I am a 20 year-old autistic man entering his third year in College. I am studying Aerospace Engineering and am doing well with my coursework. However, I do not know if I will ever hold a full-time job. I can work 40 hours a week, but more than 50 hours in a seven-day span is around my breaking point. The much bigger problem is that I cannot handle more than one thing going wrong at once. I can keep going as long as I can fix the first problem before the second problem shows up. If I do get overwhelmed, I am unable to work effectively for the next while, sometimes even the rest of the day. In college, I have accommodations that require professors to allow me to leave class without consequences, making up any missed work if possible. I have come to the conclusion that very few employers will accommodate anything close to this, and I have seen no evidence of any employer allowing any accommodations of this magnitude in engineering. I know how to drive and have my license, but it is not safe for me to drive when I am upset or stressed. This effectively means that I cannot rely on driving myself anywhere. I could very easily drive to the grocery store, find that several items that I need are not in stock, and become upset. It may be several hours until I am able to safely drive again. This is probably the least of the issues I have listed here, as there are places that I can live without a car (though these places are rare). I feel like my most stressful weeks at college are within my limit, but I feel like I will fail when I have to deal with things like cooking my own food and shopping. An internship is basically required to get a job in aerospace engineering, but I have yet to get one. I feel like I will have a decent chance at actually getting interviews for an internship next summer, but I do not know how to address my needs. Does anyone know of any organizations or businesses that help people with autism find summer internships that potentially lead to professional employment? Does anyone have any success stories of people who need significant accommodations, but still managed to find employment in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a similar field? I fear that I will end up living with my parents for the rest of their lives while working a low-wage job, potentially only working part-time. I do not want that to be my life.

Posted by MathK1ng at 2024-07-24 23:35:13 UTC