I’ve got basically the identical back story. High school dropout, ADHD/ASD, can’t handle structured learning.. but I sure as hell liked staying up all night playing with code, exploring the depths of the internet and every single aspect of how it all works from hardware to software.
Did freelance stuff for a few years making websites for local businesses, graphic design for nearby restaurants and retail stores, fixing computers from my share-house bedroom, etc. Ultimately got some pretty dead-end tech support jobs in telcos and SMEs which taught me workplace etiquette and how to deal with clients/stakeholders. Then did some 3-6mth contracts with some pretty big companies from there, including government. One of those had a manager who understood ASD and took my under his wing, and I got a full time 6 figure role there founding an internal web team (taking over the main website and intranet from an outsourced company, building/deploying whatever web apps departments needed). Workplace training programs moved me up from there to a variety of roles and into security then management.
Still never finished high school or any tertiary education, I like to say I fell my way upwards. I have no idea what I’m doing professionally, I just like playing with computers.
Did freelance stuff for a few years making websites for local businesses, graphic design for nearby restaurants and retail stores, fixing computers from my share-house bedroom, etc. Ultimately got some pretty dead-end tech support jobs in telcos and SMEs which taught me workplace etiquette and how to deal with clients/stakeholders. Then did some 3-6mth contracts with some pretty big companies from there, including government. One of those had a manager who understood ASD and took my under his wing, and I got a full time 6 figure role there founding an internal web team (taking over the main website and intranet from an outsourced company, building/deploying whatever web apps departments needed). Workplace training programs moved me up from there to a variety of roles and into security then management.
Still never finished high school or any tertiary education, I like to say I fell my way upwards. I have no idea what I’m doing professionally, I just like playing with computers.