Good Jobs for Autistic People | AUTISM IN ADULTS

I’m crying right now because I thought i was the only one who couldn’t handle a real job. I spent my life raising kids instead because I couldn’t get or hold down jobs. I am 49 and just figured out recently I’m autistic, up until now I was sure there was something fundamentally wrong with me. Thank you for making this video, I can finally stop beating myself up for being a failure!

I found out I’m autistic at 19. I had already worked fast food and retail, and the thought of college petrified me. And when I did go to college, I couldn’t do it. I had to drop out. So I became a jeweler. And there’s nothing else I could ever imagine myself doing. This is the job for me. I get to play with fire, hazardous chemicals, and I get to look at pretty rocks. Perfect job. 12/10

I self-diagnosed at 38. I’ve worked full-time as a data entry clerk for the past 13 years at a law firm. I sit in a tiny office by myself scanning documents and saving them into the system, I love it. I very rarely have to interact with people and my job is the same from day to day, so no surprises.

My [horrible] therapist told me yesterday, that getting diagnosed doesn’t matter and that the world doesn’t care if I am ASD. Harsh. I am 31 and have been fighting since age 24 to get diagnosed. My past Drs told me they did not believe in female autism. I am so burned out and anxious and overwhelmed from all of the intense normal jobs I keep doing.

im autistic and i have very severe agoraphobia and anxiety. i find working and interacting with people extremely difficult. My mother is not sympathetic and I'm basically on my own with no medication or financial help in any way. I am in college but almost homeless. its definitely hard out here but people like you who post things like this help so much. you make it all more manageable. thank you

As an AuDHD person, “I don’t NOT want to do it; I just haven’t done it yet” is extremely relatable 🙃

I think that autistic people make fantastic teachers, artists, scientists, and honestly, they are great people to work with. 🙂🤙👒

I'm 63 years old and was told by a young friend on the spectrum recently that "of course you know how it feels to be on the spectrum in a world full of "normies." I had no idea. So, I asked my therapist if she thought I was on the spectrum and she just shrugged and said, "Yeah." Oh. It's amazing how I'd grown used to the idea that life is simply difficult, especially for me, and that there must be "something wrong with me" but now that I have an idea of what's going on, it's becoming easier to live with my differences. Thanks for putting out this informative material for women on the spectrum, and please keep up the good work!

My daughter is 22 and left college last year. She wants to work but doesn’t know what job to do. This was a great post and I will show this to her. She thinks she’s unemployable because of of being autistic and suffers anxiety ect badly. Thank you so much for this post it’s very uplifting and hope is out there for autistic people. ❤

I am ADHD Autistic and I work at a library. I love it! 💖 I am surrounded by books all day and my collection of knowledge is useful. I still get anxious sometimes when I interact with people but it’s been mostly positive. I also do side work with Japanese musicians mostly doing PR, event scheduling, and marketing stuff.

35year old unemployed, struggling to understand why I'm undervalued and suffer burnout. Adding this to my searchable. Thank you!

After struggling with retail jobs, my daughter found success with a school district. She needs structure (M-F & 30 hrs/wk) and has the same task every day. The bonus is she gets health insurance, sick/vacation days, and works on a school calendar so gets all the holidays and school breaks off including summer. The breaks give her the time needed so she doesn't burn out and a consistent pay check. Retail was just all over the place and did so much damage to her mentally. This may not work for everyone but this has been wonderful for her confidence and sense of independence. Your job sounds amazing, best of luck to you!

Thank you for this. Most people don't understand how hard it is for autistic people to find work. I worked in a restaurant before college as a hostess. It was the Worst job for me.Food service is awful. Customers complain all the time over things you have no control over.Waitresses get mad when you don't seat enough people in their section which is understandable because they rely on tips. What they didn't understand is a lot of people ask for a certain table. I melted down half way through the summer and quit It helped me realize I could never work with people. People can be the worst. I'm glad you found a job that works for you, Olivia.😀

I’m autistic and I work as a massage therapist! Anatomy and the body as a whole is a special interest, but I knew I could never take the high stress work of a nurse or doctor. I get to be in a softly lit room and wear clothes I find comfy that are still professional. Yes, there’s the socialization aspect but there’s a BIG difference between interacting with 3-5 people a day one on one (some of whom are silent the whole time!) and doing even an office job where you have to talk to lots of coworkers in a brightly lit office. Not that an office job can’t work, my best friend is also autistic and has an office job and likes to pretend they’re in a tv show set in an office. Like you said though, a lot of us find office environments really difficult Anyway thank you for this video! I don’t see this discussed often!

Someone usually has to die before a position opens up at the library.

I’m self-diagnosed and in the process of getting a formal diagnosis, and I work in a warehouse packing food boxes and it’s really nice to be able to tune out everything with music! Sometimes it’s overstimulating but being able to leave work at work is amazing 🥰

I'm 60 and I'm autistic and I'm self employed. I clean houses and businesses. So my schedule is fixed but not rigid and I made the schedule. My child who is 32 and autistic is the business manager for a medical office. No autistic person is like another...even autistic twins are different. Your job would be too boring for me. So each person needs to find where they belong

The unfortunate part of trying to do merchandising (because I've looked into a few jobs doing so) is that you have to travel from store to store...it's kinda hard for those of us that don't drive. It sucks a lot because it sounds like a job I truly wouldn't mind doing. 😔

I loved this video! It reminded me that one of the best jobs I ever had was as a janitor at a tattoo parlor. I went in twice a week, sometime before the parlor opened, and cleaned, stocked all the supplies, laundered and folded the towels, and set up the work stations for the day. I worked alone, I got to organize the shop, I’ve always loved doing laundry (especially towels!), and it felt so good to leave it all perfect behind me. What was funny was that I had a master’s degree in international studies…so on the one hand, I was completely underemployed….but I was also completely happy. There was no stress or anxiety like I usually have with aa job. I am so glad you found this work. 😊

Pray for me please, all of you. I have my adult assessment for autism on Friday after nearly a year of waiting. Also, I work in a similar situation. I work in inventory for a high tech factory. There is only 1 other person in my area and it is behind a locked door I control badge access to. I basically created the entire department out of 2 texts and a sticky note. And I helped hire a person (another friend of mine with Aspergers) so it meshes perfectly. Everything has structured hyper specific instructions and routine. We also have 4 storage rooms and both of us will happily leave to another room to give the other person space.