job and being unemployed
job and being unemployed
hey. quick disclaimer: this post isn't for job advices or recommendations, but mostly about dealing with being disabled & unemployed.
sometimes i feel pathetic i can't find a job. and even more: i've never really had a job. volunteering, trading? yes, plenty of times. but the job? like, never. nothing about money, even if freelance. not even mentioning something "official".
sometimes i even lie to people i have a job. without details or vaguely. or about job i am technically did: art or coding or gamedev for fun or trade. i feel ashamed of being like this. i feel like a burden for my partner i live with.
genuinely, i want to have work. i'm not idealistic about this, nor pessimistic. i'm not going to work in places i can't hadle at all (social). but i really want to work. like, i already know how commissions work. i have some desires of creating something & being payed for it. or even go to the army (Ukrainian moment).
but i can't right now. i'm already 24 y.o., and i feel like there is something wrong with me.
is there anybody with the same problems? or maybe, someone who's dealing with it better than i am? i am open for advice or just listen to your experience.
thanks for reading.
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You're not asking for advice about specific jobs etc, so I won't say anything on that topic.
But as a somewhat older autistic person who is approaching middle age, I can tell you from my own experience that it does get better.
There were a lot of times when I thought something was impossible for me, just because I couldn't think it all the way through / wrap my head around it in advance. It took me a long time to figure out that while those things are comforting, they're not at all necessary.
It's a very human thing to make mistakes, and it's equally human to not know what you're doing at first. You will be anxious and uncomfortable at times, and there's going to be plenty of things you are forced to do despite not feeling at all ready. Heck it took me like 15 years of trial and error to feel like I'd learned enough about socializing to be passable at small talk with coworkers. That kind of stuff was full-manual for me for ages, but with enough time and practice (and self-love!) I did eventually start to build some intuition for the more routine stuff and let go of some of the self-consciousness involved.
Everyone's path is different, and I don't know whether you're dealing with other disability besides autism. But understand that there's nothing wrong with you. You're just wired differently than the average person, and that isn't a bad thing unless you let it be. Eventually I was able to cobble together some synthesis of my understanding of myself and my understanding of neurotypical people, into something that works well enough for me. It can be very hard to intentionally reflect on ourselves without being too negative, but it's worth it. I hope you are able to find something similar.
thank you for sharing, it gives me hope!
I don’t know whether you’re dealing with other disability besides autism
also ADHD and depression. in times when my meds were more helpful i felt like i'm ready to start? but it was like... 3 years ago? since then, many bad things happened, and i didn't really feel good all these years. :(