4 ms·

> I cant be successful I have autism!! then goes back to playing video games and working as a grocery bagger at age 35. "Mild" autism is just an excuse.

smeej 4y ago
I think a better way to approach it is, "I may need to find a different path to success than the neurotypical examples I've seen because I'm autistic." It's a level of work NTs don't have to put in. They can follow the examples of other NTs and reasonably expect it to work. Autistic people have to step back, evaluate why the method isn't working for them, iterate, and try again. But you're right--it doesn't have to be insurmountable. I figure if my challenge weren't this, it would just have been something else. No sense wishing to trade struggles. I have the one I have. So it's up to me to make a strategy to handle it.
- smeej 4y ago
  Follow-on comment: I think the helpful thing about labels is that they help people find other people who are also trying to make strategies around similar struggles and learn from them.
giantg2 4y ago
Mild autism can mean different things. It shouldn't be an absolute prevention of success, but I'm sure it could make it harder (life is already hard). I haven't been diagnosed, but a lot of the articles on this resonate (I scored a 6/10 on the screening and I don't even know how I can answer one of the remaining questions). I absolutely hate my job. I used to like it when I didn't have to worry about politics, policies, etc. Now it's absolute torture to go into work because I know I have to play politics, other people don't see things the way I do, I'm being told I have to change my opinions/insights/personality to match others, and the company violates their policies or says they don't mean what they literally say. If I have mild autism, then it's absolutely exhausting with no reward or end in sight. But maybe that's how it is for everyone?

smeej 4y ago

I think a better way to approach it is, "I may need to find a different path to success than the neurotypical examples I've seen because I'm autistic." It's a level of work NTs don't have to put in. They can follow the examples of other NTs and reasonably expect it to work. Autistic people have to step back, evaluate why the method isn't working for them, iterate, and try again. But you're right--it doesn't have to be insurmountable. I figure if my challenge weren't this, it would just have been something else. No sense wishing to trade struggles. I have the one I have. So it's up to me to make a strategy to handle it.

smeej 4y ago
Follow-on comment: I think the helpful thing about labels is that they help people find other people who are also trying to make strategies around similar struggles and learn from them.

giantg2 4y ago

Mild autism can mean different things. It shouldn't be an absolute prevention of success, but I'm sure it could make it harder (life is already hard). I haven't been diagnosed, but a lot of the articles on this resonate (I scored a 6/10 on the screening and I don't even know how I can answer one of the remaining questions). I absolutely hate my job. I used to like it when I didn't have to worry about politics, policies, etc. Now it's absolute torture to go into work because I know I have to play politics, other people don't see things the way I do, I'm being told I have to change my opinions/insights/personality to match others, and the company violates their policies or says they don't mean what they literally say. If I have mild autism, then it's absolutely exhausting with no reward or end in sight. But maybe that's how it is for everyone?