What is the Asperger's Unemployment Rate?

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Asperger96
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30 Oct 2013, 7:41 am

So far I have heard some conflicting results when I try to find the un/underemployment rate for people with Asperger's Syndrome.

Does anybody know the adult unemployment rate?



BuyerBeware
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30 Oct 2013, 7:55 am

The statistics are horribly inaccurate.

The problem is that most of them are stated for the entire spectrum, not just Asperger's. And the frequency rate for autism in the general population has gone, in the last year or so, from 1:110 to 1:88 to 1:54-- and it's STILL not accurate.

They have done studies in more authoritarian countries, where all children must be enrolled in a state-run school and it is legal to test without parental consent, that put the frequency at 1:38. THAT is probably the accurate figure.

So, even 1:54 leaves the majority of the least affected out of the count...

...and therefore the statistics on unemployment reflect the situation in the most negative light. The statistics do not reflect the success stories, because a lot of the success stories still have avoided diagnosis. Ignore the statistics.

They'll only be depressing.

Unless you're writing a report, ignore the statistics. Concentrate that energy on working on your social skills and reading books about choosing, getting, and keeping a job for Aspies instead.


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Kurgan
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30 Oct 2013, 9:03 am

It varies A LOT from country to country. It's very low in countries like Kuwait, Brunei and UAE, but it's very high in Scandinavia.



AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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30 Oct 2013, 2:28 pm

BuyerBeware wrote:
. . . And the frequency rate for autism in the general population has gone, in the last year or so, from 1:110 to 1:88 to 1:54-- and it's STILL not accurate. . .

I would be interested in what studies say 1 out of 54.



AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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30 Oct 2013, 2:29 pm

And as part of self-advocacy, I'd really like for us to recruit and vet volunteers and have our own employment agencies.



Fnord
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30 Oct 2013, 3:10 pm

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:
And as part of self-advocacy, I'd really like for us to recruit and vet volunteers and have our own employment agencies.

Why don't you start one?


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Willard
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30 Oct 2013, 3:43 pm

Asperger96 wrote:
So far I have heard some conflicting results when I try to find the un/underemployment rate for people with Asperger's Syndrome.

Does anybody know the adult unemployment rate?


Measured in what way? Percentage of total population measured at any given time? Or average individual time spent employed/unemployed over the course of a lifetime?

For me it was probably close to 65% working, 35% unemployed, over about 35 years. Ballpark guess, I'm no mathematician.



GiantHockeyFan
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31 Oct 2013, 7:09 am

Well, I'm no expert but I know 2 people diagnosed (female) and 8 I suspect (1 I am 100% sure) equally male and female. None of them (myself included) are living up to their potential and are either underemployed or students into their 30s. This might be because where I live the job prospects are complete crap though.

I don't really put much stock into unemployment rates. I know my brother's hometown of Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) has a higher unemployment rate than where I live but if I were to move there looking for my current salary, I would literally have 10 offers within my first day. My job had 500 qualified applications but the identical job in an area with supposedly higher unemployment would get around 3-5.

Of course, that goes without saying that due to the high cost, the only people who can get it diagnosed for free through community mental health are the most severe. In other words, the unemployed!



RetroGamer87
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31 Oct 2013, 10:15 pm

Most of the aspies I know, and myself are underemployed. I wonder how we'd cope with a 40 hour week. The aspies I know who are over 40 are full time professionals. Makes me wonder if diagnosis is a self fulfilling prophesy.



AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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31 Oct 2013, 11:20 pm

Fnord wrote:
AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:
And as part of self-advocacy, I'd really like for us to recruit and vet volunteers and have our own employment agencies.

Why don't you start one?

Well, I'd want to be part of a team of at least three or four individuals, and then we'd have a reasonable chance of pulling it off.

(I do a fair number of activities on my own. I think I'm being realistic that this one would probably take a small team.)



FreeSpirit2000
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14 Nov 2013, 11:23 pm

GiantHockeyFan wrote:
Well, I'm no expert but I know 2 people diagnosed (female) and 8 I suspect (1 I am 100% sure) equally male and female. None of them (myself included) are living up to their potential and are either underemployed or students into their 30s. This might be because where I live the job prospects are complete crap though.

I don't really put much stock into unemployment rates. I know my brother's hometown of Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) has a higher unemployment rate than where I live but if I were to move there looking for my current salary, I would literally have 10 offers within my first day. My job had 500 qualified applications but the identical job in an area with supposedly higher unemployment would get around 3-5.

Of course, that goes without saying that due to the high cost, the only people who can get it diagnosed for free through community mental health are the most severe. In other words, the unemployed!


I think what needs to happen is instead of focusing on bureaucratic public education programs, they need to find ways to get public funding for specialized vocational training programs which will help you to get really good jobs and a good living arrangement for yourself out there.
They should also give scholarships to people which can train them for good paying jobs. Whether skilled trades such as electricians, plumbers, carpenters and others could be cool to look into. Other things would be cool like web design, graphic design and IT work.
More stuff would include data entry. One other category which would be cool to look at would be acting for movies and clips, for instance.
Another cool thing to look into would be photography or animation. The sky's the limit, just as long as you know which direction you would like to go in live. Just make sure you never give up in life.



DizzleJWizzle
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14 Nov 2013, 11:41 pm

this planet is going downhill... i would use it to your advantage... a riot would cause a distraction...
planning is your best skill...
neurotypicals can't plan and think it out at rapid rates...

btw the minimum wage jobs is the reason why it is getting worse
the tax rate needs to increased on the rich.
money creates problems.



dobyfm
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15 Nov 2013, 8:34 am

I've often wondered about this too. I'm unemployed.



carthago
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20 Nov 2013, 4:04 am

This varies considerably from country to country, as others have mentioned. Countries where welfare is more readily available for Aspies tend to have lower work participation rates. However, there are also cultural factors to take into account. Familial cultures, with high levels of community involvement tend to counteract the social isolation effects of Aspergers. These are places like Latin American or African countries, where employment frequently also runs in families. In these cases, I would not expect much unemployment on the high-functioning end of the spectrum. The opposite would be countries like Japan, where Aspies would be seen in the same light as hikikomori, and unemployment would be extremely high. In countries like Japan, employment is often based on exams, university placement, and networking skills. America is in the middle, so unemployment might be expected to be in the middle. However, in America, undermployment is more telling than unemployment. Since we have a two-tier economy, but job force participation doesn't distinguish between the tiers, there are very few good statistics on this. It would be worth the research, and you could probably make a hypothesis based on these cultural factors.



carthago
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20 Nov 2013, 4:14 am

Also, in information economies, Aspies typically have to "mezzanine" the middle-skilled jobs, because those are the jobs where social skills are most needed. Think of the economy as a pyramid scheme, with thinkers on top, connectors in the middle, and minimum wage earners on the bottom. Aspies either stay at the bottom or parachute to the top. It's almost impossible to rise the ranks. That is why some of the best occupations for Aspies are organizationally flat, highly skilled, technically demanding jobs. Some examples might be actuarial scientists or professors. These are not jobs that you can be promoted to.



paddy26
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22 Nov 2013, 6:10 pm

maybe someone could do a poll on here(if there isn't one already).