u/Constantchaonis

I recently got diagnosed after one hell of a process to get there. Pretty quickly I realised that my diagnosis explains why I am struggling at my job so much. I have a special interest for social interaction so I have a master's degree in communication. However actually working in that field means constant meetings, phone calls and demands on my time. Additionally, I have to be available at unexpected times and ready to answer questions from politicians and journalists. It's exhausting and I'm currently on burnout leave. My manager is suggesting I try to change jobs/fields but I love social studies and the social field. I am deeply upset by the implication that my autism makes it impossible for me to work in the field I love.

I do agree however that this situation is unsustainable and I probably need to switch to something else. I am very intelligent, a great analyst and really good with processes and long texts/writing (hence the degree). Some people in my life are trying to steer me towards "typical autism jobs" like quality control/management, IT, archival work etc but I think I'll be bored out of my mind if I try any of those 'far away from impact' jobs. Some others have suggested some middle-management style jobs that sound a lot like jobs that don't actually produce any value or benefit to anyone.

Has anyone else found themselves in a similar situation? What did you end up doing or how are you coping? I'd really appreciate any advice you can give.

I'll be doing my first fair in september at a fantasy event (followed up by a few local markets). I'm currently working on my inventory and figuring out what exactly to sell and stock up on. I am a watercolor painter and I do linoprints and zines as well. I've heard the advice of having at least three price points. The high and middle points were pretty easy with prints and linoprints but I'm struggling to find what to do for the cheap and easy to grab items.

Most artists I know start with stickers or postcards for their lowest price items but my work doesn't translate well to stickers (I primarily paint landscapes) and my postcards are already slightly more expensive due to local printing costs for small quantities. I'm ideally looking to sell something at €1-3 per item that isn't a big investment at the start.

I'm considering just going for stickers anyways but having to make a bunch of designs for them that are slightly outside of my brand and comfort zone is intimidating. Anyone have good advice or original ideas I could look into?