No, STEM is not the panacea for autistics people make it out to be

I’m convinced it’s just as hard, if not harder for us than it is anywhere else.

One thing I wish I was getting paid for. Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash

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If you are in any way familiar with the autism employment scene, you have most likely already come across someone or some organization claiming that we are best suited to working in STEM, often taking special care to emphasize the ‘T’ in STEM. Such people will usually cite “being detail oriented”, “logical”, and “loyal” as reasons we should work in STEM and even go as far as to envision that we are all computer or math savants waiting for the right opportunity.

Some have pointed out and rightfully so, that not all of us are interested in STEM, nor do we always possess the traits people associate with a potential to excel in STEM fields. What I have hardly seen though, is autistic people in STEM describing what it’s like to actually study, work, and try to find work in STEM fields and that’s what I’m here to do as someone with a vested interest in combining science and technology with the arts.

Academia

So far, I have had three research assistant positions, one paid and two volunteer. The latter two sort of fizzled out for…