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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.
I do think it's important to follow your dreams but the only problem with being a dreamer is it gets to be a double edged sword. Like KMB I'm a constant daydreamer. I come out of those dreams wishing they were real. When I watch a television show I really like..I'll be happy when I'm absorbed in it but then I get really sad when I "come to". I can't stop this if I tried. I've been like that all my life as well. I know I have because my mom said that before I knew how to read I would take a book and make up stories. It's like I'm destined to live vicariously through other people.
I feel like that at times; I'm always an actor, except when I'm myself, but, as myself, I'm about as gullible and trusting as they come. Of course I want to be someone else. It's safe to hide behind procedures and scripts. The saying "be yourself" doesn't really apply to people like me. There is no "self" that can be expressed in a socially acceptable way; it all has to be affectation.
1) I just skimmed these pages, but it sounds like you really need professional help for whatever mental problems/illnesses you are going through. Yes, most people daydream and wish they were doing something else - it is truly rare that people get some sort of greater fulfillment from their day jobs, but if it's impeding your life to this extent, it's abnormal. Until you learn better coping skills, it's likely you're going to fail in most fields.
2) Did you pass/take the PRAXIS test or whatever else you need to be able to teach at a K-12 level? That may not be "where the money is," but you'll earn considerably more than you are now and have more job security.
3) Apply to anything that leads to a pay raise. $20k per year is not even $10/hr. I live in another low wage state and retail/fast food work could get you $10/hr.
4) Get out of south Alabama. Immediately. Half of your problem is that you live in an impoverished area with a weak job market.
I feel like that at times; I'm always an actor, except when I'm myself, but, as myself, I'm about as gullible and trusting as they come. Of course I want to be someone else. It's safe to hide behind procedures and scripts. The saying "be yourself" doesn't really apply to people like me. There is no "self" that can be expressed in a socially acceptable way; it all has to be affectation.
I hate when people advise you to be yourself because I'm like "what do you think I'm doing?". I believe in doing that as an authentic person but when I show them myself they don't hire me.
I get confused with mixing reality and fantasy. I try to think about acting as someone else since they don't accept me as I am but my mind can't do it because it's supposed to me..it's my qualifications, name, contact info etc. so it knows that's lying and not acting. Basically telling me to fib is just as useless as saying be yourself because I may be an aspiring actress but that doesn't make me a great liar.
I agree with what someone said about Alabama and the job market and low pay there. I have a friend who lives not far from there and she's never been able to find much of any kind of decent job.
I agree with what someone said about Alabama and the job market and low pay there. I have a friend who lives not far from there and she's never been able to find much of any kind of decent job.
That's too bad.... if you live in Alabama and are in the right area you can find very good pay in a relatively decent COL area. My wife and I have zero problems on that front. And yes, we live in Alabama (and always have)
I wouldn't put too much into someone's opinion of another state without living/working there. It all depends on the type of work and the location.
That's too bad.... if you live in Alabama and are in the right area you can find very good pay in a relatively decent COL area. My wife and I have zero problems on that front. And yes, we live in Alabama (and always have)
I wouldn't put too much into someone's opinion of another state without living/working there. It all depends on the type of work and the location.
Not saying there are zero good jobs in Alabama, but it's difficult to find job in small towns and rural areas in the South. I've never lived in Alabama, but do live in Tennessee, and when I was looking for my first professional job out of college, I barely got a sniff in the South. If I did get interest, the salary was only 20%-40% than similar cost Midwest metros.
I make a good wage for the area but it's largely because I brought back my "up north" salary.
Changing locations won't fix this guy's problem on its own, but it's a start and probably necessary at this point.
1) I just skimmed these pages, but it sounds like you really need professional help for whatever mental problems/illnesses you are going through. Yes, most people daydream and wish they were doing something else - it is truly rare that people get some sort of greater fulfillment from their day jobs, but if it's impeding your life to this extent, it's abnormal. Until you learn better coping skills, it's likely you're going to fail in most fields.
2) Did you pass/take the PRAXIS test or whatever else you need to be able to teach at a K-12 level? That may not be "where the money is," but you'll earn considerably more than you are now and have more job security.
3) Apply to anything that leads to a pay raise. $20k per year is not even $10/hr. I live in another low wage state and retail/fast food work could get you $10/hr.
4) Get out of south Alabama. Immediately. Half of your problem is that you live in an impoverished area with a weak job market.
If the OP can not get rid of his illness (if he has ASD, he most likely can't), he have to learn to manage the
symptoms. No matter what job you have, you can't retreat into your fantasy world when you are on the clock. You should be seeing a psychologist, preferably one who specializes in your disorder, who can help you with your range of behaviors (whether through behavioral therapy, medication, etc) so that you can successfully navigate the employment world. A re there any support groups that you can join for tips on how to cope with your illness and the world?
Can you not work on your writing in your spare time or join some writing groups? You might be able to self publish your writings or maybe even start a blog. You could also look into tutoring the occasional student when you have free time.
The majority of people on this thread, are advising the OP as if he did not have ASD. The are not looking it from the point of a normal young man and not accepting ASD is a problem that they are not taking into consideration. They have no idea, of what people with ASD suffer from. I have a grandson with ASD, so do understand the problems that the OP is facing.
ASD has no medical treatment that can solve the problem. ASD is not something that a medical doctor or Physiologist can make go away. It is a condition, that the person with ASD follows certain patterns. The average ASD sufferer is above average in intelligence.
1: As the OP has stated he has a hard time staying focused. The same with my late teen grandson. In the classroom, he will be doing great but then he suddenly loses interest and his mind can go completely off into other thoughts and loses his concentration in class. He may get out of his seat, and be looking out of the window, etc. The OP has stated that concentration is a big problem for him.
My grandson was here with his father for 2 weeks in June. I offered to pay him $15 an hour to do simple tasks such as mowing the lawn with a garden tractor. He was excited as he could make a few hundred dollars while he was here. He did fine for half an hour then his mind wondered and got off the tractor out in the field and went inside the house to play a video game. He is good with a computer, and is good in a chat room. He forgot he was going to mow the lawn, and was earning money. One minute he is highly intelligent in a conversation, then he wonders mentally and is in another world doing something else. In the two weeks, he earned a total of $20 and wanted that put into a pay pal account to spend on the Internet.
Talking to him, he will sound above average in intelligence, but may get up in the middle of a sentence and wonder off.
The OP has a simple job, but as he says he has a lot of reprimands, due to his ability to stay on the subject doing his job. He keeps getting fired, when he jets a job.
When you give him advice of what you would do, if you were him, you are looking at the problem as you would look at it, not as someone with ASD looks at it.
To understand what he is going through, you need to read the following from a highly placed source.
Remember the majority of ASD sufferers are above average in intelligence. That is why the OP could get his bachelors and masters degree in education. The problem is being able to stay focused on the job and to be able to say concentrated and run the classroom and teach the children. That is what the problem comes down to.
ASD is a terrible problem for a lot of people in the country, depending on if it is a mild or a severe condition in their case. No one with ASD wants the problem it causes them, but they have no control over the problem. There is no treatment. It is something they have to live with all their lives.
They can get a decent job, but like the OP says, he keeps getting reprimands, and when they get tired of working with his problems fire him. And his actions that get him reprimands and fired, are something he cannot control. That is the terrible part of it. From his ability to write, people are seeing an obviously intelligent man who is having a difficult time coping. Posters are giving him advice as if he was an intelligent young man, with two degrees. They are overlooking the ASD problem he keeps bringing up, as the don't understand his problem at all. I have known a woman all my life who is now deceased from old, old age. She had what in now known as ASD. She was college educated with a Business Administration Degree. She would get jobs in her field, but lasted only a very short time at them. And I mean short time. She finally went to work in fish processing plant, cleaning fish. She worked there for years just to be able to support herself. She did not have to work with people at this job. She was tall, slim and reasonably good looking. She attracted young men, but their romances did not last long, due to her ASD problems. When they first would met her, she would be a normal intelligent and desirable young woman. But suddenly she would just walk away from them in another world as a friend of mine said about their breakup.
Well, the point is, of course I don't want to get fired. I'm already kind of unhappy that I'm working here only making about 20K per year, because I have a master's in Education, and all I could find was a job working with troubled youth. I'm grateful for it, but if i get fired, that's another nail in my coffin; it will be more difficult for me to find teaching jobs. At this point, I'm wondering if I just shouldn't quit.
You need to grow up for real. I used to live in the hood and i can tell you people like u won’t last in that business if you working with those kids will eat u alive cause u whinng and dont really care. Just another self entitled poster who think a job is like a movie where u show up and get popcorn. Now if u got some disabilty, realize your limits take responsibly for what u do and make a move. good luck.
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