Should I bother?
Submitted by Michael 1 on Sun, 03/16/2008 - 22:48.
It is true that my current job, which I have now been doing for nearly six years!, does not suit my personality. I work in the travel industry and operate a till in a very busy environment. It can be literally painful at times. However, unlike many jobs, I don't take my work home and it usually doesn't take long before I've almost forgotten I have even been at work!
I am currently studying for a different career (again) and this career would involve working freelance which does appeal alot, it would also be a much quieter existance for me.
The thing is work and private life are so seperate for me that I do wonder if I should bother at all? If only 1 in 500 people with AS are in full-time work at any one time should I not just put up with it?
Similar Organisations
A lot of this would depend on the area you work in and the culture of the organisation you would be looking to join.
If your technical skills are advanced and sought after then these are likely to mitigate any additional pressures you would find in a commercial organisation. In fact, it could make you very much in demand!
There is no reason why you couldn't work in the latter effectively. Any possible problems would likely arise if it were an aggressive culture with excessively demanding targets or an unsupportive/confrontational manager.
Having said that, public sector organisations do contain many of the facets that match the personal requirements of someone with AS: stability, purpose geared towards the public good, supportive environments etc.
I have never worked in the public sector but it is something that I am actively considering given the upheavals I have been through over the last few years!!!
Not all sweetness and light
I beg to differ that public sector organisations offer stability and supportive environments. I was fired by a branch of the scientific civil service.
THE N.A.S
I wish the N.A.S did more to show what a person with AS has the potential to do and provide the support, especially outside London. I think, although Prospects N.A.S has improved they could provide more support.
THE N.A.S
I wish the N.A.S did more to show what a person with AS has the potential to do and provide the support, especially outside London. I think, although Prospects N.A.S has improved they could provide more support.
% of people with AS in full time employment
These stats are based on UK data. The statistic is 1/50 for people on the autistic spectrum including AS who have low abilities. I think for AS it is 15% of adults in full time work with AS.
The factors include the severity of the AS, education/skills, age of diagnosis and distance from a big city. If someone has moderate or severe asperger syndrome they will have do courses before accessing paid employment and probably require a support worker. If someone has a degree for example they can get employment but may need a support worker. The more skills and qualifications, the less likely they are likely to be unemployed but may be under employed. I think in the UK 20%-25% of graduates with AS having a degree in Maths, electrical engineering and computing are in full time paid work. If someone is diagnosed with AS as a child, one can plan for the future. The greater the distance from a big city, the less chance one can access appropriate employment support.
However, a few people with AS are so normal, the AS is just in their genes !!!
Who Really Knows?
I think that your last point is telling!
On of the reasons for writing my book and building this website was because many of us are, in effect, normal. There is very little difference.
I think that you have to take all these stats with a pinch of salt. Ten years ago hardly anyone had heard of AS, now there is an explosion everywhere.
It must be very difficult to ascertain how many of "us" are out there.
I fully agree on the stats.
I fully agree on the stats. There just isn't enough data for them to be reliably indicative of anything. 1 in 50 AS individuals is fully employed? That's a load of crap. We'd have homeless AS adults all over the place. There are AS people all over that don't know they are AS - they're just on a different social plane. These people are commonly not only fully employed but successfully so. I am AS and I have held many jobs and have been in engineering for 10+ years with high success. Am I to think I won some lottery because I'm not one of the "other 49"?
What stats do you agree with?
If people don't know they have an ASD why would they be classified in that way in employment statistics? I understanding from the NAS that 85% of people diagnosed with ASD are not in employment at any given time. So the figures will vary. The figures that matter are those relating to people diagnosed with an ASD. I don't think you can just decide you have an ASD and then expect employers to acknowledge it. Also, what makes you think unemployed people with ASD would be homeless? I suspect, like me, that you have been in employment for 10 years+ because you have found ways to cope with the challenges ASD presents in work environments.
Underlying Reasons
I have to say I find this ongoing debate curious!!!!
I think that it is virtually impossible to say how many people there are out there with AS (in some form) let alone how many are employed etc.
Is it because - sub-consciously maybe - we are still concerned about the underlying issues and worried that they will forever be a barrier?
I have never divulged my condition yet have been largely employed in relatively senior/responsible roles throughout my career. I wouldn't wnat to disclose either. I believe I "can" work and get by.
I think that the key point is not to focus on why we may - or may not - be unemployed, but look at ways we can all increase our employment rate the excel within it.
A tick in the box please for all those who are doing so well despite some difficulties!! Lets believe that AS is an advantage not an insuperable barrier even though, at times, it does present issues.
I can agree
I do agree with this. Many aspies are almost close to normal. Some do not even know they have it. There are many people out there who, believe it or not, who can't even spot certain aspies until they are told or until they really notice. For example, even though I'm aspie I would say a good percentage of people would be pretty suprised if I told them I had AS. If I was younger it might of been more noticable but not too much anymore. The only thing is that when I was younger no one ever heard of it.
I also agree with the fact that AS is now more known things have changed. I did not know about AS until around 2000 or 2001. I never heard of it at all! There are still many doctors and even psychological/psychatric professionals who still don't know anything about AS.
The HR Dept
And perhaps more pertinently from a work/business perspective, how many HR Departments or HR Professionals are aware of Asperger syndrome and understand what it is/what it constitutes?
Related to this would be awareness, and understanding of, the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and its counterpart elsewhere.
Many of the people I have spoken to have, when they have gone to HR, have simply found that there is ignorance of the whole area. This hasn't augered well when seeking support for disclosure.
What I have found, however, is that most people seem to have benefited from speaking to HR; if nothing else because it provides greater peace of mind in the form of extra, perceived support and job security.
As Gail Hawkins says in the book I have just reviewed for the last newsletter (under the Publications section)"How to Find Work That Works for People With Asperger Syndrome", its always better to disclose!!
That's not bene the case with me, but I can see how, in the past, it could have been beneficial.
Human Resources
I doubt that my Human Resources office at my job knows about Asperger's Syndrome or even heard of it. I don't think I would speak to my HR area about it, I don't feel it's necessary at the moment.
Informing Proactively
Would it not be useful/beneficial to inform someone in HR about it?
It could be very insightful for them and useful going forward for other people. The more that they know and understand, the more opportunity/motivation they would have to educate themselves about the condition and seek to do something to assist people to achieve?
If its something you feel personally uncomfortable about then you could do it discreetly, i.e. I read this article and thought that you may find it of interest?
I am not sure that informing
I am not sure that informing anyone in the workplace is a good idea unless it is obvious that something is 'wrong' with you. I have not, in all my jobs, recieved understanding or support from telling anyone, wether it was HR or my boss.
I wonder where people at my
I wonder where people at my level of functioning would stand in private enterprise (I have a government job and seriously doubt I would have got a position in private industry unless it was a relative or friend who employed me.).
If you had a continuum of AS ranging from 0 which is lowest functioning to 100 which is highest functioning (virtually indistinguishable from Neurotypical, I'd probably be around 75-85. This means high enough functioning to get some kinds of work but also needing a few accommodations to keep it.
For that reason, it doesn't bother me if others know I have the condition of Asperger's as it explains why I sometimes have troubles with loud noises/bright lights/phone calls and verbal communications. I don't need a support person with me at work.
1 in 500 ?
Where did that statistic on employment come from - 1 in 500 employed? It is not so. All AS adults I know are employed. I am, and I think the majority of the users of this board are. We are are not an exceptional minority. The traits of the syndrome do not preclude employment, its just that we tend not to fare well in jobs that demand high levels of personal interaction, and fluid, rapidly and unpredictably changing situations. Which sounds rather like your current occupation, so what made you go for it in the first place, knowing you are AS?
Peter
north Queensland, Australia
I didn't
I took the job in mid-2002. I was diagnosed in mid-2007. I hadn't even heard of AS prior to Dec 2006.