Hello Gaynor!

I read for a M.Sc. in Micropalaeontology (a study of micro-fossils and a
branch of Geology). The course work was fine but I had a struggle with the
research side of the work as this was unstructured and I thought that I
needed too much help with it.

Later on, I started to read for a PhD in the same subject but this was
really too much for me, again, I needed much more guidance and structure to
my day.

I too, have had great difficulty in avoiding bullies and trying to fit in at
work. I too, have had a really terrible time in the English Civil Service.
They still haven't sorted out their disability employment conditions, and
despite declaring that I was having problems with memory and interruptions,
they still continued with the bullying and ostracism. As a result of this I
have been ill again since October 2001.

I have done quite a lot of work at the local employment office and this has
helped tremendously, even though the course was not tailor – made for
Autistic/Asperger folk.

I did a lot of tests and exercises and discovered I would be much better
working in a quiet environment, where the job description is well defined
and there is good routine to the day. This may not necessarily apply to
you, but you could explore your own suitable working conditions using
similar facilities in your local area.

We were provided with computerised psychometric testing to see what sort of
job would suit our tastes and I worked with a small closed group of six
fellow patients to explore our strengths and weaknesses.

Using this information, we then constructed a CV and learnt what type of
jobs would be suitable for us as individuals. Surprisingly enough, I
discovered that Caring for the Elderly would be a good avenue to try, and,
once I get time I will try volunteering in a Local old peoples’ home. If I
am good enough, I will try to get sponsorship for some NVQs in care. But
all this is a long way in the future as I need to get well first, and come
off incapacity benefit.d

I also registered with “Learndirect” and via this, I discovered that our
local college had funding from the European Social Fund to let us take the
Morrisby Profile. This is quite a comprehensive psychometric test – not
done by computer and I had a thorough analysis afterwards.

In the meantime I have found an excellent book called …

Asperger Syndrome Employment Workbook
The Author is Roger N. Meyer.
It was published in 2001 by Jessica Kingsley Publications
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is 185 302 7960
If you look for it in a British Library it will be catalogued under 331.5’94

If you go to the “As-If.com” (Asperger Information) site you can see it and
order it online from Amazon.com. My copy was second-hand (although it looked
new)! and cost me about 13 pounds sterling including the postage and
packing.

I am now working slowly through the book to help me identify problems in
past jobs and to help me cope with jobs in the future. It has been very
helpful so far!

I am not sure if any of this will be of any use to you, Gaynor, (or anybody
else who is accessing this discussion group), but as I found it helped me,
I thought it was worth letting everyone know about it.

Hope it all goes well for you and kind regards,
Jannie

gaynor barrett" gaynorbarrett@...
aspiesdugout@...
Tue, 15 Apr 2003 19:08:36 +0100

I have started a job, this time as a lab technician, two weeks ago and
already, I have stopped as the train to get there was late so many times,
and then I would panic and miss that one as well when I went home to check
everything, and so did not go in. The psychiatric service then phoned them
and said I would give up as it was too difficult to travel. And even at the
job, people would keep asking me things when I was trying to work and also
some of the younger people working there, thought it was very funny to tell
me, you aren't allowed to use that, or, you aren't allowed to go there, when
actually I had to do the work (like, you can't borrow the alcohol spray
to sterilise the filters etc).

How can I find a job that people will just leave me alone to get on with it?
I thought it would be better to work for civil service as they are
supposed to be 'positive about disabilities', but they will not give me a
job, and so the only people who will give me a job are private organisations
which suddenly give you overtime at no notice and can sack you just when
they feel like it.

I really don't understand, what I do so badly that people won't give me a
decent job?

Luckily, I have enough money that I will do MSc in September so I don't have
to think about it for another year. Did anyone on this list get on to do
PhD? I think maybe that way would be better if I could, but I don't know
how you get the right subject? I would like to do studies on isopod
(woodlice) preferably but anything in biological science (except, NOT if I
had to work in a lab with about 15 other people all making a noise and too
hot). Is it easier if you get into academic instead of in industry work?

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