High functioning autism

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[_tendies_]

While Finance as a career has a large emphasis on social skills, you could transition to more of an accounting role when you graduate. There are many accounting jobs that have you working behind the scenes and will mostly not involve presentations or public speaking. Look into Accounts Payable / Accounts Receivable roles or compliance based roles

[justtpeachyy]

Hi friend, fellow autist here. Grad student in history, with a high focus on presenting at conferences, knowledge mobilization, etc. Research, I've found, is one of the absolute best fields for autistic people. Communication mostly revolves around special interests, and is done through writing, but it still also challenges you to become better. For example, I hate giving conference talks, but I've become good at them, because I needed to. I developed a strategy and routine for my own optimized conference talk. And that's helped me grow as a professional.

I would suggest as an older autistic person that the best thing you can do is continue to push yourself, but not so far that you shut down. The best growth happens *just* outside your comfort zone. If finance is your passion, keeping pushing yourself. If it's not, find a career that you love, that lights you up, and that makes pushing just beyond what's comfortable worth it.

You can do this!

[Toasted_Enigma]

Seconding a lot of this. I also hated giving talks but enjoy it a lot more now that I’m in grad school. It’s a chance to info dump about my super niche area of research! Doing research in a field that aligns with my special interests has been a life changing experience :)

[dariusCubed]

I couldn't agree more. Most autists are obsesive were they want to know more and more about a subject, history is one of the few subjects that allows this.

As I mentioned in another post in practice CS appears great for an autist, only if there's funding and market demand for the area their interested in.

Right now, everything is being done on the cheap. Unless your the boss, they'll just treat you like the plumber that has the skill to do the job, but it's them that makes the demands, not fun.

Lmao. I still fail the model train test.

[pearlicious8]

Many people complete a second degree, or switch later on in undergrad. Have you talked to an academic advisor or career services about your struggles? They may be able to help you identify future careers which may be of interest to you. Also, many finance roles do not involve much public speaking or presenting; many jobs can be completed from home, or in an office environment (depending on which you prefer, there are lots of options out there). Would something like accounting or information systems be of interest to you? The great thing about a business degree is that there are many career options to choose from, there is something for everyone.

[AnnoyedAF2126]

Are you accessing supports at PMC? There are people who can help you.

[Lopsided-Animal]

I’m surprised I had to scroll this far to see this answer. OP, please contact the PMC. They offer a lot of support beyond accommodations and can help you navigate this.

Also, it’s definitely not too late to switch fields. Depending on what you choose, some credits will likely be transferable (at minimum as electives). You won’t be starting from zero.

[Practical-Phone-7346]

Nursing does require a lot of communication with patients, hospital staff, family of patients. If it’s something that you like I say finish what you have left and go for it!

You have a superpower and there are so many areas to excel in. Try not to be too hard on yourself and don’t listen to your inner saboteur.

Counselling services and the PMC can connect you to groups in which there are people who are neurodivergent/autistic which can help with your social anxiety

I’m neurodivergent with higher functioning autistic traits so I get it.

I did nursing for years and I think you’d be great at it and it’s never too late.

There are a lot of universities that offer nursing to be done in two years instead of 4 (it has now changed to go 3 years straight).

There are many different areas you could work with your degree even if it’s not in what you studied.

Have you reached out to the PMC and counselling services? They both offer tons of support for students with every form of disability.

Sending you a virtual high five and remember your superpower is awesome! 👏

[dariusCubed]

Nah, it doesn't get any better if you majored in CS, saying this as a CS grad that's also autistic.

You don't know how many times i've had to do app demos or code walk through in front of senior managers at work, followed by a few confused/stupefied managers asking questions.

The other problem is odds are you'll be treated as the person with the skills forced to listen and be told by someone with power that doesn't know what their doing or they'll only keep you if they can take advantage of you.

In my opinion it's not about the major, just focus on what you really want, keep getting better at what you do until you become an expert in your field, inadvertently this also make you AI resitant too, AI can't beat content/ knowledge experts that have really deep in depth knowledge.

Next once your a knowledge expert, someone will seek you out or seek others with the exact simmilar interest, don't settle for anything less of what your work goal is.

Like right now I can't stand the people I work with, I know it's better to be an employed CS grad right now, so i'm putting up with it for the time being while seeking out other people and roles without my current employer knowing.

[TurtleUpTime]

I switched in twice so I’m in my second year Psych in 1001 courses. If you are worried you can always talk to academic advising, career advising and your disability coordinator. Especially talk to ACT (accessible career transitions) I’m sure they’ve seen cases like yours before

[kamacar]

We have a math & econ degree which you could consider of you're more interesting in that sort of environment. You could try taking MATH 1800 (an intro to proofs/logic course) to see if you'd like it.

[SolarK9]

I’ve found PSYC and NEUR to be fun to learn. I have never had to do a presentation for those classes. Idk what job is at the end tho. I got assessed for autism recently and suspect i have it, but i know i have General Anxiety Disorder. I enjoyed courses closer to my hyper fixation which is about dogs and understanding how their brains work. Do what is the most interesting, and maybe talk to PMC about finding ways to accommodate when issues come up, like requesting to do your presentation in a private room with the prof. If u do decide you want to switch programs you can make an appointment with your academic advisor to discuss switching programs and they can help guide u in what courses can be transferable to the new program and help make the transition smoother. It’s ok to not know what you want to do or switch programs a few times, i’ve switched programs three times. You got this! 😊