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I'm almost 40 years old and have a combination of both Asperger's Syndrome and Social Anxiety Disorder. Medication helps me a little bit, but needless to say, my life hasn't been very easy. I've worked about 30 different jobs in my lifetime and I've struggled with all of them. For the past 5 years I have been working a full time job that makes $15 an hour as a deli clerk at a grocery store, which is pretty good money for someone who doesn't have a family to support or have any debts. But I absolutely hate my boss and I don't like the idea of spending the rest of my life working at a grocery store.
So I am constantly looking for other jobs that would be a good fit for someone with my personality, but there don't seem to be any options. The only other jobs that I think I might enjoy only pay $10 or less, and are usually intended for young kids or students. The jobs that pay more than what I currently make are jobs that I don't think that I would like at all. So I feel like I am stuck with the job I have. I don't have any mechanical or technical skills, I have a bad driving record, I have a hard time multitasking, I have a lot of panic attacks when I'm around people, and I really don't have any particular talents, interests, or hobbies that would translate into a good career. So as much as I would love to find a better paying job, with more prestige, I just can't seem to find any realistic options. I feel so trapped. Does anybody have any suggestions for what I should do?
See a career counselor, to find out what your strengths are. I did it. It was insightful and I felt it was money well spent. This is the kind of thing that you need some objective third-party input on.
How are you managing your social anxiety and panic attacks? Do you see someone?
I take medication (klonopin) which helps me most of the time, but not always. I sometimes get panic attacks if I'm in a confrontational situation or if I'm in some sort of trouble, especially with my boss.
A few years ago I tried seeing some different counselors but I ended up wasting tons of money on advice that was no better than stuff I could have just googled.
See a career counselor, to find out what your strengths are. I did it. It was insightful and I felt it was money well spent. This is the kind of thing that you need some objective third-party input on.
Thank you for the advice. A career counselor might be helpful. I'll look into that.
Department of Labor should have positions reserved for people with Asperger's or any Disability and the employer usually gets a tax break. Are you certified Disabled in your state? Because Asperger's diagnosis I'm pretty sure should qualify you for some sort of SSI/SSD assistance.
Department of Labor should have positions reserved for people with Asperger's or any Disability and the employer usually gets a tax break. Are you certified Disabled in your state? Because Asperger's diagnosis I'm pretty sure should qualify you for some sort of SSI/SSD assistance.
I'm not certified as being disabled. I talked to my doctor about it and she basically said that there is a ton of red tape that I would have to go through, and there would be almost no chance that someone like me would qualify for any kind of disability or assistance.
I'm not certified as being disabled. I talked to my doctor about it and she basically said that there is a ton of red tape that I would have to go through, and there would be almost no chance that someone like me would qualify for any kind of disability or assistance.
I would consult with a Social Security Disability attorney who specializes in this. I've seen people with a lot less going on receive benefits.
I would also keep working on fine tuning your medications. I would find a psychiatrist who can help dial in the right meds to help you feel better on a consistent basis. It takes work but I feel it is well worth it.
I'm almost 40 years old and have a combination of both Asperger's Syndrome and Social Anxiety Disorder. Medication helps me a little bit, but needless to say, my life hasn't been very easy. I've worked about 30 different jobs in my lifetime and I've struggled with all of them. For the past 5 years I have been working a full time job that makes $15 an hour as a deli clerk at a grocery store, which is pretty good money for someone who doesn't have a family to support or have any debts. But I absolutely hate my boss and I don't like the idea of spending the rest of my life working at a grocery store.
So I am constantly looking for other jobs that would be a good fit for someone with my personality, but there don't seem to be any options. The only other jobs that I think I might enjoy only pay $10 or less, and are usually intended for young kids or students. The jobs that pay more than what I currently make are jobs that I don't think that I would like at all. So I feel like I am stuck with the job I have. I don't have any mechanical or technical skills, I have a bad driving record, I have a hard time multitasking, I have a lot of panic attacks when I'm around people, and I really don't have any particular talents, interests, or hobbies that would translate into a good career. So as much as I would love to find a better paying job, with more prestige, I just can't seem to find any realistic options. I feel so trapped. Does anybody have any suggestions for what I should do?
Maybe you should try to have a friendly meeting with your supervisor to discuss your strengths and weaknesses and what they feel you need to work on and ways they could enable you to get the job done better. I am absolutely NOT suggesting you are the problem but you would need to enter the conversation with a genuine problem solving attitude (wanting thing to improve and go more smoothly for everyone). You can state you struggle in certain areas with certain situations but do it in a way that is simply stating something that is a fact. Make it known that you don't expect or desire special treatment you simply want things to go better because the job is important to you. If things don't improve maybe consider some kind of vocational training or similar that you could complete around your work schedule. It's tough to get a decent paying job without training or someone you know to get you in.
I appreciate all of the feedback that I am getting. I guess I should probably elaborate a little bit more on my current situation. Up until recently, all of my shifts were from midnight to 8am. I absolutely love those hours because I usually only have to work with one other person for most of the night, and I hardly ever have to deal with customers. For the overnight shift I get paid $15.50 an hour just to fill up the salad bar and stock all of the food in the refrigerated display cases. The only thing that I don't like about it is having to tell people that I work as a grocery store clerk, especially when most of my friends and family are fairly rich and successful.
But anyway, a few weeks ago my boss told me that I can still work the overnight shift on weekends, but on the weekdays I have to work from 6am to 2pm. So on those days I have to slice meat & cheese for customers, run the cash register, make sandwiches for customers, prepare food plates for all the people in the lunch line, and a bunch of other stuff that makes me hate my life.
After my hours got changed I started looking around for other jobs. I found out that there are a bunch of assisted living homes that are hiring for dietary cooks. I think that is something that I would probably be really good at. So I went to an interview and was offered the job, but it only paid $10.50 an hour, and my family basically talked me out of accepting the job because it would be a $5.00 an hour pay cut from my current job, and it was almost an hour away.
In addition to that, it appears that my boss at the grocery store MIGHT be getting fired soon (she has a drug addiction and is a truly evil person that has been in a lot of hot water lately for all kinds of stuff). So from what I understand, if she gets fired then her assistant will probably take over and put me back on overnights for the entire week. But we have spent the past year thinking that she would get fired or demoted by now, and it still hasn't happened, so I'm not sure how much longer I can wait.
So I think I have several options, but I'm not sure if any of them are very good. So I could use some feedback on this.
1) I have a Bachelor's degree in Recreation Management, but I only made use of it for a few years because I eventually realized that my social skills didn't fit in very well with that career. I'm trying to think of a way that I might be able to make use of my degree but I can't think of much. There are a lot of fitness centers near me that are hiring but I've done jobs like that in the past and I didn't really like it that much. Maybe a job working in a state park or zoo or something. But those jobs are usually hard to find.
2) I could keep working at the grocery store and hope that my schedule eventually gets changed back. But I don't like the idea of having to spend the rest of my life telling people that I could only amount to becoming a grocery store clerk despite having a bachelor's degree.
3) I could try to get a job as a dietary cook at one of the assisted living homes in my area. They just opened up a really nice one at the end of my street that I could walk to, and they are hiring for dietary cooks, but it only pays $11.00 an hour. I hardly spend any money so I don't think it would hurt me too much to take a pay cut from what I'm currently making. It might be worth it if I'm at a job that I enjoy. Maybe I could eventually go from being a dietary cook to being a dietary manager, which would probably pay more than what I'm making now. But I'm not really the type of person that likes to manage other people, so hoping for a promotion might not be realistic.
4) I could try to find some sort of assembly line type of job. I used to have some success with those types of jobs, but I had always gotten hired through an employment agency, and these days I can't seem to get any employment agencies to find me anything good. A lot of those jobs pay less than $10 an hour but there are a few of them make pretty good money.
So those are the only 4 options that I can think of. I'm embarrassed that I can't find any better opportunities at this stage of my life. I really thought for sure that I was going to be rich and successful one day, but things just haven't worked out too well for me. So I could definitely use any feedback that I can get.
Last edited by dpow; 05-02-2018 at 10:01 AM..
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