How can someone with autism make money abroad?

[Carolyn Burton]

I had never met any of my family aside from my father and he was very abusive towards me and long story short he didn't help me and he met a woman, had a baby with her and had the council put me in a care facility and I never saw him again. I met an online friend from Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2004 and every year he flew to England to see me and last year he came and took me with him to live there for a better life. I have been here one year now and I want to make my own money as I'm living off of his right now.

Since I moved here I no longer can get benefits from the UK (or is it possible?) so I would like to know what I can do over here to make money. I have atypical autism and extremely low self esteem, I get nervous even going to the shop. I have learning problems and haven't learnt the language here, even after doing online language courses and still struggling with it. I have had no prior work experience and I got bad school grades due to bullying and not being able to concentrate. I struggle being around people and as far as I know the only jobs working at a computer involve advance computer knowledge, which I do not have.

Do you have any idea what I can do? I feel bad from living off of someone else's money and getting additional pressure from his uncle who is saying i'm just here to leech off of it and yet we've all spent hours trying to find a way for me to make money and have no support, as I don't have a family and it is coming up to the second year now and we still don't know.

Thank you.

 

[kbb0]

You've listed a lot of your weaknesses which are good to know, but in order to get someone to pay you to do something you also have to know your strengths. I know it can be hard to see them when you have low self esteem (and I'm saying this from personal experience), but everyone has them, so I think your next step should be figuring out your skills and natural abilities and then doing the research from there.

 

[Thinx]

Could you work in a kitchen or a hotel maybe? Or teach English?

 

[Crossbreed]

...and last year he came and took me with him to live there for a better life.

I feel bad from living off of someone else's money and getting additional pressure from his uncle who is saying i'm just here to leech off of it...

Was coming there your idea or his? Are you there at his invitation? Did you two have a plan about how this arrangement was going to go forward?

 

[Progster]

I'm in a similar position to yourself, I live in Greece.

As a native English person living in Slovenia, you should be able to get work easily teaching English to kids. Working in a school might not be your thing, but you could give private tuition or online tuition. Another thing you could do is proofread, things like UK university applications (personal statements and references), or CVs - this involves checking for spelling and grammar errors and you wouldn't need any specialised computing knowledge, just Microsoft Word or similar product with change tracking capability.

 

[Major Tom]

The only thing I have found in a similar position is teaching English. It sucks, but it brings in some money. Also makes you confront fears about people and being in front of a crowd.

 

[Progster]

The only thing I have found in a similar position is teaching English. It sucks, but it brings in some money. Also makes you confront fears about people and being in front of a crowd.

Yes, I wouldn't say that it was my ideal job, either. It's not something that comes naturally to me because of my Asperger's, but it's just about the only thing I can do around here if I want to make a living.

 

[Streetwise]

I had never met any of my family aside from my father and he was very abusive towards me and long story short he didn't help me and he met a woman, had a baby with her and had the council put me in a care facility and I never saw him again. I met an online friend from Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2004 and every year he flew to England to see me and last year he came and took me with him to live there for a better life. I have been here one year now and I want to make my own money as I'm living off of his right now.

Since I moved here I no longer can get benefits from the UK (or is it possible?) so I would like to know what I can do over here to make money. I have atypical autism and extremely low self esteem, I get nervous even going to the shop. I have learning problems and haven't learnt the language here, even after doing online language courses and still struggling with it. I have had no prior work experience and I got bad school grades due to bullying and not being able to concentrate. I struggle being around people and as far as I know the only jobs working at a computer involve advance computer knowledge, which I do not have.

Do you have any idea what I can do? I feel bad from living off of someone else's money and getting additional pressure from his uncle who is saying i'm just here to leech off of it and yet we've all spent hours trying to find a way for me to make money and have no support, as I don't have a family and it is coming up to the second year now and we still don't know.

Thank you.

If you are in an area that has large office blocks you might be able to get the job being a cleaner that would be very quiet there will be nobody there and it's earning money

 

[Suzanne]

Your situation is in some ways, pretty similar to how my situation is. I am also from the uk, but live in France and although it is said that if I actually studied French, I would become good at it, unfortunatly for me, I do not actually like the language very much and so, despite living here, I cannot find that to motivate me and feel rather horrible about it.

I can speak French to a certain extend though, due to mimicking.

Anyway, I divert.

If you are able to pay for online courses and become what ever it is, to do online, that is a way to finance yourself.

 

[Bolletje]

I might be alarmist over nothing, but I’m getting some major bad vibes off of your post, OP. Don’t let these people pressure you into anything you don’t feel comfortable doing. Try to find a job and, if possible, some financial independence. There are jobs you can do from home over the computer, if you can’t find a job in a local business.

 

[BraidedPony]

Looking ahead a bit, when you get a job you could also have your own bank account. Then you can have your employer direct deposit your paycheck into your own account.
This is part of the independence you talked about. You want to earn and also control the money you earn.
As an Aspie one of the most difficult things I had to learn was to only trust people who deserve my trust, actually, I’m still learning this but I’m getting much better.
I have trouble just going to the store too. It helps to break up the process into small steps. For example, I wash my face and comb my hair, then sit down and relax. Next I’ll get dressed and maybe rest again before putting on my shoes. Anyway, you get the idea, it would be so different for everybody because we all get ready to leave the house differently. It also helps to take short walks and then go back home on days you don’t have to shop. It kind of keeps my mind from feeling stuck in a comfortable rut of staying hidden in my house watching tv.

 

[AloneNotLonely]

The great part about Slovenia is that it's a beautiful and amazing country with really cool and nice people. The bad part is that finding a job there is really difficult.

Your best shot is something online. Slovenia has relatively low wages, so even badly paid online work is actually a living wage as long as you can keep it up for 8-10 hours productively. "How to make money" is a problem that normal Slovenians without autism have to deal with, so as a foreigner with autism that doesn't even speak the language it is going to be very difficult.

 

[Mattymatt]

This is just a suggestion but how about stressing your willingness to learn and be teachable. My grandfather ran a medium-sized business very successfully, and when he would hire people, he did not necessarily want the most skilled person. He felt that the person with the most motivation to learn and be teachable was more valuable in the long term than someone already skilled.