I'm in the USA, I'm mid 30s, and I'm autistic. I have 4 STEM degrees (aerospace (during this I was even trained by NASA at KSC), general computer, network, and a higher network with a focus on cyber security (during this I was train in some classes by the FBI)).
During my first degree, I worked at a place, and when I told them I was autistic, they started messing with me. I had no idea about rights back then. I assumed I was a poor employee or something. But they kept giving me lousy jobs till I was cleaning toilets. It cost me nothing to walk there, and I would have quit sooner. But in the end, my pay dropped to $8 every week.
A job before that I never mentioned about my disability. But because I was different, they piled all the work on me, tormented me mercilessly, and so on.
I did a lot of freelancing work as well as other things. But my next real employment barely lasted a month or two. It was at a manufacturing plant, and I still didn't know any better on not being open about my disability and I need to hide it at all cost. Anyway, I was harassed to high hell and back, to the point where I was contemplating suicide a week after they dismissed me. I was attempting to find out how to make it appear to be an accident so that my parents would receive my life insurance. If I had had life insurance for two years, I would have just took my own life because it turns out that insurance can't screw you if you do something after two years. Note I was masking, but when I applied I did mark I am disabled and was open about it when asked (I found out later they shouldn't of asked but I had no evidence proving anything anyways).
Anyway, near the end, I got an email saying I needed to go to the freezer, and when I did, the boss would pull me out and yell at me in front of everyone. They were furious when I mentioned the email, and the next day I was dismissed. Worse, management was continually criticizing me for the way I spoke. Other employees harassed me to almost my death due to me being different. I don't think they knew I was autistic, and I think it would've been far worse if they did know. Managers and even the plant manager seen it and joined in at times.
When I went for degree 2, I worked on a NASA project, and they flew me out to do things for a short time. Because I was working on my degree and the school wanted to exploit it as a publicity stunt. I accepted since I thought it would improve my chances of being successful in the future. It's also not a bad thing to have pleasant things written about you in the paper. Again, I didn't know any better and assumed that the low employment rate for autistic was because to a lack of a push for people trying. So my autism was reported in the paper since I mentioned it.
I went for a QA position a few months or a year later. They genuinely forced me to take a test in a local location to prove I'm not MR (people mistake autistic people for MR), despite the fact that I already have an aerospace degree and am working on another. Okay… anything… My manager dismissed me within the first hour of my first day. The night before, the GM looked me up and saw the story about how I'm autistic. I spoke with a lawyer, but they claimed there was no way to prove it until it was in writing. So it's my word versus theirs. Also ADA lawsuits, judges rule in favor of the companies 95% of the time.
After that, I went to Food Lion to get a minimum-wage job, but they never offered me a start date. I'm not sure what that was about, but they ghosted me.
After that, I did everything I can think of to legally make money. This is to include starting companies, inventing things for royalty agreements, painting for pictures for money, YouTube, etc. I tried a few more times and even considered joining the military. It turns out that there is a policy prohibiting folks like me from joining. Nothing has taken off, and if it hadn't been for my family allowing me to stay with them, I would have ended things. I largely gave up since I'm getting to the age where ageism is a thing, I don't see myself having kids because I can't afford them (and as a result, I'm not really attempting to get into a romantic relationship), and my life has been filled with sorrow. Plus I'm running into mental problems.
Sure, I might be able to get work at or near minimum wage….. But no matter what I get, there's no way I'll be able to retire. And I'm honestly wondering why I should go above and beyond any longer. Because of this shit society, I'm planning on stopping things for my retirement, ending things if I'm evicted, and so on. And, to be honest, I'm content to be with family and assist them around the house.
Even if it was right in front of me, I'm not sure I could do it. Because of the tension, the bad life, and so on. I had autistic burnout for a long time. And, unlike typical burnout, this does not appear to be going away. I have severe memory problems. Stress makes it far far far worse. Even minimal stress causes my brain to shut down. Even writing something like this takes far longer than it should, and I have to go over it several times for typos. (I'm considering employing writer AI to assist me.) An example of a problem is I sometimes forget what my family looks like, I forget the names of my dogs sometimes, someone can tell me something and by the time I walk to the other side of the house I forgotten it and have to come back to get the info again. I have moments where things are clear, but they are far and few between.
What sucks is that people assume I could just obtain disability. However, being disabled does not entitle you to SSDI. And it pays a fraction of what you were making in your last job, if you had one. Because many of us can't find good jobs, if any, this implies that even if we are accepted, we will only get paid a fraction of minimum wage. And, with SSI if you have more than $2000, you do not eligible. As a result, you will never be able to save or do anything to help you retire. And I have more than that because of all the hoops I had to jump through.
And something that many people are unaware of. Many say, if you don't like it here then move. Many assume we can just relocate to another country. Most countries will not accept an autistic person. As an example, New Zealand is well-known for this. Like unless if you are coming in with millions. Even if you're not autistic but your kids is, this can stop you from moving to many countries. Basically disabled people aren't welcomed in most parts of the world.
Note I'm aware of the ABLE disability savings account. The issue arises when you want to do more than just save money. I like to trade bitcoin and stocks on occasion (I've always been good at pattern recognition and have earned a small amount doing so). Enough to buy new laptops and other items on occasion). Those accounts will not shield you from anything like that. Any stocks or cryptocurrency I own will be counted against me if I went for SSI. And gain, this means if you have $2k or more of combine things, then you likely won't even qualify for it.
Oh and what makes it worse is many of the same people who make it hell on Earth of us. They also are anti allowing us to have doctors help us end things. This isn't just the USA where this is a problem. And if it gets known what we want, then our freedoms are stripped away to the point we can end up in a nut house without breaking a single law, be held there as long as basically they want, and done whatever to in most cases. In many cases, people went in those places by forced and by the time they got out they lost their job due to not being able to show up for a long while, some lost their place to stay, and so on. This alone has pushed some over the edge.
Anyways, it is what it is. There is things I kept out like how my extended family treated me, how I was only able to take 2 classes at a time, and a number of other things. But I think whomever read this can understand my point. This society flat out doesn't want us.
I can't wait for AI and robotics to really take off and take over most jobs. This forcing gov to fix systems that would help people like me, or general society will get a taste of what I dealt with. Any case, I view it as a win.