How did you do it? You’re living my dream! I’d like to believe I can soar to the stars, but I’m physically disabled with Autism and am having a hard time not being dependent on family, a man, or strangers for roommates; the world is not easy for disabled women. The minimum I want in life is a one bedroom/spacious studio apartment nearish a city with decent healthcare. I just want enough room for me, my cats, maybe an aquarium, and a small garden on the porch. My main struggle is finding and keeping work in a field where my coworkers respect me (male dominated fields are where I suffer but also make the most) and I get paid livable wages with decent benefits. Does anyone have any advice?
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I think once you have a stable job that treats you well, that’s when the possibilities unlock. The hard part is getting there.
I elected to pursue a high paying career.
How did you know you had autism? I don’t know if I have it, or maybe it’s a severe case of social anxiety. My fear is going to be tested and being told that I don’t have it, and living knowing that there is no neurological reason why I am like this.
I’m not sure how much your physical disability limits you, so I can’t speak to that, but I went back to school at 28 for engineering (electrical). It is male dominated, but there’s a high proportion of autistic people in this field and most jobs are desk jobs. Whether you feel respected or not as a woman in this field will depend largely on the culture of your place of work.
I went back to college to get a better paying job in a field where I didn’t have to deal with the general public. I work in lab side of healthcare. Now, it’s just me and my kitties and my hobbies. It’s a small, quiet life – but worth going back to college for.
You’d probably get more helpful answers asking other autistic women. The path an allistic person takes to achieve something most likely looks different, and their challenges will be different.
That said, I’m an autistic woman (level 1) and am living alone with my dog. It’s challenging, but it’s not impossible.
It sounds like the only thing holding you back is not being able to hold down a steady job, but we/I can’t help much without knowing more about that.
What type of work do you do?
A lot of autistic burnout in the workplace has to do with being in a job that doesn’t fit with your flavor of autism. We have very awesome skills and can be brilliant if we click well the environment and subject matter. If you’re having trouble meeting the demands of the job it might be a sign that the job just doesn’t fit the demands of the autism.