I think most junior tech roles don't require that much human interaction. I'm not sure if autistic gets you an OKU card, but you can probably try contacting the relevant ministry.

My last drawn none-senior software engineer salary are 6.6k, or 7k, i cant recall, and it can be higher depend on company.
Can u discuss technical issue and requirement normally? If can that's no issue to hit the said salary if u have the correct technical skill
Met few programmer which are really quiet during work, and don't really speak, but as long as u are responsible to your task and complete it on time, thn everything is fine. And of cause, if u are in the right place, toxic person could be anywhere

This post has been edited by ragk: Sep 27 2022, 10:28 AM

I don’t have computing degree, I’m not sure whether I will have the same career path

I can’t really speak well, it affects discussion as well. It really depends on whether the other persons are intolerant of any sign of anomalies, when I have older colleagues they tend to see it as them being heavily affected by having to work with me therefore forming strong opinions about me, sometimes appearance alone can put them off

Local doctors assessment of autism is binary, they don’t seem to acknowledge autistic spectrum

can you share a picture of yourself?

no lah, SPA refers to Public Services Commission of Malaysia (Malay: Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam Malaysia), abbreviated SPA or PSC

go here https://spa9.spa.gov.my/login

haha i don't think that's necessary, it's weird enough to turn heads, oku look

sorry i didn't google, i thought you were saying some sort of license

you suggested that because you thought gov has some social responsibility to hire oku? i am not diagnosed as fully autistic, but in the US they have a spectrum, you can be somewhere between the autistic spectrum and be considered disabled

Gamuda has a scheme called enabling academy where they hire autistic people as professional like quantity surveyor, i tried but they say need official diagnosis

Maybe shift to software engineering? I know its not easy to just shift like that but its one suggestion

I have an ex colleague who worked for 5 years in my company, she was diagnosed with Asperger's late too (not sure what age exactly, I'm gonna guess +/-20yo).

Unfortunately I was also socially awkward in the years she was around, so I don't know her well. But as an observer, I think she was... "accepted"? After all she stayed with the company for 5 years ish. Idk why she resigned though.

We're IT company, where our "developer" role is a bit different from others. We're kind of a consultant role but not customer facing. The consultancy part is mainly internal, where we provide our inputs/suggestions usually in more technical aspects. It still involves dealing with people and you do need to talk almost on a daily basis (discussions, Q&A etc), but I think people here generally don't care* if you go lunch alone or stay silent in a group conversation.

* Some people might ask out of curiosity but they don't mean much.

Personally I think it might help to be upfront about your condition, to explain what it is and then tell people how you'd like people to treat/adjust to you. I personally have strabismus (misaligned eyes) and I inform people if I notice they're struggling with my eye contact, it's been a positive effect for me so far. Not sure what kind of effect it'd bring for different conditions but I'd think that it's good for me to know so I can be more considerate about your situation.

I think the best choice for you is still in tech. unless you really hate it. dont worry about future salary as you dont have much choice now anyway. engineering seems like a dead end either now or sooner.

as for tech, most dont care if you have a degree or not, as long as you have the technical capabilities. but you must tempered you expectation. if you condition dont improve and you dont make improvement yourself, sooner or later you gonna hit a wall. like others said, if you moving up the ladder, definitely there will be more interaction needed. even if you dont move to leadership role, just being a senior, you are suppose to be able to guide others technically.

meanwhile, try to think what you can do as a side hustle that dont need interaction. all i can think of is to write in medium.com/, where you can write articles, stories and your thoughts like a blog and earn from there.

I know a forummer here that is earning quite a bit writing there. best thing is, you can hide behind it.

I find tech more boring than doing engineering design but i wouldn't say i hate it. I still have choices to go back to engineering if i want to try again, perhaps with a strategy to make myself acceptable to my colleagues. I do have similar opinion of engineering being a dead end which is why i tried tech in the first place

I went into tech having extremely limited computing skill, engineering course taught some programming, i did some self learning myself, i still rely heavily on google at work. It is highly unlikely that the condition can improve, in my late 20s i have accepted the explanation of autism or personality disorder as the cause of my struggle, i feel liek it's inside the biochemistry. I have little interest in leadership, i just wish to be expert in something and make a lot of money off it.

I do create content, so far haven't been able to make money from it. It's a good idea to find a sustainable income.

Well i guess the IT field has higher tolerance for personality anomalies. I think it has to do with the age group of workers in this field, colleagues in 30s above tend to be more judgemental and gossip more.

Some companies separate business team and tech team, business team being more client-facing with some technical soundness, tech team being technically-focused. Consulting sounds nice, I find consulting in engineering interesting because of the engineering design part, in tech it doesn't really matter for me, i would prefer to avoid it if it means more people-dealing. When i wasn't in tech people seem to have strong opinion of everything, how you walk sit speak, how much you speak, it is generally believed that they correlate with how well you perform, also affect how willing people want to work with you.

I don't think i will get hired if i was upfront about my condition, interviewers explicitly asked about how social i am, i usually replied 'okay' or something vague enough to avoid promising anything. If i were too take advantage of social responsibility aka sympathy, well i don't have official diagnosis of autism, doctors here don't recognize autistic spectrum.

Maybe you're just social withdrawal not autism? If austism, anti-psychotic like Risperidone can treat it.

I can relate your behaviour, maybe you're more like nerd, like to work with thing and idea, instead of people.

I don't think it's the age but certain individuals... If I have to generalise then women gossip more rest assured, IT field less women hahahaha

Interesting way to put it, "anomalies"... I wouldn't label it negatively unless it impacts your work, but yes indeed.

I will first admit, I have limited view on other companies because I've been in my first job (discounting my horrendous 6month internship), so my view might be tunnel vision. Now, the way I see it: as a software consultant, 99% of the time we do not deal with external customers, so there's no need to make a good physical impression. Nobody cares if you slouch, drag your feet, eat lunch alone and so on. 80% ladies in my office including myself do not even put on make up

However, speaking is important, because that's one of our needed skill -- to discuss, suggest, convince, listen etc. If you're always talking, always interjecting others, or always dead silent, it WILL affect work and that's where people will start questioning. If you cannot do the bare minimum communication i.e. talk about work, then this is not for you.

Fair point, and I didn't mean to intentionally handicap yourself in the interview haha. What I mean is that you try your best and show your best self without revealing all your weaknesses. AFTER you successfully get in, then you introduce yourself truthfully. Because in probation, you know that company is evaluating whether you suit* the company, but don't forget it's likewise for you! Surely, it's tiring to wear a mask everyday and pretend what you're not, right? So let out the true you early, if you cannot accept how people are treating you, or if others cannot accept you, then there goes the probation and you can try again elsewhere.

Edit: * typo

This post has been edited by Takudan: Oct 3 2022, 04:26 PM

it treats aggression aspects of autism, i don't really have any aggression

Hi TS, I can totally understand your situation as I am in the same field, got an engineering degree as well and have been struggling for many years. It is not smooth sailing for a normal introvert like me, let alone an autistic guy. Based on what you have said, I think hands-on tech job is suitable for you. I reckon you can "climb up" or develop yourself from this position, aiming to be a senior technician. All the best.

This post has been edited by justapawn: Oct 3 2022, 11:56 AM

I see, but I meant Tech as in technology, not technician

Seriously, I think the section below is more appropriate for TS to voice out his problem.

https://forum.lowyat.net/MentalHealth&Counselling

This post has been edited by justapawn: Oct 4 2022, 10:52 PM

Come work at my company we engineer don't talk much. Everyone kinda do their own job or maybe sometimes u chat a bit. Or u just chill at ur own space.

Then at 6pm we all sharp clock out.