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Retired Engineer

S

stevens

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
Hi, I'm a retired engineer who recently has been evaluated as ASD (i.e., Asperger Syndrome) by Ph.D. researchers screening for a research project. The basic diagnosis is not a surprise to me. I've known this fact for thirty years, since the 90's. It was, however, confirmation of something that would have been better to learn earlier in life when I had no idea what the problem was.

Since retiring I don't get the chance to talk to people with similar neurological character. I worked with "weird" engineers for years. I fit right in, but thankfully my job had structure and rules, and people who lacked popularity were difficult to get rid of. I really worked much better with machines than with people. After becoming semi-retired I worked for awhile as a self-employed engineer, but the pandemic put an end to it. I miss talking to people! The main problem is that I got much of my "validation" from my technical work and I've essentially been pushed out of that. I'm fortunate to have special interests that provided a good living.

One thing I'm finding out is retirement causes regression. The research project I have been screened into gives me some contact with that context I got used to over the years. I'm trying to avoid most social media, because it doesn't work for me all that well.
 
Welcome. As pharma quality/process validation I always enjoyed working with engineers on projects. I helped them with regulatory aspects and they taught me a lot. I sorta miss that interaction. When working with radiopharmaceutical processing I learned from an engineer from Argonne Labs. From that I received two patents for my company in cyclotron target processing.
 
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Hi and welcome, I hope that you enjoy it here. Can you say more about your point that retirement causes regression? I was thinking maybe it does feel like that initially, but is it regression or is it the strangeness of not having the familiar context, feeling detached and disconnected, uncertain who we are now, without the work? Then we may start getting involved in some new stuff, I guess. I'm working less than previously and that's how it feels to me. In a way it's freeing.

Time for new things and people? That's a challenge for a lot of us, as work is often the way we come across others and socialise. Hopefully coming here is a part of what you can do to lessen any isolation. Plenty of threads to read and join in with. And ideas for what else to do with your freedom!

:herb::leafwind::fallenleaf::mapleleaf::sunflower:
 
I too am a retired hardware and software engineer and always interfaced with machines and cats more readily than human beings.

Welcome to the site and may it offer a respite from complete isolation.
 
Welcome!

If I'm not mistaken, engineering in general is a field that attracts a lot of people on the spectrum.

Retiring, and the loss of sense of purpose, especially for those in technical fields, can be a challenge.

Have you considered, besides casual or contract work, the possibility of being a mentor to those in your field via an trade group or organization? That might give you something to look forward to in terms of interacting with others in your work / special interest.
 
Agree with what was said. Most folks will regress neurologically if they don't have something to keep their mind and body busy. I kind of joke around at work when I say, "Work is an interruption in my life." or "Work just pays for my hobbies."

I am in the medical field and we have a few physicians roaming around the hospital well into their 80's,...they refuse to retire,...because they know that without something to keep their minds busy, they will quickly regress,...and most physicians are too busy being physicians to have hobbies. So, it's a real thing.

Find a special interest, or two,...or three,...and keep the brain healthy. ;)
 
Thinx said:
Can you say more about your point that retirement causes regression? I was thinking maybe it does feel like that initially, but is it regression or is it the strangeness of not having the familiar context, feeling detached and disconnected, uncertain who we are now, without the work? Then we may start getting involved in some new stuff, I guess. I'm working less than previously and that's how it feels to me. In a way it's freeing.
:herb::leafwind::fallenleaf::mapleleaf::sunflower:
Click to expand...

That's a really good question! I received almost all of the affirmation in my adult life from my special interests and my abilities to solve problems. When I retired, I was not prepared for the reality of how little my former "colleagues" wanted to speak with me anymore. I went from earning a living in an occupation to just having a longstanding collection of "special interests" with no real connections to others with that interest. Add to that the relative isolation that came from the pandemic. I am married, but all the interests I shared with others are not shared with her.

And then, there's less need to "mask" anymore so that 5th grade boy comes out all the time. Truthfully I kind of like that. It's accepted at home, so that is a plus. It's almost a regression to old behaviors, looking backward instead of forward into the future.

It's not that I've lost interest in anything; it's more a question of maintaining motivation. I never have had much social affirmation--most of that came from work, and now that's gone. It's turning into an adjustment. I feel like I did before I started working, all those years ago. Immersion in interests was what got me through high school in one piece.
 
Yes I see what you mean. I guess I would say that for me, despite my enduring difficulties with unstructured social interaction theres a lot I have done over the years that has changed and developed me in various ways, and makes me feel different from myself as a child and young person.

Perhaps as others have said, you can use your life experience and knowledge to get some links with others who share your interests. Teach a class? Join a group? Take some advanced courses in areas of interest that could be extended? Learn something completely new that fits with your abilities? I always need a structure of some kind to interact, beyond work, a shared interest often offers that.
 
It's almost like being on the spectrum means we need dilemmas solve, things to program, goals to work towards. Since l stopped working, l lined up a project of downsizing. And l can't bother my friends with my boredom. Hope to start working again but not working was fun.
 
 
Aspychata said:
It's almost like being on the spectrum means we need dilemmas solve, things to program, goals to work towards. Since l stopped working, l lined up a project of downsizing. And l can't bother my friends with my boredom. Hope to start working again but not working was fun.
Click to expand...

You're right. Any challenge like this I turn into a "project" or a dilemma as you wrote. I haven't made much progress socially over the decades (except for masking the Aspie traits which some would say may not be "progress"), but I have solved a lot of other problems with determination and persistence.

If anything I'm busier than I was when working for money. I've basically revisisted old interests that I had de-emphasized. One of these is putting my construction trades knowledge to work fixing up two homes. All my life I've been a quite self-sufficient do-it-yourselfer. I learned a lot of skills from my father, who was a union carpenter when I was younger.

As far as my main interest electronics and electrical engineering, I'm down to one friend from my working days who I talk to fairly regularly. He's close to retirement as well. Like many Aspies I have always taken my interests way more seriously than my coworkers. For a lot of people, "interests" are just a job. I made a career out of my interests; money was nice but the ability to do interesting stuff was the first motivation.

There are some technical interests that went dorment when I started my work career, because I'd never be able to even start supporting myself doing them. I'm trying to revisit those things, as they provided a lot of solitary enjoyment when I was younger.

I think the "downsizing" that I am doing is of a social nature. I'm still coming to terms with the reality that finding a good conversation is kind of difficult for some of us.
 
VictorR said:
Welcome!

If I'm not mistaken, engineering in general is a field that attracts a lot of people on the spectrum.

Retiring, and the loss of sense of purpose, especially for those in technical fields, can be a challenge.

Have you considered, besides casual or contract work, the possibility of being a mentor to those in your field via an trade group or organization? That might give you something to look forward to in terms of interacting with others in your work / special interest.
Click to expand...

I actually did a little of that and got paid for it, as a semi-retired consultant. Volunteer work, on the other hand, I've learned to be careful of. I thought that would be easy, and I tried it at a couple of non-profits after I left my regular job. It didn't work out, mostly due to the social issues that are familiar to a lot of us. Somehow, it was different when I was being paid for it--a business transaction is more focused on the result desired and it seems to be more structured. In three or four situations where I was hired to provide on-the-job training to more newly hired engineers I got pretty good reviews--as measured by the fact that they called me back for more work once in awhile.

There is another professional society besides IEEE that I belong to that I could devote more time to, and I'm looking at how to do that best while avoiding the social pitfalls.
 
Welcome faustian1.

I was a late diagnose in my 50's and now I'm 64 and also experienceing the change of getting older
with no family and the seemingly natural feeling of no connections with others.
Volunteering wasn't for me either.
And it is difficult to be without others with like interests to converse with.

Being here on the forums has helped my daily desire for contact with others.
Hope you find it so for you too. :)
 
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