Well it looks like my brief stint as a sanitation worker has come to a rather unpleasant end. Finally climbed down a hole to do some work after hanging about topside for the previous week; and 24 - 36 hrs later I magically developed a vicious bout of gastro! (Have since recovered)
Don’t think I’m cut out for a job physically handling raw sewage. So it’s off up north to finish my studies remotely and perhaps transition to the life of an over educated beach bum.
Just reminded of the crew that worked on my broken sewer pipe.
Took them hours to get to the pipe. They had a backhoe for the heavy digging, but they often had to pause it to jump into the hole and hack away at tree roots. with axes It was the tree that broke the pipe, by growing roots into it.
Once they did get into the pipe, they had to contend with my sewage that had accumulated in that broken area. I obliged their request flush it out by running some faucets, but I sure wouldn’t have wanted to trade jobs with them.
Yeah man.
During a recent spell of troubles with collapsed sewer pipes I’ve learned that it takes a very specific kind of person to do that sort of work.
Very specific.
Been looking into psychology for a few years and wonder how would you explain to someone, if you know what I’m talking about, how they may come across to people if their on the spectrum but not say so extreme or more masked? Don’t mean to bother you but thought I’d ask since you mentioned autism and thought you might know about this?
I work as a sound designer / audio director at a UK videogame developer, and also as a freelance nature sound recordist.
I’m a software engineer at a TuneCore. I specialize in turning monolithic applications into distributed systems,.
Electrician (apprentice). Before that, cable tv satellite installer, before that pharmacy tech, before that warehouse janitor, before that countless other temp jobs. Think I’ll stick with this union electrician gig tho. It really takes all kinds to work an elektron box doesn’t it!
The smell aint too bad, but the anxiety from the knowledge that you’ll frequently come into contact with biohazardous waste is bloody nerve racking. And then getting a torn glove at the bottom of a hole when in the middle of clearing a grate while the water was rising almost gave me a heart attack. Plus those pits are the equivalent of the devil’s sauna and you have to choose between wearing the correct PPE and dying from heat exhaustion (or an accident from not being able to see) or wearing a bit less and catching something nasty. And those pressure hose jobs (when you can’t use a reel) might be the hardest physical work I’ve done since 2011 (flood mud cleanup) - and I spent a great deal of my earlier life as a labourer.
Definitely a new found respect for anyone who can survive in that industry.
The last time I posted to this thread, I was working as a substitute Paraeducator in western Washington. I have since secured a permanent position as a Paraeducator at an elementary school in a structured classroom with children on the spectrum. I have held this position since March, 2020.
Really great thread which I’ve only just finished reading in several chunks since discovering this forum. I’ve really enjoyed reading it at times when work has left me feeling a bit low and trapped, this and another thread on coding in particular.
I’ve worked in customer service/data entry for a telco, scheduling technician work for a different telco, before going to uni to study history and politics. I had the luxury of going to uni in a regional town at a time when rent was dirt cheap and could comfortably live on student benefits. In contrast, with my current job 10 years later it’s mind boggling to think I spend almost the same amount on public transport, lunch and coffee in a day as I did on weekly sharehouse rent.
After uni I did about 5 shifts washing dishes in a pub, the worked for a national retailer on an IT hardware rollout for a few months. Brief trip overseas and then got married followed by about two years of unemployment. I then applied for a heap of public service graduate programs and because I felt that wasn’t going anywhere (recruitment process for these is like 6 months long and you start work the following year) I went back to uni mid year to do a masters in statutory planning. First week into that and I had two job offers, but I decided to keep going with the masters until the end of the year just to fill in time, but it was hard to motivate myself for study knowing gainful employment and a salary was just round the corner.
Anyway after the first year of the graduate program where you get rotated through several areas of the organisation I basically by complete fluke and accident landed in my dream job and what will probably be the highlight of my working life, working on several Australian overseas memorial projects.
My current role is for a state government department supporting an advisory board. Constant routine of board papers, governance and follow up and I kinda hate it. It’s stressful in a way that has no intrinsic reward and doesn’t really achieve anything that makes you forget, with the passage of time, how awful it was actually getting there. On the plus side I’ve had work I can do from home for the duration of the pandemic to date. But on the downside, after doing the role for almost 3 years on a fixed term contract that kept getting extended, they’ve decided they want to make the role permanent which means, in the interests of fair and unimpeachable recruitment practices, that I will have to reapply for the position.
I’m also currently doing a graduate certificate in information technology, with units covering programming, databases, web and software requirements modelling. Not sure if I will progress this towards a masters or do anything with it career wise at this stage, but it’s fun learning something more technical.
Edit: I’m also a part time novelist published exclusively on Elektronauts 
Nice post are you in Australia, seems like an Australian career path.
Thanks, yes I am. Could you tell from the bouts of unemployment, lack of cohesive career narrative, and implied existentialist crises?
The certificate in IT opened doors for me so hopefully it will lead to good things for you too.
Well I actually work with people with more severe forms of autistic spectrum and it’s not really easy to answer, as autism isn’t a single point on a line. That spectrum is really broad and there is a significant different between aspergers/mild autism (I’m not a fan of the term high/low-functioning) and autism. Asperger’s can appear as just a few personality quirks, but as you say, they can develop coping strategies to mask the symptoms. If your relationship with this person is limited, then it’s not easy to know that this person is on the autism spectrum.
I know you didn’t ask me, but figured as an aspie my input might be worth something (or not).
So the question is asking how to explain something to someone. Let’s redefine the question as “how can we best communicate with someone?”.
There’s any number of models that will actually get into the nitty gritty of what goes on when people communicate. If you’re not familiar with them then Barnlund’s Transactional Model is just a google jump away. I’d recommend looking into it because even though it’s a bit old and possibly outdated it’s hella easy to understand and was good enough for any number of Business Comms classes.
Now the thing I like about this model is the idea that when we receive a message, we’re gonna be interpreting a whole lot of cues, both verbal and non verbal, that have been filtered through our own personal culture/worldviews/experiences/etc. (i.e codebook). And at the same time we’re giving feedback by transmitting cues according to our own “codebook” in the hope that the other person will be able understand correctly.
And so the more you are able to understand how someone communicates, how they perceive or don’t perceive cues, how their code book works, the better you will be able to communicate with them. And that goes for communicating with aspies too, it just might mean a bit more work on your part (you can assume they’re trying like hell already). Which means actually getting to know them enough to know “what makes them tick” or what sort of quirks might trip up the communication process. So how can you get to know this worldview a little better? Where do you even start?
the saying goes that if you meet an aspie, you’ve met one aspie. We’re obviously not the same fucking robot punched out of the same manufacturer on different continents. Yet if you go searching online for “adult aspergers experiences” or “high functioning adult autism experience” you’ll start to see common patterns that tend to turn up when people talk about their experiences - especially with regards to struggles with interpersonal communications they’ve had over the years.
Once you have a better understanding about these common patterns you’ll be better equipped with a better understanding of how their codebook might work, what kind of cues are commonly problematic, the ups and downs of masking and whatnot. The rest is just trial and error like you would with anyone else.
Dunno how much of this is actually useful but hopefully someone might read it and learn a little bit more.
@rex_mundii we recently hired someone that I suspect may be experiencing “high-functioning adult autism” and may be exhibiting masking behavior. Your information was very helpful, thank you.
Speaking from experience, myself with undiagnosed ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and my daughter with diagnosed ASD, I’d say it’s quite possible that an individual with Autistic traits already knows how they come across to other people. Every day activities and interactions are a constant reminder that you’re not neurotypical.
Masking can take a huge emotional/psychological toll and in certain circumstances with certain triggers, the mask slips and the ability to communicate effectively becomes challenging or impossible.
As @rex_mundii rightly points out though:
I really appreciate the helpful response. I guess I should be more clear but this isn’t easy for me to ask and it’s been on my mind lately and wondered how the differences as you would have from someone who needs care and is obviously autistic and someone who is just on the spectrum.
I’ve been learning about this and there is a channel on youtube I watch and the guy didn’t know he was on the spectrum until he was 30+
Thank you for your insight. I really am looking into this and psychology in general as I am trying to better understand myself. And I was once diagnosed as bipolar and didn’t really take to the idea of using pills but have had other issues like depression and before I coped with drugs, mainly pot, I would draw, watch movies, and walk, obsessively.
I can become extremely, like an obsession become fixed on one thing and then just absorb it. When I was a kid I felt like a chameleon and I would take people with my full attention and take on their characteristics and mimic them. So I don’t think I am but I feel like I haven’t really been me in a long time, like I’ve suppressed my personality.
And it’s weird seeing these traits but not wanting to get another diagnosis. Like I don’t want to think I am or want to find out.
So thanks again for sharing this, I have learned a lot about body language and social cues from the different coaching channels that use psychology to interpret women and social situations to be confident or things like that and I see that I miss a lot of that but I don’t think that is always easy for people in general to learn. But given it was difficult for me I don’t know if that is in relation to this possibly.
It’s a common misconception but a person is either autistic or they are not. The term “spectrum” is a bit misleading in this context.
Avoiding prescription medication in favour of self-medication can have tragic consequences when it comes to mental health issues. I’m no expert but I highly recommend seeking professional help if you are experiencing depression.
I can empathise. I don’t have a diagnosis. My understanding is that it can take quite some time (possibly years) and emotional energy reserves that I currently don’t poses.
I’m sure your coaching channels are legitimate but anyone claiming to help people by “using psychology to interpret women” is a massive red flag IMHO. Please proceed with caution and focus time and energy on mental wellbeing instead. Take care of yourself.