If you're in a position which you find fulfilling, whether that's creatively, financially, lifestyle wise or in some other way, but which you're struggling to cope with for practical reasons, it might be that accommodations and adjustments can make all the difference. And never under-estimate the impact that the right accommodations can have.

But it might be that, as you've reflected on your experience, you have a strong sense that you're in a career that is miles apart from who you are and what you need. We all have the potential to "fall into" careers that fill a need at the time - whether it's meeting parental expectations, or paying the bills, or giving our egos the kick they need at the time. But, over time, the cracks appear and you start to wonder whether your career is ever going to feel manageable or satisfying.

We end up in careers for all types of reasons. Some of us follow our parents’ footsteps into the family business or follow their career path. Some of us are influenced by parental expectations. Some of us become inspired by an interest or passion at an early date. Whilst some of us have a lot of choice, others don’t. Financially, decisions may be very limited and there’s a need to start work soon after leaving school. Studying might not seem like an option if school has been academically, emotionally and socially challenging. Many people are in a position where they take whatever job is available to them as a teenager and tend to stick with that role.

Whether we’ve exercised a higher degree of choice in our early careers or have fallen into a career, it’s not uncommon to realise, at some point, we’re just not following the right career path and that a change of job or different working conditions isn’t going to be enough to solve the issues we’re facing.

You don’t have to be neurodivergent, of course, to experience this. Anyone can potentially end up in a situation that they got into when they were younger and which ends up being untenable. But when you’re neurodivergent, the problems you’ve come up against at a later point in your life are problems you were probably completely unaware of when you chose your career path. For instance, if you found it hard to speak up during meetings or give presentations as a junior employee, you might have presumed that, with age and experience, you’d eventually become as confident as your more experienced colleagues. If you have issues with social communication, this might never happen, no matter how long you’ve been in the business. Likewise, a retail career might never become less overwhelming and demanding than it currently is, or a career in the emergency services never becomes more manageable due to the rapidly changing circumstances you’re faced with.

If you’ve reached a point where you’re not sure whether your career is ever going to work for you, a useful starting point is sharing your concerns with your manager and discussing accommodations. It might be hard to accept that some simple changes could make all the difference – and in some cases what you need might either not be workable or impactful enough – but it’s worth trying. Perhaps commit to having a discussion around accommodations and a trial period to see how they impact you. If you’re still struggling, you’ve got a unique opportunity to think about your future career with a completely fresh perspective. 

If you like where you work, are there any other opportunities you could explore? Is there a training scheme at work which can support you in taking CPD that might allow you to work towards a different path? If not, could you begin undertaking training with a longer-term view to working elsewhere? From the point of neurodivergence, what strengths do you have? What skills have you got which perhaps haven’t been recognised or utilised?  Is there anything that you were passionate about earlier in life which there might be a possibility to explore further? Gaining careers advice, or visiting a coach who works with neurodivergent people, can help you access the support you might need in helping you identify potential opportunities and how to work towards a career that might be very different from the one you currently have. And remember, not being able to work in a particular field or environment isn’t a failure. It’s a sign that you might need to identify a different area where your neurodivergent experience and qualities can come into their own. 

Another significant career change that some people make is to become self-employed. On the surface of it, self-employment might seem to provide a solution. After all, you can manage your sensory needs, you won't need to work with colleagues, you'll probably have more flexibility to manage mental and physical health needs and you can focus your attention on your passions and areas that make the best use of your talents. Perfect!

Except it's not...I’m self-employed and have been for over fifteen years. I retrained as a coach and therapist when I was pregnant with my younger son and started to get my business togetherwhen I was on maternity leave. I soon realised things weren’t going to happen as quickly as I’d hoped and supplemented my income for a couple of years with part-time work until I’d reached a point I could support myself and family. There are huge advantages to being self-employed when you’re neurodivergent – and we can’t ignore the fact that research points towards higher rates of self-employment in neurodivergent people, suggesting it's a route that many people choose.

Some of the advantages that I, and many other people, experience are both flexibility and control around schedules. I’m never subjected to anyone else’s last minute changes in plan and ensure that I see clients at set times of the day that work well for me. Doing something I love and am passionate about, and which I find creatively fulfilling is another huge bonus, as boredom and being unable to work on things that didn’t interest me was a major problem. Other advantages are not working for other people. I always got on ok with colleagues, but really struggled working under other people, particularly if I didn’t fully agree with them. Having control over your sensory environment’s another huge luxury. My office is a bedroom, with two electric blankets, pretty lights, a foot warmer and – of course – a bed as well as a desk. And usually three cats at a time. I feel absolutely comfortable at a sensory level. I’ve never run into the same problems that I experienced in paid employment. But there are other problems. There’s no safety net – if you’re ill, you don’t earn any money. Financially – and I hadn’t appreciated this until I lived it – not having the stability and certainty of a monthly pay packet is unbelievably anxiety provoking, especially in the early days until your business has reached a degree of stability. You have to be extremely self-disciplined. If you don’t complete a project, you don’t get paid and there’s nobody else to pick up the pieces. You have to deal with your clients’ problems usually with little support. And there are aspects of the job – from admin, to marketing, to sales – that you might either dislike or not be very suited to. You might even find yourself being in the position of being boss to someone else at some point, which comes with its own challenges. 

None of this is to put you off! In fact, I believe that self-employment is a great option for a lot of neurodivergent people who find it almost impossible to work with and for others. But as well as thinking about the skills and qualities that you have which might be suited towards self-employment, if this is something you're drawn to, it's also worthwhile thinking about those areas that you've consistently struggled with during your career, and thinking about the type of support or measures you'll need in place if you become self employed.