hey, im wondering do any of you work as a professional autism speaker? just travel around and give talks about what its like and stuff? i mean professionally. is it possible to make money this way? do you promote yourself?
the reason i ask is i would really like to do that for a living. i am going to this seminar in an organisation called Mental Health Youth, and after the seminar they will book me to speak at highschools in norway and stuff. but its a volunteer thing so i wont get payed. but its a start.
do you think its possible to become a professional in this field and be just as "good" at it as say Gillberg and Attwood and such? (having it as your career and having people actually wanting you to speak at their conferences)
by the way i dont have any education at all and i am not planning on even getting a highschool diploma. so my question; is it possible to educate oneself and make it my job? cause those experts like Gillberg and Attwod only know about autism in theory they havent actually experienced it.
hey, im wondering do any of you work as a professional autism speaker? just travel around and give talks about what its like and stuff? i mean professionally. is it possible to make money this way? do you promote yourself?
the reason i ask is i would really like to do that for a living. i am going to this seminar in an organisation called Mental Health Youth, and after the seminar they will book me to speak at highschools in norway and stuff. but its a volunteer thing so i wont get payed. but its a start.
do you think its possible to become a professional in this field and be just as "good" at it as say Gillberg and Attwood and such? (having it as your career and having people actually wanting you to speak at their conferences)
by the way i dont have any education at all and i am not planning on even getting a highschool diploma. so my question; is it possible to educate oneself and make it my job? cause those experts like Gillberg and Attwod only know about autism in theory they havent actually experienced it.
I'm honestly not sure any of the Autistics who speak regularly to parents or appear on talk shows actually get paid. Perhaps they do, it would be great, but I'm under the impression they generally do it for the greater good rather than money.
But, if there is paid work out there, you have to earn your stripes doing the free work. If you get a reputation as an insightful and entertaining speaker, then people may be willing to pay you. But they will only pay for a "known" quantity that has earned a solid reputation.
Also, you will probably need more than "I have Autism" for your resume, I think. At least a high school diploma (are there good reasons you don't plan to get this?). Most of the Autistics I've seen speak are successful in their own fields first, speakers on Autism second.
its not like i wanna make money that bad its just i want a career and a job. and i cant find anything that suits me and i have quit highschool like alot of times and i just cant do it.
yeah i am volunteering right now thats what i will do first obviusly.
im just wondering if it could be a career or something.
it just makes sense when i think about it that autistc people should be the experts in the field of autism instead of Gillberg, Attwood etc, because if we read the same books they have read, we should know more cause we actually have autism ourselves.
Figuring out how to earn a living is definitely a difficult thing in this world. I hope that it turns out you do have a talent for speaking and that you will be able to make money from it. Otherwise, perhaps some of your volunteer efforts will help you find other paths to follow. The only way to find out what you are good at, and to discover what skills you have that you can sell, is to get out there and do things. Hopefully you can afford the luxury of pursuing volunteer work until you've had enough time to find out what you want to - and can - do.
Here's a link to a website of an Aspie who is trying to make a living speaking about autism:
http://www.imanaspie.com
He is only just starting, though.
You would get paid to appear as an "expert" speaker on autism, and you'd get travel and accomodation expenses paid. However, you would need to build up a reputation as a knowledgeable and interesting speaker before anyone would be prepared to pay to hear you. The only way to build up a reputation like this is either to do a lot of unpaid lectures or TV & radio appearances, and/or to write a book.
Most people who speak on autism do it a a kind of 'side line.' They have an other main source of income, which may well involve working with autistic people, or writing books.
well, speaking for me, it was a one-off, as someone pointed out, it's more of a side-line and you have to "earn your stripes" first. I wrote two books after being diagnosed (with the help of my mom) then got called to do two talks in Grande Prairie, about a day each, talking to student aides. We got reimbursed for hotel and meal expenses, and the first time, they flew us up, and gave us free pop on board. I got some recognition, I was able to help a few people, I got the day off work, and I learned that our public school system-as of 2005--has a no-bullying policy and actively discourages that- Woo hoo ! The second time was about a day and a half, and wasn't quite as razzly dazzly as the first. The organizers got the place and time wrong for the last meeting/talk the second time, so nobody came, but I still got a day off work, got to see some stuff, meet some people. All in all, fun, but there's been no followup, no more calls since. Maybe they ran out of funding?
just my 2 cents
J B