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look at the bright side. There is ALWAYS a bright side.
At least you aren't repaying $150k in student loans and working as a high paid lawyer and still hate your job.
it's time to sacrifice something, find a different job even if it pays less.
here's my story. hopefully you find something useful in it:
I retired from IT at 48 and got bored being a stay at home dad. I looked for work specifically avoiding IT. Found a business analyst job and didn't like it very much so I quit.
Took a lower paying data entry job. I learned that the 3 previous people who were in my position never worked more than 2 months. One older fellow who thought the job was beneath him. made mistakes, blamed other people lost his temper and got fired. The next person was pretty good at the work but wasn't interested in it and found another job. 3rd temp did the work but was kinda lazy and didn't really find interest in learning enough to do the job effectively so she left the country. I got the job as a temp and the previous person came back in time to train me. The job didn't bother me, I didn't mind doing it and they made me a manager with a raise within 2 months of working. Apparently, the temp to permanent had been in the works for months so it's not because I'm a stellar worker although I know I'm doing a better job than the others. I had a stroke of dumb luck with a healthy helping of right time / right place.
my point. go find something else. you never know what's going to come out of it. you might even not mind doing the work.
Lets consider what the Autism Society says about people with ASD.
Some of the behaviors associated with autism include delayed learning of language; difficulty making eye contact or holding a conversation; difficulty with executive functioning, which relates to reasoning and planning.
All things that teachers must have, are something that if you have ASD are your weak points.
You have a Bachelors and Masters degrees in a field that you cannot expect to excel in with your medical problems. Teaching is also a field with a surplus of people with applicable degrees, so employers can be picky and choose people with no problem, plus the pay is low due to the surplus of available qualified applicants with degrees.
You have degrees, and heavy debt load, in a field you cannot find an opening for you with your medical problems. It is a field you should not have spent your time being educated in. This is proven, when you have a teaching position though not a great one and very low paid at that, and you are getting so many reprimands that you are worried you will be fired.
What you need to find, is a career counselor that can help you find a field of work that will support you, and be one that you will be able to handle the duties involved. It might not be well paid however, which is a problem.
When I was a child, I had big dreams and lofty goals. Even now, I often daydream about becoming a zookeeper, a famous writer and traveler, a model, and perhaps a private teacher with her own tutoring service. The problem, though, is I'm thirty years old, and these are still just dreams. Now, I went to school and got a couple of degrees, but it's still not that easy to find regular entertaining work. I majored in Education, but I work in a detention center, and I often find myself on the receiving end of reprimands, and I have been threatened with termination. I'm wondering if it's time to move on or if I should try to keep this until I find something better? I know it's not a good idea to quit with nothing lined up, and substitute teaching actually pays less than the job I have, but I need to do something.
I say this as the older sibling of a millennial, who also considers herself a millennial as well. The fact is that young adults today are still trying to carve out a niche in this new economy. Realistically, many will have to take "survival jobs" while in search of their vocation. That also may entail leaving positions that are not conducive to your long-term goals and/or plans. So, your job is to a) identify what your goals/dreams are and b) formulate a path to realizing them. Stop worrying about artificial benchmarks (such as age). Who cares if you're 30, 35, 40--or beyond? Are you happy? If not, then it's time for a change (better sooner than later).
If I were you, I'd look into entry-level jobs with my interests in mind. For example, if you dream of becoming a "famous writer and traveler", I'd search for travel writing gigs. There are a bunch of sites like, Who Pays Writers? or Freelancer , which list freelance writing jobs. Keep in mind without experience they're not as easy to locate, but there are such jobs out there. On the other hand, modeling/acting is a bit more difficult of an industry to "break into". Gigs are often in specific locations (Los Angeles, New York), and talent should be within travelling distance of casting agencies. That said, there's a huge Vlogging community which has launched many a Youtube star. If you have decent camera equipment (and something of interest to share), it's possible to build a following (and make some money through ad-revenue). Again, difficult--but not impossible.
As for your other "big dream" of becoming a zookeeper. Well, that obviously requires additional education. You've said you have a substantial debt-to-income ratio and might not be able to borrow any additional money (although, if your credit is excellent, then private loans might be an option). I'd look for fellowships which fund additional education for returning graduate students or those seeking to switch vocations.
In anycase, whatever you decide never, ever stop "dreaming". Pursuing one's dreams is the source of happiness. It makes all of the sadness, frustration, and mundane-ness that life occasionally dishes, worthwhile. Hopefully, you'll make a plan centered around your dreams, rather than trying to talk yourself out of having them.
Employers (businesses, services, companies, governments, grocery stores, universities, start-ups, taco stands, travel agencies, any organization that hires someone to do something) do not exist to provide you with entertainment. They exist to provide whatever goods, services, tacos, oversight, education, next great gizmo, or whatever it is they do to generate profits. They want people who will contribute to their success, not people who expect them to provide entertainment.
People can become interested in the work they have been hired to do, or they can become interested in the process, goals, materials, activities, outcomes, people, or some other element they encounter in the course of doing the job they were hired to do. People can decide to find joy or satisfaction or "entertainment" in doing the best job they can at whatever it is they have been hired to do. Not everyone can land his or her dream job, but everyone can usually find something in a job that brings at least satisfaction when it has been done well.
No one is guaranteed an "entertaining" job or an easy life or happiness or beauty or anything. Sometimes (usually) we have to find all those things for ourselves within ourselves.
What are you expecting from these posters? What will they say differently than those of us in the education forum who have been giving the same advice for YEARS? Only for you to ignore it do stupid stuff like register for math classes in hopes of teaching it when you already have a master's in education?
I'm getting a bit annoyed by your ASD claims now, and i promise never to post to you again. I know many people with ASD and yes, it is a barrier to employment, BUT holy hell, do you ever cling to it like a crutch and use it to explain every single bad decision you continue to make. You sure seem to use it to justify everything, even stuff that comes down to your own bad choices and coasting in life. I don't understand why you don't seem to have more reason than my 7 year old with ASD. How much is ASD and how much of it is just being someone who avoids real life!??
You said you wouldn't post to me again, so I guess you won't be reading this, but I guess it isn't all ASD. I'm just really frustrated with whatever it is. Trust me, it's very hard to even focus on your duties when you are either obsessing endlessly over some trivial worry that you can't get out of your head or daydreaming and fantasizing to keep such thoughts out of your focus. I know that it's not conducive to meeting any goal, but sometimes I just feel like I have to fantasize. I use my fantasies to work out problems that I don't feel like I can talk to other people about, and sometimes I just use them to escape.
It's not that I don't want to do well and focus on my job, it's just that I can't focus on it sometimes. I get bored very easily but I also have a tendency to dwell on persistent negative thoughts. I realize none of these habits are productive, and I have tried to stop doing it, but usually when I meet a "trigger," I go back to my old habits. It really is automatic. I guess I could come up with a way to cope with it and focus on what I need to focus on, but sometimes the anxiety I feel is so strong I'm lucky I'm making it through the day, let alone being productive. I go through extreme cycles of excitement, anxiety, depression, and calm. I wish I didn't do this, but it's something I've been doing for many years. Something triggers my OCD thoughts, and I feel the anxiety, fantasize to get away from it, get depressed, and then become calm and able to focus until another episode hits, usually a few hours, days, or weeks later.
While this is going on, I'm trying to perform my job duties like nothing is wrong. I guess, with all of that taken into consideration, I've actually done well.
Distraction--this usually comes in the form of surfing the internet, reading, or doing math problems while the kids are working. I know you would probably say that I'm not "present," when doing these activities, but if I don't do something I'll start daydreaming. Truthfully, the constant need for distraction might contribute more than I've noticed to my communication issues. You have to realize I've been coping with these problems like this since I started to have them during my early teenage years. I withdrew from people and started living in a fantasy world part-time. I used my vivid daydreams to write fantasy stories that I hoped to one day publish, but now, it's all just a nuisance. I'm a grown-up; I don't have time to daydream like I don't have a care in the world! I know that. Still, though, I go back to it when there's a lot of anxiety or if the fantasy is just so comforting that I feel like I'm missing out by not experiencing it.
Lets consider what the Autism Society says about people with ASD.
Some of the behaviors associated with autism include delayed learning of language; difficulty making eye contact or holding a conversation; difficulty with executive functioning, which relates to reasoning and planning.
All things that teachers must have, are something that if you have ASD are your weak points.
You have a Bachelors and Masters degrees in a field that you cannot expect to excel in with your medical problems. Teaching is also a field with a surplus of people with applicable degrees, so employers can be picky and choose people with no problem, plus the pay is low due to the surplus of available qualified applicants with degrees.
You have degrees, and heavy debt load, in a field you cannot find an opening for you with your medical problems. It is a field you should not have spent your time being educated in. This is proven, when you have a teaching position though not a great one and very low paid at that, and you are getting so many reprimands that you are worried you will be fired.
What you need to find, is a career counselor that can help you find a field of work that will support you, and be one that you will be able to handle the duties involved. It might not be well paid however, which is a problem.
I know this was mentioned before, but where can I find a legitimate career counselor? I've gone to the Career Services center at the university I attend, and they have people called "career counselors," but they are no help. I guess I could try the vocational rehabilitation center, but the last time I checked they had support for people with depression, not ASD.
If I were you, I'd look into entry-level jobs with my interests in mind. For example, if you dream of becoming a "famous writer and traveler", I'd search for travel writing gigs. There are a bunch of sites like, Who Pays Writers? or Freelancer , which list freelance writing jobs. Keep in mind without experience they're not as easy to locate, but there are such jobs out there. On the other hand, modeling/acting is a bit more difficult of an industry to "break into". Gigs are often in specific locations (Los Angeles, New York), and talent should be within travelling distance of casting agencies. That said, there's a huge Vlogging community which has launched many a Youtube star. If you have decent camera equipment (and something of interest to share), it's possible to build a following (and make some money through ad-revenue). Again, difficult--but not impossible.
That's a good idea. Well, I could try writing for the school paper since I'm still a student and an alumnus. They do pay writers a little bit, so it might be a good place to start at least.
As for the modeling, maybe I'm being too hard on myself, but I don't think I would make a good traditional model. I love the camera, but I'm not sure if the feeling's mutual. I've aged, and I can tell that I just don't look that good when I take pictures of myself. I don't know what it is, either. I don't know if I need to lose weight or what it is.
Acting is something I've wanted to try, but the closest I've gotten is doing a little comedy at the public speaking club, which I no longer attend because of the math class I'm taking. Math is a great mental exercise. I don't really know how to use it, but I feel like it at least opens up new possibilities, and, if I'm lucky, some of those new possibilities may be in less social in-demand areas.
I've seriously thought about becoming a YouTube star, but there's some kind of hang up I have about posting my own videos or vlogging alone. If I vlog, I would rather be part of a group; otherwise, I might say some stuff that I will regret. Just look at how open I am on this forum, for example!
look at the bright side. There is ALWAYS a bright side.
At least you aren't repaying $150k in student loans and working as a high paid lawyer and still hate your job.
it's time to sacrifice something, find a different job even if it pays less.
here's my story. hopefully you find something useful in it:
I retired from IT at 48 and got bored being a stay at home dad. I looked for work specifically avoiding IT. Found a business analyst job and didn't like it very much so I quit.
Took a lower paying data entry job. I learned that the 3 previous people who were in my position never worked more than 2 months. One older fellow who thought the job was beneath him. made mistakes, blamed other people lost his temper and got fired. The next person was pretty good at the work but wasn't interested in it and found another job. 3rd temp did the work but was kinda lazy and didn't really find interest in learning enough to do the job effectively so she left the country. I got the job as a temp and the previous person came back in time to train me. The job didn't bother me, I didn't mind doing it and they made me a manager with a raise within 2 months of working. Apparently, the temp to permanent had been in the works for months so it's not because I'm a stellar worker although I know I'm doing a better job than the others. I had a stroke of dumb luck with a healthy helping of right time / right place.
my point. go find something else. you never know what's going to come out of it. you might even not mind doing the work.
My problem is I'm terribly disorganized and cannot focus at times. I forget duties of the job and escape to la la land. I'm surprised they haven't fired me just over that.
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