Let me introduce myself, I’m the details girl!
My Neurotypical manager and I make a formidable writing team because our styles are so complementary – she does the broad, conceptual overview, and because of my Asperger’s I enjoy focussing on the specifics. A couple of drafts in and we’ve met in the middle, the best of both worlds. This isn’t a long post, but it’s celebration of differences and strengths. Cue clichéd image:
Wood for Trees (Photo credit: Dominic's pics)
© Catastraspie, 2012.
catastraspie 
Sounds like my marriage to my NT hubby. (Though he has many Aspie traits.)
That’s great! I get a real sense of satisfaction when I really relate to someone, and it happens so infrequently that I don’t let go of them 🙂
What type of work do you do? (I haven’t read all your posts, apologise if you said it already)
I don’t think I have mentioned it 🙂 I’m an academic science researcher, I do literature reviews, evaluations and write papers. How about you?
I am doing a bit of freelance work – revise website content, help small traders to set up e-commerce e.t.c. Actually it is sort of an emergency strategy, and it doesn’t work… I am looking for part time work as well. Shorter version: I have employment issues and try to work around it in various ways – not there yet.
Your line of work sounds interesting. I am guessing that you have specialised within a ‘special interest’ and I think that’s a very wise thing to do. If you feel like explaining more then I would love to hear what field of science. However, I fully understand that you might not want to be so detailed, since this is an anonymous blog (I presume).
You are very perceptive (and correct!) 🙂 One of my special interests is learning and collecting qualifications. Being at a university has both satisfied my interest, and provided me with an Aspie/Systematiser-friendly (see I just can’t help myself…!) environment where quirkiness is accepted and office parties are not compulsory. However I am still only able to work part-time, which I try not to feel bad about, so I hear you with the employment issues. Freelance work would terrify me, you’re pretty brave. I hope at least you enjoy the work – I get to maintain my team’s website which I love. I wish you the best of luck in finding something that suits you and with a pleasant employer. 🙂
Thank you:-) It sounds like you have positioned yourself very well. Sounds nice with maintaining the website too:-) There is no reason to feel bad about working part time.
I enjoy some aspects of working freelance… like the sense of freedom and authority that comes with representing my own business/service. I also like to write, explore, systematise, shape concepts and be creative, and I like software so in that sense working with website content fits fine. However ‘meaning’ is essential to me, and it doesn’t switch me on to write marketing copy and set-up online stores. However if I could work with content that is more meaningful to me…
and get more structure and become better at managing my time… then I might end up enjoying it.
However, I think the best solution right now is to get a part time job and try to gradually increase the hours when possible.
I’ve deleted the email bit but left the rest, hope that’s ok! Yes freedom and authority and great, and you do make it sound very appealing I have to say. I think I’m very lucky in having a great manager who lets me work flexi and take my role in directions that suit me (the website stuff has become part of my role for that reason). Yes part time and building up hours is a good idea. I don’t know about you, but when a job fits my personality and interests then I can work lots more hours than when it is a job that I just do for money. It’s a matter of finding the right job I guess, so that it doesn’t feel like work!
Yes that is fine.
Yes that would be a very happy situation… win-win for everybody.
Freedom & authority does sound great;-) I love the idea. It is just very hard to make it work out in practice, I think it requires a very can-do, pragmatic kind of person.
With good organisational skills!
Precisely:-)
Two different groups of people independently invented the word ‘Natpicking’ for obsessively pedantic proof reading …named after me, Nat, obviously 🙂
Love it! I can’t think of a good one with my name, but I deserve one too 😉