Q&A: (if interested) Autistic in PE

I don't have autism but I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences. Thanks a lot for sharing. All of the below is asked with best intentions so please pardon me if some of the phrasing isn't appropriate.

• What are the central challenges you face due to your autism and how do you overcome them?
• Do you think that having autism confers you any strengths that someone who is not on the spectrum may not have?
• (If yes to the above) What are lessons that someone without autism may glean from your experience that would be helpful for us to know?
• Do you think that, inherently because of your autism, you enjoy this job more or less than others that are not on the spectrum?
• What questions were you expecting people to ask in this thread, and how would you answer them? What questions would be the most insightful for us to be asking you?

Thanks again for doing this.

I mean if painting is your passion I don't see how that would affect your performance?

Thanks for the interest, here are some of my answers

• What are the central challenges you face due to your autism and how do you overcome them?

During my younger years (teen + first few years of working), I had trouble with politics and getting around certain difficult senior people. While this is probably a very common challenge, it was harder for me to navigate esp. around the hidden rules of hierachy. Ironically, it has gotten better as I got older as I now just analyze it like a scientific environment and navigate it that way, instead of the more organic and intuitive way my peers use.

• Do you think that having autism confers you any strengths that someone who is not on the spectrum may not have?

Yes, I think it ironically allows me to be a better investor but it makes it harder for me to advance (see points on politics) untill I actively managed it. Investing is filled with people who have no ability to hold their own thought and are just there to execute / repeat what important people say. To be good at investing in terms of how you think is not the same as being able to advance though, given how mature the industry is today.

• (If yes to the above) What are lessons that someone without autism may glean from your experience that would be helpful for us to know?

Manage your situation actively. Accept what you are. Left unmanaged, your challenges will occur over and over again, but if you approach it proactively, you can turn it intto an advantage

• Do you think that, inherently because of your autism, you enjoy this job more or less than others that are not on the spectrum?

I think it depends. I enjoy it less than my peers who are naturally very good at politics (blood thirsty about it even), as it's hard for people who can't see emotions clearly to navigate these waters. I enjoy it more than my peers who are naive - at least for me I never think of people as good or bad, just how they are incentivized, so I have less issue with negative people than some of my peers who react strongly to assholes

• What questions were you expecting people to ask in this thread, and how would you answer them? What questions would be the most insightful for us to be asking you?

I wanted to put it out there, see if there are others in similar situation, as I think people with autism (esp. after they realize they have it) often question whether they can "make it" in relationship-driven jobs such as PE. I'm not at a place where I know the answer myself, but I think if managed proactively, and after you start to analyze people/relationship like science, it will get better at least for your own experience

Props to you for making this thread - so many people can learn from your openness. 
 

I think it’s absolutely fascinating that you were diagnosed with autism as an adult.
- How do you think it went undiagnosed for so long?

- What tipped you off to being autistic (in other words, was there an experience where you said to yourself, “I should go get this checked out”)?

- What’s your favorite thing about working in PE?

- Do you think you’ll ever pursue another career (even something else within finance), or is your long-term goal to stay in PE?

Doesn't office politics bore you out? To my understanding, autists tend to be deeply technical and/or theoretical. Since dealing with social norms in general or in a corporate context are not exactly the most intellectual activities, I would guess someone on the spectrum would either leave to do something that better rewards intellect or be stuck on some mid-level operational role.

As a socially awkward neurotypical who craves intellectual stimulation, I left my job to do my own thing because I knew that I don't have the skills to thrive in a corporate setting and wasn't willing to acquire them. I always thought that if I were autistic things would be a lot worse. It's always interesting to see when an autist can use their condition in their own favor to succeed, even in a highly social environment like PE.

What do you think you have done, or was different about your upbringing that has allowed you to succeed career wise relative to most other people who are diagnosed (and obviously most people in general as well)?

Congrats man, keep killing it. Shame you feel you need to deal with painful politics to keep pushing forward upwards.

Trading, has lots of autistic types who do fine. If you ever find too painful I would consider the switch, we stare at loads of data for hours on hours. We have one client, the “screen / exchange” and when things go annoying we make up theories to consider Darth Vader is on the other side then go back to look at loads of more of data to prove we right.

Thank you so much for doing this! 

Some questions on your experience:

• Did you follow a fairly traditional pathway into PE, for example, doing IB first and then moving into PE? How did you navigate any other workplace outside of IB?
• Has there been there any particular work-related challenge where having Autism seemed to disadvantage you? 

I'd also appreciate some advice if you're willing to help out:

• How could someone with Autism learn how to best navigate office politics? How can someone with Autism minimize mistakes that could arise while dealing with office politics?
• I just graduated from college and wondering how to best make connections with people at work. Is there anything in particular that would make sense for bolstering my network as early as possible?
• This is something that probably makes more sense to people with Autism: If this is something you experience, how do you deal with the "fatigue" of constantly meeting or interacting with people more generally? This is something that I have largely overcome in terms of the workplace, but I still get exhausted after talking to people for a few hours. 

I don't mean to piggy back off this great thread but what about dyslexia? I have been working in finance for 4 years and am waiting back the results to find out if I have it. Curious to see if others have dyslexia as well and how it's managed?

Have you heard of people just not being able to work as fast as their peers due to things such as ADHD, autism etc? Do you think that could be a real thing?

Congrats on all the success btw

Have you told anyone about your diagnosis? If so has it affected how they interact with you on a professional level?

I'm not even going to say props for making this far as you clearly navigated the hike up to where you are. Keep crushing

A career in Finance like I have is fine for a Shared Service environment  for an autistic person ( Accounts Payable & Account Receivable ) etc

My Son is not Autistic but is high on the Aspegers Scale.  He holds a Job at a Ten Pin Bowling Alley and is saving hard to buy a more expensive Car without the help of Mum & Dad.   He has many qualities which Im embarassed to say i have not always recognised.  I recognise that now humbly but it took me a while....

I believe that repetivive tasks are easily managed in an SSC managed environment are acheivable but provided that the adequate training is there for our Colleagues.  Unfortunately too many SSC jobs are now outsourced into Lower Labour countries without these requirements.  My own Company also!

I dare to say that an autistic person may struggle in Management Accounting and the necessary Challenge back into the Business.

Transaction Processing issues and sufficient training and escalation to control points ( authorisations / AP reconciliations ) etc are I believe the best way forward.  Transaction Processing is also a natural stepping stone into Payroll etc which is another great development curve.

SteveG

Fellow autist diagnosed as an adult. My therapist and I thought I was socially anxious for a long time because of similar symptoms, but she now thinks it's autism. Do you experience nervousness in social situations?