Lol, yes, it’s been a fucking journey though. I didn’t realize I was abused by my family so I spent the better part of two decades being depressed, self-destructive, and suicidal. I also participated in the genocide in Iraq and tried to bury that away too. Therapy has been recent but life changing. I’d tried it before but I didn’t know that everyone wasn’t like me so I always came off as indifferent, insensitive, or unmotivated. I spoke to a VA counselor once, about a traumatic experience, and all he wrote in his notes were, “patient states”, then a very truncated summary of what I had said. Then he diagnosed me with halitosis. What an absolute fuck head. I wrote off therapy for 10 years after that. Finally met someone who was blown away that I had never been treated for ADD/ASD and she tested me. Then the therapy advanced and she was able to communicate with me. Realized the PTSD, child abuse, and toxic behaviors that I was newly habituating. Who knows if growing up in a healthy/safe environment or being tested would have changed any of these failed prospects. But if you have trouble getting along in a team environment (I massively do) then you can look for work in remote or secure locations, look for vocations that revolve around data collection and travel, or look into govt jobs. I’ve worked a few govt jobs (not infrequently unionized so 👍) and everyone there is either a 5th dimensional chess level wackadoo or they expect everyone else to be. They embrace weird, they just don’t pay shit. So here is my vocational history:
Medic - in emergency response/combat, no problem. But on the civilian side there were too many… civilians. May lean heavily on communication, but nearly all of it can be done free of niceties, body language, idioms, or banter.
Then a phleb/lab tech while I changed vocations. May require interaction with patients. So if that’s a problem then stick to lab tech work. Also, seek night shift positions if you want to take isolation to the next level.
Electrical engineer until I realized I had to work in a team of dumb people, and no matter how many companies I changed to the teams just got dumber. If you are more perceptive than you let on, and you expect people in high functioning/accountable roles to be demonstrably intelligent, then maybe steer clear of these team based fields of work. I switched to trades where I (admittedly, rudely) expect everyone to be a drooling lepton and am always impressed at their ingenuity.
So field engineering inspections for a while. That didn’t work out eventually, and after leaving this vocation I was diagnosed and mental health began to improve. This was travel based, and very solitary. I had to be self motivated but the work was enjoyable so that helped. Time management and resource allocation were always difficult so routines and checklists were leaned on heavily.
Then electrician, equipment fabrication, and control design (again, yes, but part time). Trades tend to work in teams at lower levels of experience so if you are willing to grit your teeth through the monotony of other people’s opinions, there are specializations that can alleviate the surplus extraversion. Custom work keeps things fresh. But if you have to do something repetitive, then maybe find a pastime that keeps your lizard brain occupied (I love podcasts, Behind the Bastards, Knowledge Fight, The Dollop - I listen to these and the day is over in a blink).
This job ends in a few years, and I do have a master’s in software engineering, but the SO wants to be the bread winner so I’m preparing to do law school because why not.
I’d be happy to respond to any questions if you think I can help. Good luck!
Event planner. Every show is different, so it helps stave off the “sameness” that comes with most office jobs. I used to freelance as a stage tech, but the money is better on the admin side of things. So I fell into event planning, since it allows me to use my tech knowledge while also getting paid the admin rates.
Plus I get to see concerts for a living, and that’s pretty fucking cool in my book.
Unemployed geologist. Unemployed by choice because instead of taking a job that would murder me I’m waiting for one that I know works with my limitations to open again. The jobs I take are usually project-based and start in the summer.
I am not the only ND person in the office and it’s quite refreshing.
After getting a few pilot licenses and figuring out I likely have undiagnosed ADHD I figured out IT was a more interesting path. Once you start doing long cross country flights being a bus driver in the sky loses some of the sheen
I do CNC machining. A trade job but I really enjoy it. All things considered my workplace is pretty good. I’ve been enamored with the big ol machines since I first saw em.
I make enough to live for now and the daily stresses rarely come home with me. OT can be an option sometimes too. A perk is the ability to socialize at my desired amount
I build electrical panels but walk past the machine shop every morning and love seeing all the machines that you get to work with. The water jet is my favorite. Also, the press. So f’ing cool.
I haven’t worked with water jet cutting myself but I feel it would be awesome to do! The closest I’ve come would be a wet abrasive blast that I sometimes do at my current job.
But yeah, I love controlling these huge machines and cutting metal. It’s just got a sense of creating something behind it that I really enjoy. A physical product I can see and touch that I made.
Tutor, surprisingly. Definitely didn’t expect to end up in such a people-facing job when I was younger. But like, I get to tutor a lot of subjects and I like talking about math and science.
I did pizza delivery for a while but it fucking sucked especially during the pandemic. I’m currently studying to become an electrical engineer but I haven’t been able to land a job or internship, so it’s basically just a money pit at this point.
Lol, don’t let school indoctrinate you into thinking that design work is the only thing for an engineer to do. There is so much more. Field engineering is great and rarely requires design. Inspections are also an awesome way to use that degree sans design. Look into regulation or travel opportunities. High tech and applications also dabble in design without requiring it. Controls and instrumentation can also provide build, maintenance, or modification opportunities that more closely align with what you would call trade work. That said, if the cost is a problem (and I fucking get it), you can always take a hiatus and join the trades as a trial. Electricians have a pretty cool job. You can do residential and mostly cookie cutter work that never ends, or do commercial and specialize, get into service, or even govt inspection. Just throwing some ideas out. Good luck and grats! EE is the shit!!
Thank you for the advice, but I want to do a desk job where I design stuff. I don’t like going outside and working with my hands or on my feet. I can build prototypes and solder, but I’m not great at it. I’m interested in coming up with a cool thing and then having someone who’s actually talented at crafting to build it on my behalf. I have mad respect for trade workers, but that kind of work is simply a bad fit for me.
Actually, a design job is really a compromise in the direction of more “practical” with respect to what I’m really interested in doing: original research. For example, I’m really interested in the control of nonlinear dynamical systems, specifically stabilization (read: I want to prevent systems from exploding themselves). While there’s no generic framework to control nonlinear systems, and it’s pretty unlikely there will be, there are lots of subclasses of nonlinear systems that need to be controlled, like robotic limbs, medical exoskeletons, commercial jets, machine learning, etc. It just involves a bit of creativity and a shit-ton of math (even compared to linear control theory). And I’d like to be one of the people doing the math and testing it out on important systems.
But unfortunately, industry isn’t typically interested in paying people to do research. And I need to eat. Those few companies who are interested in new ideas are already closely connected to academia. So it makes sense to me to continue my education.
To be honest, I’m kind of the opposite personality of the typical engineer. I.e. I’m super interested in “theoretical” details and how math, physics, and computer science actually works, and I’m not too interested in implementation details (any more than what is necessary to complete projects) because that kind of information is usually not portable to other projects. For that reason, I’m super pedantic, and engineering people usually don’t like pedants.
Additionally, I’ve already applied to a bunch of field engineering jobs out of desperation and during each interview they basically figured out in real time that I’m not interested in field work like at all, so they ghosted me. Plus, a lot of those job require me to climb up a ladder, which isn’t happening for at least a year because I weigh like a truck (too much for standard ladders; I checked). Plus, what I gathered from those interviews is that those jobs don’t lead to design jobs, just more field work. I’m just not a good fit.
Also the reason I stayed at my pizza delivery job so long was because I got to spend most of my time in the car with the AC on in a quiet place. I left that job because the company laid off almost all the drivers and outsourced the work to Doordash, and while I was given a job inside, I was absolutely losing my shit not being able to be in a climate controlled, quiet environment like my car. So uncomfortable jobs like trade jobs and field engineering jobs will not work for me. I need to be comfortable.
Hah! Great to hear then. My apologies for assuming. I didn’t understand the nuances or opportunities of engineering when I went through, but you sound much more prepared for the job than I likely was. Good luck to you then! And stick with it. It’s tough but worth it.
DevOps Architect - Was born for it. So many details. So many different technologies. I’ve been in IT for 25 years. I learn constantly. Keeps it fresh. And when I can’t focus I just spin around and play Gran Turismo until I can concentrate.
I work at a newspaper and over the years we’ve had quite a few people with autism and some with ADHD on our writing staff. Like, a really disproportionate number to what you’d expect based on the general population.
It’s practically one of the things we look for in new hires. It seems to work, though I couldn’t really tell you why.
We tend to work with a fairly set routine with clearly defined deadlines. Our office environment isn’t too crowded or loud generally. We also write about a lot of different topics, and give people creative freedom to write about things they find interesting or enjoy. And in general, we are very welcoming to people with autism and/or ADHD. We embrace the things you’re good at and see if we can work around some of the things that might not be your thing. Making newspapers is a team effort, so there’s no real shame in having an off day - others can pick up that slack if need be. Our boss also has a daughter with autism, so he understands that it can come with challenges.
So yeah, at least from my perspective… writing for a newspaper seems to be a good fit for the people with autism / ADHD that I’ve encountered in this field.
Principal Cloud Architect…i.e Terraform, DevOps strategies, enterprise stuff, etc. It’s like agile scrum was invented by and for ADHD. Hyperfocus + Pomodoro works nicely.
I started working as a stock-boy in the grocery section of a certain chain of supermarkets that archers love, and I woke up every day absolutely dreading it. Nothing but the Musak blasting in an empty store, and my thoughts. Half the lights were off since my shift started at 5am, and you can usually find the place where something goes by sight. Absolutely hated it! And the worst part, no headphones. Ever. Even if the store isn’t open, it’s a safety thing…
Anyway, I started getting called over to the online ordering side to help them catch up with the order online, drive up and we’ll run out with your order. So far, I’ve only done the pulls; going out and grabbing products, bagging and storing them in the appropriate temperature, do another run. It keeps my mind occupied, and I’m not alone in an aisle for hours on end.
Time flys, I basically shop for things from a list, and at the end I get a fun “Job Completed” chime that releases juuust enough dopamine to make hours feel like minutes.
Another IT guy here. Not sure how to describe the role… data compliance management and troubleshooting? I dunno, it’s a mix of troubleshooting k8s and charts, log reviewing, and so on, along with some proprietary application stuff.
Previously was an automation and virtualization support engineer, this recent role has been weirdly chill so far by comparison. Feels odd to not be constantly putting out fires. Weird but… kinda nice.
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