HANDLING REJECTION AS AN AUTISTIC CREATIVE

I remember being asked back around August or so by my sister in law about a bit of the profession path that I'm going into. As an autistic person, the industry is going to be stacked against my symptoms. How can one survive speaking up for themselves, when they're plagued with autism's ambiguity? How can one market themselves to be "more suitable" in the eyes of the employers, and especially, how can one handle the rejection as an autistic creative?

Personally speaking, my biggest gripe in most people I work with is the lack of communication. As long as someone is concise and letting me know issues that arise that may cause them to falter in their workmanship, I am, for the most part, very understanding. Even in moments where someone flat out forgets, I still tend to understand. We all have these moments of lapse. Unfortunately, the industry has, on multiple occasions, sent automated messages of rejection, once applying for a position. It's an industry in which doesn't have a laid out book of plans or material to follow, so most of the time, applying for jobs is trial and error.

With this in mind, how do I handle the "after careful consideration, we are unable to accept you at this time"? I'm not going to lie and say it's not daunting or a bit upsetting. It happens, especially when you have dream companies in your mind that you would love to work at. I like to think of a rejection letter as a nudge or a slight push in a different direction.

Has anyone seen Monster's University by Pixar Animation Studios? The message that solely based on you not being born to fill in the roles you dream of achieving at a young age is soul crushing, but as the titular character Mike goes through in the movie, he may not be a scarer. He is, though, an excellent manager, and if the opportunity for him to follow his dreams isn't exactly how he wants it, it doesn't mean he isn't suited for the dream at all. This works the same way with me.

I want to be a creative. Seeing rejection letters or no responses from some of my dream companies, when applying, is extremely deflating; however, they aren't the end of my dream path. Maybe my goals are to push me into a different company as a creative, or my path is to push me in a different position at a dream company. That being said, all of this is very applicable to anyone, regardless of neurological deficiencies.

I am autistic, but I can only assume that this kind of feeling isn't specific to me or autistic individuals. We all go through several no's before we get one yes. Something about this makes me feel less alone and more together with my other creatives, regardless of disabilities. Especially when there are hundreds of applications going in at a time, I can say that there's many variables to state that my autism is the sole reason of my rejection.

Don't let the rejections deter you. It's just as hard for companies to find "the one" as it is for us to do the same.