Help me help my Aspie ds

[katilac]

Working at a sleep center does not require a degree and obviously, it's at night! 

 

Two of my cousins work at sleep centers. I don't know a great deal about it, but I know that there are tests you can take to move up to better jobs - they are certification type tests, no school required. For my one cousin at least, it has also been fine that she hasn't yet taken the tests, they were happy to keep her in the present job for a long time. So, it's something he could do just for now, while having the potential to become a good paying, permanent job. 

[Night Elf]

Thank you for all your help. DH and I will discuss this with ds soon. We're waiting for a night he doesn't work so it doesn't put him in a bad mood for work. 

[ktgrok]

Cleaning crews work at night in office buildings. But you said he's a bit of a germaphobe. 

[gardenmom5]

Cleaning crews work at night in office buildings. But you said he's a bit of a germaphobe. 

 

stock clerks

UPS warehouse (they'll even reimburse for classes).  2ds did that for awhile.

[fairfarmhand]

Probably getting him to accept that for him to find a job that pays decently and isn't tedious, he's going to have to do SOME sort of training, some sort of education...is going to be challenging if he's hoping for an easy job that takes no training or education.

 

And I get it. For kids that really don't enjoy schooling or find college classes arbitrary, the idea of 4 more years of tedium is REALLY aggravting.

ory.

 

What should I encourage him to do at this point? I don't like to see him unhappy but I think it's a bad idea to quit a paying job. ...

I'm stumped. I told him I'd ask my Board for suggestions.

 

Boy, seems like he's come a long way.  This must have been hard for you, but you seem to have a great relationship with him, and you should be very proud of that.

 

If it were me, I would tell him that he need to keep his stocking job, but his new task is to figure out what a good long-term job would be, and how to prove to himself that this new job would be something he can do, something he can be good at, and something that he won't hate.  He's learned something from the stocking job -- that he doesn't like it.  I would ask him to think about, and maybe write down why he doesn't like it, and think about jobs that he would like that don't have those characteristics.  Maybe get some career books from the library, like "What Color Is My Parachute".  Maybe have some talks and do research about the jobs he thinks he'd like, and try to verify that he would indeed like those jobs.   I don't know how social he is, but I think that a lot of the video game companies have very large teams of programmers and artist building their games, that there is a lot more social interaction required than a lone programmer working in a basement.

 

Here's a idea:  he says he wants to write, and you say that he was good at grammar.  I wonder if there are work-from-home online jobs as editors or proofreaders that he would be good at.  It might have some of the aspects of writing that he like, but perhaps with a bit more structure that he may need, especially initially.

 

Good Luck!