Friday, 15 February 2013

Unemployment

A recent study showed that 88 percent of people with aspergers syndrome were unemployed. Unfortunately I am one of those 88 percent.

I decided to make this blog to keep a record of my search for work - and hopefully my experiences of being employed while having aspergers syndrome. Currently I am 25 years old. As a child I was so independent that I was set on moving out into a house of my own at 16. Living at home was too stressful.

Of course this didn't happen, but after spending three years on my own getting a degree I failed to get a job despite applying before graduating. A blow, but not a huge one. It was a bad time to graduate in economic terms. I moved back home at 22, where I still am today.

I applied for countless jobs (I made it to 100 even before graduating, and then just stopped counting). The most I got was some interviews. After spending six months at home sure that soon I would get employment I had to give up my stubborn ways and go on job seekers allowance. Except for a brief six month contract (which was the only job I didn't interview for) I have been on job seekers ever since.

Some days I think that this will be it for life. I have no doubt that I can work, but I have major doubts over whether anyone will let me work. Yet, I don't qualify for disability either. It seems part of society thinks I can work, and the part that is dishing out jobs disagrees.

I am currently at 25 years old dependent on my mother for shelter and food. This is a stressful situation for both of us. Some days I even hate her a little for how she makes me feel, but I am stuck here, and she is stuck with me. I wish there were another option.

For now I'm off to fill out more application forms.

3 comments:

  1. I'm fifty years old, quite recently diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, and still looking for my first job...I can confirm it's not easy.

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  2. Wow. Could I ask you how you managed to survive so far without work? There just seem so few options when all my quests for work seem to fail. I don't want to rely on my mother forever. I want my own life and family one day.

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  3. I survived Captain; 'survive' being the appropriate word. I had no life at all...very little money and hardly any social contact; a poor diet and a cold, damp house.

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