Employment

It's fair to say that the employment figures in the UK aren't great. I got these statistics from the Autism Now website.

68% of people aged 16 to 64 without disabilities work.
24% of people with cognitive disabilities aged 16 to 64 work. In this survey cognitive disability is a very broad category that includes people who say they have difficulty learning, remembering, or concentrating.

So... since I passed an interview to be an Autism Support Worker - despite being completely open about actually having the condition myself, at the interview - I think I might just be allowed to feel a little pleased with myself. Not smug, exactly... although if I DID allow myself the occasional bit of smugness during a moment of spiritual weakness, I probably wouldn't feel too bad about it.

I was up against stiff competition for this job. I know, because I checked the sign-in book when I attended the interview and I saw a lot of other candidates waiting, when I left. (At least, I assume they were candidates as well. They might have been there for entirely different reasons.)

This is the first job interview I've attended since I worked at Glasgow Airport, six years ago. And THAT interview was the first one I attended in... I don't know... a long, long time. It was the first time I had a proper shave in over a year, as opposed to merely picking up an electric shaver and trimming down my stubble. It was the first time I made any attempt to make a shirt look vaguely less crumpled, since I attended a funeral a few months ago. Basically, I suppose, it's the first time I made any real kind of effort at all. Well... unless you count the hen nights, which I take very, very seriously. But the effort involved in those are just par for the course. Nothing particularly special.

It's also the first time I made any real effort to get back into any kind of employment since the car accident put me (temporarily) out of commission, back in 2009.

I think it's fair to say that I've overcome some genuine odds, here. It's late in 2012 and the financial situation isn't great. Rent is overdue and I haven't paid the power bill in months. Things aren't exactly rosey quite yet, but the potential is definitely there for things to get better.

Let's hope those fucking Mayans are wrong, because that would be terrible timing.