Aphant/SDAM/ASD – Career Suggestions?

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I am new to this community and I am very happy to meet a group of like-minded individuals. I have been looking for this for a long time.

I am seeking suggestions for a career path. I am a Systems Design Engineer and have worked as a software developer for 30 years.

I have heard people say that these disabilities do not affect ones ability to live and work. That has not been my experience.

I have had difficulty in my profession because a) I am autistic and b) I think differently from most people. I have always had a very poor memory. I believe that most people in the profession have very good memories.

I fell in love with software development 30 years ago when I discovered the paradigm called OOMD (Object Oriented Modelling and Design) or OOP (.. Programing). I found this approach was a perfect fit for the way my mind worked. I discovered that I was very good at modelling complex problem spaces and I was very good at simplifying them. I am not good at thinking in patterns.

Unfortunately, OOMD fell out of favour. I have been struggling to maintain a career using the newer paradigms. Unfortunately, the combination of being autistic, and not being able to do OOP has left me looking like an amateur.

I would be very curious if anybody has had a similar experience. I hope that the thinking skills that I have developed due to my disabilities might be put to better use in other areas (i.e. Data Analysis, AI, …). I think that I am a good thinker.

I appreciate any insights or suggestions. Thank you.

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