Autistic Survival Guide/Choosing a Profession

= Choosing a profession =

Research and Development

 * It is necessary to understand that the research and development professions that autistic spectrum people often excel at have some far reaching ethical problems associated with them.
 * Research and Development are fundamentally different kinds of work from other jobs. They are largely acts of invention.
 * Inventions are patentable and employers will often receive patents for the inventions of their workers.
 * Furthermore, employers own all "intellectual property" their workers develop during working hours by default, legally.
 * Workers who do research and development are usually paid in wages and rarely become financially secure.
 * XXX Netscape.
 * People who want to patent their own inventions or own their own "intellectual property" usually have to support themselves financially while researching and/or developing those things.
 * Once a worker finishes an R&D job, the worker in question is no longer relevant to the invention. This means that unless the worker receives an income from owning patents or intellectual property, another source of income will then be necessary.
 * Until an R&D project is finished, there is usually very little to show for the work done. This is a major cause of conflict in R&D workplaces.
 * For example, when such projects keep missing their deadlines and budgets, deadly serious "blame games" usually start occurring.
 * Just as a bell cannot be unrung, an invention cannot be uninvented, and inventions seem to have the innate quality of being usable for just as much evil as good.
 * XXX Einsteins only error.
 * XXX Computers shortening the working week.
 * XXX Plato's Republic.
 * One of the most XXX things you will ever have to do as an expert is to have to stand in front of your peers who you are trying to teach something to and then realise that you need to ask them questions.

Highly Skilled Labour

 * Highly skilled yet non R&D jobs are also jobs where autistic spectrum people can excel.
 * Such jobs are usually high stress and carry a lot of responsibility. Take note bipolar people.
 * They are often harder to get than less skilled labour jobs and as such, represent a deeper commitment which, again, is a problem for bipolar people.
 * They may involve knowing a lot of workplace specific knowledge and as such, not permit time off to address personal issues. This can also happen in R&D jobs.
 * They often also include interacting with people who have little time for communication problems.
 * They often also include working closely in a team which may or may not include other autistic spectrum people.

Manual labour

 * Manual labour can be good exercise and has its health benefits.
 * Manual labour jobs are usually easier to get, get used to, and quit.
 * On the other hand, manual labour usually requires much more diligence than highly skilled labour.

Managing your own business
An internet business may be the autistic persons financial salvation. On the internet you don't need to interact with people face to face to make money. A good internet business for an autistic person would be selling on ebay. You can invent things to sell on ebay putting up websites that earn money via adsense and affiliate marketing. Beware that this kind of business has become more difficult in the last years because a lot of people started one.

Building websites and computer programming are not recommended unless you want to work like a dog for 2.00 an hour. As most other businesses, software development requires face-to-face communications, for example to acquire new customers. Many customers would like to know you personally or even demand that you work at their place so that they can control your work easier. In addition, website development has made its way out of the "garage" into professional business in the last 10 years. Projects are now much more interwoven with the real world - and real people and their businesses - than in earlier years. You will probably spend as much time talking to customers and their business partners as with coding. And you'll have to talk to other web developers - most software that can be developed by a single person has already been developed. Real projects most likely will require teamwork.

Another offline business that would work well for autistic people are things like window washing. It may be difficult to acquire corporate contracts unless you are willing to do it very cheap.

Miscellaneous

 * Beware the jobs and professions that require significant investments of time, energy or money to get into. If you want to leave them, those investments can be wasted or hold you back.
 * When all is said and done, the job that you enjoy doing most is probably the best one to have.