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I've started looking around for a new job in earnest!

Its a bit frustrating having to go through the same process again, but I know I need to do it and I am trying to view it as an opportunity - which actually it is!

From an Asperger perspective I know I need to adopt a positive mindset. I find the whole dumb process to be anaethema to what I believe in - be yourself, be honest etc - but that is the way of the world of work.

What I am looking at is a bit of a portfolio career: I want to work back in entertainment in some form, but I am also trying to progress my Asperger consultancy.

If I can bring all of this off I hope I get develop a situation that will mitigate many of the challenges that I face with respect to my AS and the workplace: working independently will enable me to avoid a great deal of corporate politics and will enable me to select who I work with ..... and when.

I have started to look for a new job which is a bit laborious but I don't have a great deal of choice!

What I am also trying to do is something different. I am at the stage of my life where I want to be in control of my own destiny more and be less reliant on other parties.

Its not going to be easy of course. However, I am also viewing it as an opportunity and a chance to change my lifestyle.

If I can adopt a more positive mindset I am sure that it will make the whole process much easier!

As readers may be aware, I have been working with the University of Nottingham here in the UK on a Transitions Project to help students with Asperger transiion successfully into the workplace.

The project has gone very well and I am meeting both Oxford and Cambridge Universities in the next month to discuss the project with them. As both are very prestigious Institutions, I am very excited about the possibility of working with them.

I am now looking to extend the programme into the corporate sphere as well and a number of banks and similar professional firms are also keen on discussing what the project involves.

I am obviously keen on exploring potentialities here also. The opportunity to pass on some of my experience and expertise that I have gained in a corporate setting is something that I am very eager to achieve.

I went to an entertainment event today and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Entertainment is where I have spent most of my career and, having stepped outside for the last year or so for reasons of (economic) expediency, I am determined to get back in.

The event was very interesting. I also met some interesting people and engaged with them in conversation which was good. I think I have made some useful contacts.

I went with a specific objective as well: to gain some specific and relevant information.

I got that and it may help me to forward a career path!

Its been a long time since I last entered a blog entry.

The reason being is because I am experiencing upheaval at work. It seems a regular occurrence in today's environment but it doesn't get any easier.

I have started to look around and, hopefully, something will appear shortly, but I know that it may be a slog in this economic climate.

It may mean making some drastic and radical decisions but I am going to cross that bridge when i come to it!

I wrote a piece in my last newsletter about Asking for Assistance.

I have been guilty in the past of not doing so when I have taken on things that, perhaps, I have not been sufficiently capable of doing or fully prepared for.

The reasons are that I feel I have wary of asking for help and appearing dependent on others; also because my introversion and independence have meant that I have tended to naturally want to try and work alone.

I am going to have too use a new Simulation system at work. Its been on the horizon for a while and I have become gradually very apprehensive about it as the deadline has approached.

Last weel I asked the IT manager if he would assist me. I need to work with a second person anyway to use the system and he immediately agreed to help. He is a very approachable and agreeable person so I felt comfortable asking him.

I have just been reading an article by Dr Wendy Lawson who states that people with Asperger syndrome should be referred to as "differently abled", as opposed to, disabled.

I like this terminology. As her piece goes on to say, "this difference means that people with ASDs need different types of support from ‘neuro-typicals" and uses the analogy of someone with short sight who would be ‘disabled’ if they were never given glasses, but with glasses, they can achieve all that they want to.

I think that this area is so relevant and important to people in work with AS. If you have dxyslexia then people know you are disabled, but it doesn't have the stigma that the word "autism" does.

The main reason why I have never divulged my condition is because of the risk of being stigmatised.

I am going to use the word "differently abled" wherever possible from here on in, in my writing.

I had what I call an "Asperger Day" yesterday.

My boss criticised me (probably justifiably) about an event earlier in the week when I didn't demonstrate sufficient knowledge about the product that we are selling to customers.

It is in an area that doesn't interest me so, of course, I hadn't bothered to learn it thoroughly!

The reason why I am slightly upset is that I am disappointed with myself. I have repeated the same mistake that I have done previously and have not learnt the lesson. Its as though I have to be pulled over the coals with some issues before I buckle down and learn about them!

These Asperger Days are very demotivating for me. They are also incredibly important so I am going to write a piece about them for my next newsletter and try and take the lessons in going forward.

I have had a difficult couple of days at work with one customer who is persistently questioning what we - the company - have had to offer.

I don't mind that: the customer is always right of course, but the person in question continually going back to the same point which I have to explain. This is despite the fact that I have acknowledged we [the company] need to do more in this area and have promised to do so.

I find my self becoming agitated when a person takes this approach and have had to bite my lip each. I do think though I revealed my agitation a couple of times in front of her and the rest of the customer cohort.

After I left the second meeting this afternoon I decided that I would adopt a different tact. Instead of confronting the issue negatively I am going to try and actually provide what the person is after.

I have an idea and a possible solution. I feel much better and less agitated for thinking of it!

I have just read an interesting posting on the AspergerManagement section of the "Linkedin" networking site that I have set up:

http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=87428292&gid=2333844...

I thought this was really insightful.

What I liked - and got me thinking to be honest - is the bluntness of the advice! Its almost as though the author is taking a difficult facet (bluntness) about the Asperger personality and turning it on its head to take advantage and use it beneficially.

My only comment would be that you would need to be pretty confident and self assured in the execution of this. I suspect, for example, that you may get some opposition and that some people may react negatively to it!

Would be great if more people could join the group on Linkedin also.

MJ