-in maid position.
 
So you like check lists and routines ? Why not put something a little outside your comfort zone each day on your routine and list ? And do it of course... This will help you a lot I think
 
catlover,if you ever get to the point where you can work what about looking into support work/care of autistics? youd be good at that with your experience and understanding.
i know in the UK its very adaptable for disabled people, for example, i was offered a voluntary position helping autistic children at a special school during their PE lessons-i am physically disabled and walk with a rollator,they still factored that in and were fine with it,they also gave me the PE lessons because i cant write and i struggle to read off paper especially and process language.

ive had a support staff whose spine was crumbling and he had been told he will need to be in a wheelchair in two years- he was so bad he was on disabled living allowance high rate mobility and had a motability car like me but he had a lot of skills and care to give, ive got a staff now who does two shifts a week with me whose spine was damage in a diving accident and made worse by her old job/ nursing, she cant do any moving/ handling but shes one of the best staff ive ever had.

debts are awful when you are not working and are relieing on disability benefits,i pay £40 a week in bills to the old care facility i lived in, because they had no way of splitting up the bills between each bedroom-so effectively im paying for other people and for the two spare rooms that were there.
this has gone on for over a year,and i now have to pay near £100 a month for my support cats immuno suppresent medication,i need all the cash i can get.
 
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I had a problem this week, the Bank rang my Dad to query 2 "suspicious" transactions on my card, we went in yesterday and now both my cards are stopped until new cards are delivered sometime next week probably.
 
Currently, we are up to our eyebrows in debt, because we took out a loan to finally get a lot of dental work done on our teeth. But DH didn't have health benefits before, and even though he has them now, we still had a lot of out of pocket expense. It's going to take years to climb out! :(
 
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