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02-05-2010, 10:49 AM #1
Fired..
I am no longer employed as a legal assistant. My job was terminated today, which is the "nice" way of saying I've been fired.
Basically, I was told I was very smart verbally, kind, worked hard, and that everyone enjoyed working with me, but that I was not the right fit for the job. They said I could still use them as a reference.
The same issue that made me quit my last job led to this, I believe - namely, that I'm not good at anything practical. I have an overabundance of skill with the written word (they said I was excellent at summarizing depositions), but I completely lack the real-time, pragmatic, everyday skills that everyone else has. I'm a freak, a walking dictionary, a theoretical geek with little to offer the common sense world.
It's very difficult for me right now, but I think I will have to return to academia. I always functioned so well in a school setting, so why not teach English? Why not make use of the one ability I do have? It'll cost a fortune in student loans, but I likely have no other options.
May this serve as a lesson to everyone that there are real "idiot savants" out there, and that success in school does not inevitably lead to success in "the real working world."
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02-05-2010, 10:59 AM #2
Sorry to hear about all this Khendra. But clearly, it wasn't where you were supposed to be.
Teaching is a great profession. You can definitely use your skills there. I could see you as being a great editor too, ya know? You're just the kind of person that they're looking for in something like that.
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02-05-2010, 11:03 AM #3
My dream job is, in fact, editor, but the employment agencies I dealt with earlier last year told me there are no opportunities in southwest Missouri for that. I'm thinking teaching is the best bet given where I live.
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02-05-2010, 12:03 PM #4
Well, I'll be..
http://www.nldline.com/yvonna.htm
"In many cases, however, adults with NLD / AS have several college degrees, yet are unable to find or keep work that matches their strengths and abilities. The reason for this is the disparity between a high verbal and a relatively lower performance IQ score of NLDers and ASers. While verbal IQ is most indicative of academic achievement, performance IQ points to the ability to achieve success at work. Thus, though they attain high levels of education and skill, they may fail to hold down a job and earn a living. A high percent are either unemployed or underemployed. Just 12% of Asperger Adults are in full time employment, and only 3% live independently (Barnard et.al., 2001). There is no current data on the employment of individuals with NLD, but almost half of those I know with the disorder are unemployed, and many others underemployed. It's appalling that so many who are educated, articulate, skilled, honest and hard-working remain chronically unemployed."
So, there are other people who experience this kind of thing. I haven't personally met anyone else who has, so this is quite a revelation. I'd heard of AS and NLD before, sure, but this article really gets to the point of differentiating between academic success and work success, and the root cause of people who succeed in the former but not the latter (verbal vs. performance IQ).
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02-05-2010, 04:58 PM #5
Sorry to hear, Khendra...if teaching is what you want to do, though, then I say go for it! You have to do something that you like, and that makes you happy - to me, it sounds like you would be a good teacher, and that you would enjoy it. If you do choose to go that route, I wish you the best of luck!
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02-05-2010, 06:09 PM #6
Nathan, thanks. I will do what I can, although right now I'm feeling so awful that I feel incapable of much of anything at this point. I was feeling a bit less desperate right after the termination, but that might have been just an instant coping mechanism. My weekend will be awful and I will have nothing to do next week but go through papers and see what more student loan debt I will accumulate in hopes of teaching a useless subject to people who will likely never use it down the road. Were it not for the family and fiance right now, I'd be in an even darker place. However, I have an obligation to exist for them.
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02-05-2010, 07:57 PM #7
Khendra im so sorry! its for sure there loss, if you choose to become a teacher I wish you the best I know you will be an awesome kick butt teach! Try not to beat yourself up I have no doupt you will find the perfect job, it these kinda things that make us stronger as a person and I know only good will come of it. Just keep on truck'n girl!
if there is anything I can do please pm me!
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02-05-2010, 08:11 PM #8
I'm sure you feel bad about all that has happened, but try not to get too down on yourself - easier said than done - the only person you hurt by saying things like you are "incapable" or that you will teach a "useless subject" are not constructive, and only destructive - yes, I do understand that you are upset, but there is no sense in putting yourself down, as it will only extend, and cause more pain.
Keep your chin up, and be sure to talk to people...that's what will help you get through this.
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02-05-2010, 09:15 PM #9
Yea, if you read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, most of the stuff you learn from school doesn't apply to real life. But keep your hopes up. And we could use some english teachers today.
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02-05-2010, 11:11 PM #10
Brandon - I wish I could say it was their loss as well, but it isn't. It's my loss and their gain. Thank you for the support, though; it means a lot.
Nathan - Thanks. I definitely need to talk to more people about this because, frankly, there is some kind of underlying problem that's only now become apparent. Even my co-workers thought I could have something like Asperger's because I simply don't comprehend some of the most basic of things. In a school setting, these issues went unnoticed because school doesn't require much beyond listening to lectures and taking notes (which, as a verbal person, I was suited for perfectly!). I'm going to see if I can talk to a psychologist or counselor about taking the WAIS IQ test to see if my verbal and performance IQ discrepancy is as great as recent developments suggest it is. Regardless, perhaps I can learn ways to cope from adjusting to the world of school to the world of work, a transition everyone else takes for granted because they are normal people and it is easy for them.
avstars - Thanks.
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Originally Posted by JammingJames23 
