Smokey
New Member
Hi there! I'm Smokey (they/them), I'm 39, and I live in Ohio, USA. That's Lake Erie in my profile pic! 
I do not have a formal diagnosis, and I don't think I would be comfortable seeking one...really just looking for ways to cope with some of my issues, which I recently began to suspect were due to ASD. (Is this the preferred way to refer to it here? I have browsed around and don't see many people using that abbreviation.) Anyway, I'm not going to list them all here or anything; not looking for confirmation, just companionship and commiseration, I guess.
My most recent struggle: I have a hard time keeping jobs; I get frustrated or mad or bored and don't stick around long. I am TERRIBLE at interviews. The only jobs I've gotten are those with skill-based tests, and then I usually get promoted once I'm in the company. About a year ago, I really wanted a full-time job, so I made myself very uncomfortable to meet the requirements. The only time I really love my job is when I get to do invoicing at the end of the month, and I spent a few hours basically just copying numbers over to different columns, making sure everything adds up, and checking "done" on a row. I get to work by myself, without interruption, without having to talk to anyone. It's basically heaven, haha. BUT now my role is changing and I am expected to work on a team constantly, and I'm just miserable. I get annoyed because I can see very clearly the problems with the solutions that other people propose, and they just don't listen or don't understand when I try to explain. So, I'm looking for other work.
I'm feeling a little dejected because even if I do get selected for an interview (unlikely, because I'm looking for a remote job), I feel I'll do really poorly at it. I've researched interview questions and practiced my answers, but if anyone phrases a question a little bit differently than what I expect, I just panic and forget everything. It's unfortunate, because I'm in the last few weeks of my graduate degree, and now I feel like I've wasted a lot of money. From what I've read, this sort of struggle is common in the community, so I'm really looking forward to learning from everyone's experiences.
Anyway! Sorry, that was a long introduction post—I'm not looking for solutions to this particular problem here, or anything, just wanted to give some context. I'm really looking forward to getting to know you all on the forums here.
I do not have a formal diagnosis, and I don't think I would be comfortable seeking one...really just looking for ways to cope with some of my issues, which I recently began to suspect were due to ASD. (Is this the preferred way to refer to it here? I have browsed around and don't see many people using that abbreviation.) Anyway, I'm not going to list them all here or anything; not looking for confirmation, just companionship and commiseration, I guess.My most recent struggle: I have a hard time keeping jobs; I get frustrated or mad or bored and don't stick around long. I am TERRIBLE at interviews. The only jobs I've gotten are those with skill-based tests, and then I usually get promoted once I'm in the company. About a year ago, I really wanted a full-time job, so I made myself very uncomfortable to meet the requirements. The only time I really love my job is when I get to do invoicing at the end of the month, and I spent a few hours basically just copying numbers over to different columns, making sure everything adds up, and checking "done" on a row. I get to work by myself, without interruption, without having to talk to anyone. It's basically heaven, haha. BUT now my role is changing and I am expected to work on a team constantly, and I'm just miserable. I get annoyed because I can see very clearly the problems with the solutions that other people propose, and they just don't listen or don't understand when I try to explain. So, I'm looking for other work.
I'm feeling a little dejected because even if I do get selected for an interview (unlikely, because I'm looking for a remote job), I feel I'll do really poorly at it. I've researched interview questions and practiced my answers, but if anyone phrases a question a little bit differently than what I expect, I just panic and forget everything. It's unfortunate, because I'm in the last few weeks of my graduate degree, and now I feel like I've wasted a lot of money. From what I've read, this sort of struggle is common in the community, so I'm really looking forward to learning from everyone's experiences.
Anyway! Sorry, that was a long introduction post—I'm not looking for solutions to this particular problem here, or anything, just wanted to give some context. I'm really looking forward to getting to know you all on the forums here.
