Jobs for people with autism

[riverunner]

I recently got a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1. I am pursuing a PhD in evolutionary biology. I have terrible reports about my teaching I get from my students. My stimming involves scratching myself to bits in front of the class. I feel that I am pressured to enter a post-doc position in the next two years, and after that a

Comments

[anais_pf]

I don't know that there are going to be many people on this list that can help with this question in any practical way. I think a career counselor may be able to steer you in an appropriate direction. It could be that you can get free career counseling from one of the colleges you've attended. You may also want to ask your professors directly.

[riverunner]

I am pursuing those avenues. I am dissatisfied with the answers I received. When I was depressed (before I got an official diagnosis), I posted a message saying how I was losing faith in academia and how much I disliked teaching. I got in a bunch of trouble for saying that. I simply want an avenue where I can express my frustration, without being judged for doing so.

[anais_pf]

Ah, okay, you will get sympathy here for sure. I was taking your question at face value, and perhaps I shouldn't have. And in fact, there may be people on this list who know enough about your specialty to give you helpful advice as well as sympathy.

[pklemica]

I have friends who work in a bio lab without teaching; have you looked into research positions? These exist both in academia and in the private sector. I don't know much about evolutionary biology specifically, but I'm sure with knowing your way around stuff like PCR, electrophoresis, and microscopy you should be able to get in at the very least as a lab tech somewhere. Main danger applying to low-level lab tech positions is they might consider you overqualified with a PhD... I'm not certain how this works at that level, I'm in math where we don't really have things like private sector wetlabs. Maybe that's enough keywords to allow you to search further though?

[weebleswobble]

i dont think the typical layperson is going to be able to offer you any advice in finding a job requiring THOSE skills. other than 'critical thinking' and 'paying attention to detail', i havent got a clue what any of that stuff even is. sorry. i dont know what an evolutionary biologist would do under any circumstances, so i cannot suggest what kind of job would work for you.

i have aspergers and i cannot work directly with the public. i just dont have the skills required to interact with people on a constant basis. it makes sense to me that teaching would not mesh well with someone who is on the autism spectrum. did you go to college for that degree intending to be a teacher?

[pklemica]

I teach and it is amazing! A lot of my struggles as a child with an extremely gaslighty normative mother mean that I may not be able to always identify what people are thinking/feeling, but I have a keen learned sense of the "appropriate" ways to behave in a public situation. They also meant that I spent most of my formative years with massive self-doubt and developed one heck of an anxiety disorder on top of my unfailing autism, but y'know, whatever, at least I can pass? Though mostly I manage to pass nowadays by embracing how I work and not making a big deal out of whatever 'quirks' others may notice in me. Humans are mostly so caught up in their own self-doubt they don't even see all the little ways you can obsess over yourself failing

[weebleswobble]

i dont think even middle schoolers can make sense of themselves.

[riverunner]

Teaching was the last thing I ever wanted to do, but it came along with the job (grad student). If I had wanted to become a teacher, I would have gotten a Bachelor of Education. They don't teach you how to teach in graduate school. I took a pedagogy course, that was mostly theory, but it doesn't help when you are in the classroom.

[novanglus]

The USDA is for you. And they are all over the country.

(I have a PhD in some of the same areas and have spent most of the last ten years trying not to become homeless.)

[oakfarm2]

I tried to get a bachelor degree in Life science, I’m impressed with you but I also know it’s a tough career. I mostly comment here since I am fascinated by the concept of diy-biology and citizen science projects. But I don't know if that's a real alternative to universities.

[riverunner]

The people that I know that do diy-biology made millions in computer programming, enough to 'retire' early, so they have the time to do what they want. Universities get a discount on lab supplies, so labs outside of universities and government institutions cost more to maintain (I'd imagine).