Vocational Rehab

Tue Oct 17 09:13:29 MST 2017

I’m technically NOT ADD, but my wife says I am. I tend to agree with her at times on this…  (“My Dr says I have ADD, but I disagree because … Oooh, look at that rabbit!” :-)

Anyway, IF one of your ADD symptoms is the ability to hyperfocus, and the hyperfocussing functions when working on an ‘IT’ or ‘software’ issue, then you’re actually way ahead, IMHO.

I tend to agree with what I think someone wrote about ADD can be a benefit when doing certain tasks in IT/Sofware/whatever (in addition to the above hyperfocus).

In my case, I seem to be able to ‘roll up’ large parts of a system into a single concept, so that when I’m down in the details looking at a line of code, and I’ve only got, what 7 concept-spots in my head open for keeping things in mind, one of them is the entire system (or large parts of it), so that I’m able to see how a single line doesn’t fit (has a bug).  Don’t know if that’s an ADD feature or not….

On the subject of interacting with people – if you can handle dealing with people via email and non-direct methods of communication fairly well, then it seems that the ‘remote work’ situations would be better than ‘in-person’.

Also, unfortunately (in my experience, anyway) some companies are VERY bad at specifying what needs to be done or changed.  Perhaps larger companies, where they separate the designers from the ‘coders’, do a better job of this.  Right now I don’t remember ANY ‘crisp’ definition of any task I’ve ever done (I was a software developer up until 8-ish years ago (and I’m doing sysadmin, software/script development, and customer support now, so I still do some software: database, web-ish, scripts, modifying open source programs to add features, etc), and I’m now in my 60s, so I’ve been doing this for a while… Part of that time I was an independent contractor (what, 3 years?  Maybe more, and I’ve taken various side contracts off and on even after my full-time self-employment gig).  (if the above paragraph doesn’t convince you that my wife is right, well then I won’t try ;-)

Hmm.  What’s the point of all that?  Not sure any more….

Ah – I think part of what I’m trying to say (badly), is that – depending upon what your ADD and other ‘symptoms/attributes’ are - there is probably somewhere in this ‘field’ where you can find a spot which is at least semi-comfortable in which you can do well.  Just don’t get discouraged, keep plugging (no pun intended) until you find the spot to get plugged in to (now, THAT pun was intended ;-).

Wish I could be more help than this, but it sure looks like you’ve got quite a resource here in the other responders!  (I don’t do enough web development to really be a web developer, or I’d have volunteered to be interviewed).

From: PLUG-discuss [mailto:plug-discuss-bounces at lists.phxlinux.org] On Behalf Of Stephen Partington
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2017 8:37 AM
To: Main PLUG discussion list
Subject: Re: Vocational Rehab

ADD can be great for Software engineering, but very challenging for Waterfall testing cycles. however If you document your code and what you are doing you can still code quite nicely.

In It you will have similar mundane things where the ADD kicks in and make it challenging. Having lived with ADD since i was a tot and being a 20+ year IT professional it will be an issue with technology. always.

That being said, pursue what draws an interest. this will give you that extra oopmf that makes overcoming your ADD etc much much easier. If it is code, do it. If it is IT, do it.

On Tue, Oct 17, 2017 at 1:06 AM, Eric Oyen <eric.oyen at icloud.com<mailto:eric.oyen at icloud.com>> wrote:
another area of interest could be database management, especially on older oracle based database systems (like 11g). there is a shortage of people there as well.

-eric
from the central office of the technomage Guild, Vital Statistics management.

On Oct 17, 2017, at 12:44 AM, David Schwartz wrote:

I don’t mind talking with you, but I think you’re being given some rather biased advice by someone who probably has no experience in the field.

Programmers as a whole tend to be introverts and rather anti-social. At least us older folks fit that mold. The younger ones are a bit more sociable.

With your background, you don’t need a CS degree. Just get some specialized training in some language and platform that’s hot right now that you can get lost working on for a while, and you’ll be set.

Just try to avoid the web arena. I work in Delphi, which is Pascal. I’m left alone to work by myself most of the time. In fact, I’m working at a place righ tnow where my boss is in Baltimore and I’m in Phoenix. Nobody here in Phoenix deals with me in the office. It’s rather strange. I don’t know why they hired me to work out of this office, but that’s what they wanted.

Web developer … no. No, no, no! Too many short-turn high-tension projects with constantly conflicting requirements. And it often involves the programmer working closely with a graphic artist (unless you do both).

Consider this: anything that gets you maintaining legacy code would probably be a good position for you. COBOL, FORTRAN, Delphi/Pascal, MUMPS / Caché

These are skill sets that employers need to fill on a regular basis, and they’re getting harder and harder to find even minimally qualified people. I worked at a place a few years ago and they hired kids out of college with Liberal Arts degrees and put them into a 12-month training program teaching them MUMPS. Why? Because there’s no way to learn it otherwise. They couldn’t find anybody to hire!

You might wonder, who the heck is using MUMPS today? Believe it or not, the entire US Dept. of Veterans Affairs is powered by MUMPS / Caché on the back-end, and Delphi on the front-end! The place I’m at now uses Caché, in fact. It’s an old legacy healthcare data system.

(MUMPS was originally developed to run on a Borrough’s mainframe computer that was built to support the needs of hospitals. That was the 1970’s. Here we are nearly 50 years later, and the VA is probably the biggest MUMPS (and Delphi) user in the world. It ain’t going away any time soon.)

You might or might not be a good fit for a maintenance role, but if you are, learn one of these older languages and it could end up being a really good gig for you.

-David Schwartz

On Oct 16, 2017, at 10:09 PM, trent shipley <trent.shipley at gmail.com<mailto:trent.shipley at gmail.com>> wrote:

Dear plug-discuss,

I currently work as a telephone customer service representative. There are no sales, but I still hate it, it pays poorly, and I'm bad at it.

I have three disabilities, I'm bipolar (well treated with medication), autistic (high functioning), and I have attention deficit disorder. (Also, I'm 50, which is effectively another disability.) Three disabilities is enough to qualify for Vocational Rehabilitation services from the State.

I like programming. I'd like to be in IT, I think. I had a couple years of experience back between 2000 and 2002, mostly writing SQL queries in Oracle. I have a BA with majors in history (3.5 GPA) and math (2.25 GPA), an MA in anthropology, and unsuccessful attempt at a PhD in anthropology, an MS in information management, and a community college Certificate of Completion in computer programming (CIS department, not CS).

There are two major barriers to my getting a job as a programmer. First, it seems to involve way too much interaction with people for an autistic person. Second, it requires a four year degree and internships. Voc Rehab doesn't want to pay for it, and I can't pay for it myself.

So the option of web developer came up. The Labor Department's web site said you could qualify to enter work as a web developer with a post-high school certificate. Unfortunately, I suspect that being a web developer requires even more people contact than being a programmer.

Nevertheless, my assignment for the week is to talk to two web developers. I'd appreciate any contacts list members could provide that would be willing to provide a 20 minute interview about their work, either web developers or programmers with less than a BS.

Regards and thanks,

Trent Shipley
trent1967.48 at outlook.com<mailto:trent1967.48 at outlook.com> (junk e-mail account)
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--
A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

Stephen
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