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Frustrated

Robby

Robby

Well-Known Member
I have tried for 4 years and cannot find a job. Just don't know where to turn any more. I know the things I'm good at and the places and things I'm not, maybe I am being too picky, but I know my autistic limitations and some jobs I've been offered I couldn't accept because of my fears and triggers of being bullied or not being able to keep up. I have severe auditory processing problems, but I am a very visual, meticulous person. I am also pretty good verbally. It just takes me time to do a task. I know I am fully capable, I am considered high functioning and mildly autistic. But I just can't seem to find a job. Everyone else is working and I'm not and it's making me angry and depressed. Vocational Rehab wanted to find me a job here cleaning toilets. Really? I'm not at all stuck up but I am better than that. I'm a very good writer, but can't set up a blog because that costs money and I just need a 9 to 5 job I can go to and get some work experience. I recently applied for a library page position and was turned down from that. I've been to temp staffing agencies in past and they don't seem to do anything in terms of actually finding you a job. So what do I do? I really don't know any more I am numb and have no self confidence, self respect or self esteem.
 
Have you thought about voluntary work, maybe for a charity?

The money may not be there but it could help boost your confidence, show employers that you are willing and reliable and of course provide you with a reference. This is a route I am thinking about.
 
Definitely agree with volunteering. One guy I know if started volunteering at a Not-For-Profit organisation I used to work with and within three weeks he was offered a paid position. The same thing happened with two other people I met there ... They each started volunteering and were offered full time employment from that.

All you'll be going is staying home wondering instead of facing your fears and learning to overcome them.

Little by little. Start small.

Volunteering gives you the opportunity to really investigate who you like to work with and why and what you think you would enjoy doing.

I strongly recommend it.
 
Definitely agree with volunteering. One guy I know if started volunteering at a Not-For-Profit organisation I used to work with and within three weeks he was offered a paid position. The same thing happened with two other people I met there ... They each started volunteering and were offered full time employment from that.

All you'll be going is staying home wondering instead of facing your fears and learning to overcome them.

Little by little. Start small.

Volunteering gives you the opportunity to really investigate who you like to work with and why and what you think you would enjoy doing.

I strongly recommend it.
 
I tried volunteering at the Goodwill for a minute but the staff there really didn't seem to like me and treated me rudely, (the ladies did the dudes just minded their own business more or less, didn't care if I was there or not). I was doing it for food stamps at the time. I don't know how I could ever get a babysitter for volunteering for nothing though...
 
I've been volunteering doing environmental work for the past five years, and I've now got some paid work out of it. But more importantly, I've got something to put on my resume and I've got references.

It's a good way to try to find something you might like.

Is there anyone else near you, or online, that can offer you career counselling? Someone who can look at your strengths and weaknesses and advise you where to look to find work you will be happy with?
 
There are plenty of free blogging platforms out there. LiveJournal, Blogger, and WordPress to name a few. I think some of them have the option to buy your own domain and channel visitors to it when you get the money for it.
 
Robby said:
I have tried for 4 years and cannot find a job. Just don't know where to turn any more. I know the things I'm good at and the places and things I'm not, maybe I am being too picky, but I know my autistic limitations and some jobs I've been offered I couldn't accept because of my fears and triggers of being bullied or not being able to keep up. I have severe auditory processing problems, but I am a very visual, meticulous person. I am also pretty good verbally. It just takes me time to do a task. I know I am fully capable, I am considered high functioning and mildly autistic. But I just can't seem to find a job. Everyone else is working and I'm not and it's making me angry and depressed. Vocational Rehab wanted to find me a job here cleaning toilets. Really? I'm not at all stuck up but I am better than that. I'm a very good writer, but can't set up a blog because that costs money and I just need a 9 to 5 job I can go to and get some work experience. I recently applied for a library page position and was turned down from that. I've been to temp staffing agencies in past and they don't seem to do anything in terms of actually finding you a job. So what do I do? I really don't know any more I am numb and have no self confidence, self respect or self esteem.
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Did you have any special interest, or something that your been better then others at school? Many of us who's at the authism spectre, have some things we can learn much better than others. Have you found anything you can hyperfocus on? Just recently i've found something that i'm interested in, and that i'm trying to learn. If i 'm not interested enough, i just get bored after reading a little while. But if it's something that suits me, i can spend hours trying to learn more.

I've given up on trying to learn something that might help me doing my current job, and instead trying to learn something that i'm able to hyperfocus on. Found out that i most likely have ADD, which is ADHD without the Hyperactivity. If i read something i don't find interesteing, i'm getting impatience and wanna do something else. But if it's something i find interesting, i can spend hours on it daily, just to figure out how it works.
 
Have you considered copywriting, or proof reading? I know someone who does this for a living, and I have a seasonal proofreading job. There are outsourcing sites you can join, or you could post an ad in the local paper. It may take a while to get started and you aren't likely to be a millionaire soon, but it's a bit of extra income and some people make their living doing this.
 
MY issue is I know what my strengths are but I dont know how to go about getting started. I created a LinkedIn profile, nobody ever talks to me on there. I've applied to radio and tv stations trying to sell myself, but nothing. Nada. I have no clue how to implement my skills or create a plan for myself. Those are not my strongsuits at all. So I feel lost, and don't know how to get started.It seems people just want work experience. I could start a blog, but that costs money, right?

My skills are writing, commentary, satire, but I see no jobs for this. I don't do well with auditory processing, and I am not good at assembling things or putting things together. And I have a severe learning disability and hatred for math. I'm good at writing, english, satire, commentary, history. I know a little bit about most everything except math.
 
As AsheSkyler wrote, there are free blogging platforms out there. You could start a writing blog to showcase your work. I'm not the best person to give advice on the nuts and bolts of blogging and making money from it (channeling visitors, getting sponsors or advertisers) but I can see there is a potential for you to make money doing what you love.

You like to write satire and commentaries. So how about taking a wildly popular TV show and creating a satirical commentary for it as a blog? Or satirical write ups of current affairs? Comedy attracts people.

The trick is to learn how to use social media to your advantage. I'm sure there are lots of people on AC who know how to do this, and there are tutorials galore available on using the different media to attract visitors.

There's an Australian comedian named Christiaan Van Vuuren who was "discovered", for want of a better word, after he posted a funny rap video on YouTube describing life in hospital quarantine when he had multidrug-resistant TB. He went on to become The Fully Sick Rapper and created comedy video blogs and web series and has also been on national TV here for a couple of years with a comedy skit show called Soul Mates. Here is the YouTube channel https://m.youtube.com/user/ChristiaanVanVuuren And some info about his story https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiaan_Van_Vuuren (disclaimer: I am not saying I actually like his style of comedy. :))

I hope this gives you a little inspiration. :)
 
WHen I looked at the blog hosting sites though, they said you need a domain name and that they charge you for it? I thought blogs were supposed to be free? I'm confused. I'd like to start one and write one.
 
try getting in contact with your state's(assuming you are American, apologies otherwise) department of Vocational Rehabilitation. Voc Rehab has helped me a lot over the last year or so and they can find job placement.
 
I've done that. Vocational Rehab here had people who were severely mentally handicapped. I don't have down syndrome, I simply have mild autism and depression and anxiety. The Voc Rehab here wanted me to work as a janitor for 6.25 an hour. I'm sorry but that's insane. I have way more skills and abilities that that. Why lump me in with people with major intellectual disabilities? The wanted me to do a 95-hour program where I would have been paid 6.25 an hour, with then no guarantee of job placement. I don't get that. Autism and depression and anxiety does not mean I am handicapped.
 
Robby said:
I've done that. Vocational Rehab here had people who were severely mentally handicapped. I don't have down syndrome, I simply have mild autism and depression and anxiety. The Voc Rehab here wanted me to work as a janitor for 6.25 an hour. I'm sorry but that's insane. I have way more skills and abilities that that. Why lump me in with people with major intellectual disabilities? The wanted me to do a 95-hour program where I would have been paid 6.25 an hour, with then no guarantee of job placement. I don't get that. Autism and depression and anxiety does not mean I am handicapped.
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VR usually wants you to prove you're worth the investment, getting paid is better than I did but if you jump thru all the hoops they might pay for you to go to school. Not everywhere has a lot of opportunity unfortunately, I left home to move to the big city precisely for that reason as they had me at KMart where I was which there was no way I could be able to do. I think it is also very important to find a VR counselor that you have good working relationship with, I've tried be open by communicating with them thru email initially and I think that showed them I was stupid or anything like that. I've become pretty close with the support workers I have thru VR. I imagine it's not created equal across the states unfortunately tho.
 
Robby said:
WHen I looked at the blog hosting sites though, they said you need a domain name and that they charge you for it? I thought blogs were supposed to be free? I'm confused. I'd like to start one and write one.
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I don't know exactly what the norm is these days, but the old favourites like WordPress still offer free blogging platforms and you don't have to buy a domain name if you don't want to yet. Here is a list of free sites with a short description of each to give you a taste:

http://www.creativebloq.com/web-design/best-blogging-platforms-121413634


You could also try specifically searching for things such as "how to start a free blog", and "how to make money from a blog", "how to get a job from a blog" and similar.

I was looking at starting another online business recently and to be successful I learnt that I must promote my online shop through other sites such as Tumblr and Pinterest. I think this is key to being noticed. Both Tumblr and Pinterest have in depth tutorials and explain exactly how to set up a schedule for posting new things so you have posts coming out frequently and you maintain people's interest. It will take some time to learn how to do it but I know there are blogs out there that explain how to do it yourself.

Here are some pages I found with a quick search:

http://www.makealivingwriting.com/how-i-make-5k-blogging/

https://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/how-do-i-start-a-blog-and-make-money-online-483 (This one has info on making money toward the bottom)

https://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/how-do-i-start-a-blog-and-make-money-online-483

http://thewritelife.com/15-blogs-make-living-off-writing/


I hope this helps. :)
 
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