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Needing guidance

Robby

Robby

Well-Known Member
Can somebody tell me where someone who is an adult with mild to moderate autism with practically zero work experience can go to find a job that pays decently? I can't do customer service or anything with face to face people interaction, and I can't do extreme hard labor, although I could do light work. I have a superb eye for detail, am a very dependable person, very honest, but I just have no clue where/how to find a job. I have used staffing agencies and the last one I went to didn't do **** for me, they treated me very badly and made homophobic remarks. I'm very depressed and lost. I am willing to work but it needs to be something I know I could handle. I am 33 and basically have never worked in my life at least at a real life job.
 
I can't do security. I applied once and they pretty much laughed at me. Probably because I am a feminine gay guy. So yea, security is out.
 
Hmm this is a very typical dilemma I've heard on these forums before. Basically you need to accept your probably going to have to do a job you hate for little pay until you get experience or an education to do something you'd prefer.

I'm 32 and I have a son who needs to eat that responsibility alone would encourage me to do whatever I had to in order to make sure he has food on the table and a roof over his head.

That may sound harsh but for me being uncomfortable for 8 hours a day far outweighs being uncomfortable, homeless and starving the other 16 hours in the day.
 
Yard work? Janitorial services? Maybe a car wash? Creative freelancing you can do from the computer at home?
 
Robby said:
Can somebody tell me where someone who is an adult with mild to moderate autism with practically zero work experience can go to find a job that pays decently? I can't do customer service or anything with face to face people interaction, and I can't do extreme hard labor, although I could do light work. I have a superb eye for detail, am a very dependable person, very honest, but I just have no clue where/how to find a job. I have used staffing agencies and the last one I went to didn't do **** for me, they treated me very badly and made homophobic remarks. I'm very depressed and lost. I am willing to work but it needs to be something I know I could handle. I am 33 and basically have never worked in my life at least at a real life job.
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Define decently. How much do you need to make to support yourself where you live?
 
Well the thing is is that I am mildly autistic but am able to function and am fairly verbally gifted. I have problems with auditory processing, so a call center type job worries me a bit because I tend to need things written down to be able to process them properly. But I am able to converse fairly well, provided it is not high-pressure. Luckily I have family but they won't be around forever I know that, and everyone from my therapist to my doctors think I should be able to function reasonably well on my own, if I try. WHat it comes down to is aside from the autism, I have pretty severe ptsd from the bullying I got in school, meaning I have very very low self esteem. So I don't trust any strangers, and I assume everyone is going to single me out and try to make me fail in the workplace, especially because I am gay, and because of the horribly prejudiced society we live in. I am putting in a bunch of applications, but it's hard with no work experience. Nobody will give you a chance, or they will judge me for my sexual orientation. It's all stuff in my head, probably a lot of it wouldn't happen, but I am scared to go to work because of the interacting part. My brain is still stuck in high school and I am afraid of people making fun of me.
 
Robby said:
Well the thing is is that I am mildly autistic but am able to function and am fairly verbally gifted. I have problems with auditory processing, so a call center type job worries me a bit because I tend to need things written down to be able to process them properly. But I am able to converse fairly well, provided it is not high-pressure. Luckily I have family but they won't be around forever I know that, and everyone from my therapist to my doctors think I should be able to function reasonably well on my own, if I try. WHat it comes down to is aside from the autism, I have pretty severe ptsd from the bullying I got in school, meaning I have very very low self esteem. So I don't trust any strangers, and I assume everyone is going to single me out and try to make me fail in the workplace, especially because I am gay, and because of the horribly prejudiced society we live in. I am putting in a bunch of applications, but it's hard with no work experience. Nobody will give you a chance, or they will judge me for my sexual orientation. It's all stuff in my head, probably a lot of it wouldn't happen, but I am scared to go to work because of the interacting part. My brain is still stuck in high school and I am afraid of people making fun of me.
Click to expand...


If such social concerns outweigh all others, consider moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. I had a friend who did this. Left the comfort of his adopted family in Florida for the Bay Area, with only a suitcase. And a bachelor's degree. (He was a Cuban political refugee and gay. Came over on the Mariel Boatlift in 1981.) He went from being a file clerk to becoming a senior underwriter. He retired as a corporate vice president.

Upside: Prejudice against gays in SF is risky business. I worked in the financial district for more than ten straight years. About a third of the office was gay. Never an issue as far as I could see. People seemed much more at ease with diversity in general.

Downside: Cost of living is horrendou$. But with the highest standards of living usually lurk higher wages.
 
I like animals but there again, like people, I tend to have problems with them because of the smells, the noises, & being afraid a larger dog might jump on me or something. It's my hypersensitivities. I know what I am good at, but it seems all jobs today either require you to be up someone's ass 24/7 or cleaning toilets, no in between. It sucks.
 
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