Autism

The idea of knowing what you want to do with your life is overrated. A lot of people do a lot of different things and often don't know what they're going to do until the inspiration hits them. In the meantime, do things you like. Don't make any big decisions without thinking about the implications. Try out new hobbies and activities and see if any of them feel like something you want to do more. Oftentimes one interest will drive you to a similar one.

Get a job if you need the basic stuff people need to survive. Preferably not a job that demands too much social masking if that sort of thing causes you anxiety. That may be hard to come by depending on your skill set though. You can look at people whose jobs you find interesting and ask them what they did to get there. But it may also just be a matter of finding a job you can tolerate so you're able to do the things you enjoy when you're not working.

Unfortunately that's a question only you can answer.

Hobbies are great, but be wary of turning them into a job. You may be good at them, but a job is a good way to remove the joy from the hobby. I works for some people, but not everyone.

Don't worry too much about long term goals yet. I've been out of school for many years and only recently started a proper career.

Take whatever jobs you think you can do, and don't be afraid to fail or look stupid. Life is about learning, and the best way to learn is to try.

You will ultimately have to answer this yourself, but here are some personal thoughts that might help you:

• hobbies are nice, but I wouldn't force one just for the sake of having one
• cooking, diet and exercise are always good picks to spend time and energy on
• you'll probably have at least four decades of working full time in your life, so I wouldn't rush getting into a job if you're not financially dependent on it. There's also part time jobs and internships.
• if you're in a country with cheap or free college, there's a lot to gain and little to lose by just trying it out
• depending on how good your social skills are, having an autism-friendly environment can be a massive improvement to your life quality. Some choices will be more effective for finding this environment than others. For example, you might have an easier time making friends if you're studying CS and getting into DnD than if you're working in sales and getting into football. That's of course a broad generalization and again something you have to figure out yourself, but it's helpful to be aware of this as a factor for your life quality.
• most importantly, what interests you? Maybe you even have an interest where grinding the basics comes naturally to you, not just the superficial fun parts? Which fields interest you can also be a factor when deciding whether you want to go to college.

If you're able to focus on learning stuff and school was kinda easy, engineering has always been a great career choice for us. Software development is a great one too, and comparatively easier than some of the more difficult engineering disciplines (though still difficult)

If you don't want to do a 4 year degree, we also tend to do well in metalworking trades like being a machinist, welder, sheet metal worker, millwright, pattern maker, etc.

With welding in particular, the skill ceiling is infinite and the pay scales with how rare your skillset is. With enough experience, you can become an inspector if you want a less physically demanding job.

Some 2 year degrees that lead to pretty stable jobs are instrumentation and process operator. You'll work in places like chemical plants or wastewater treatment facilities making sure everything stays running. You're in the same environment for years on end and knowing every inch of your facility is critical.

Another 2 year degree is in non destructive examination (NDE). Basically training to use fancy gear to make sure manufactured parts aren't going to fail. NDE technicians are the guys that make sure that metal parts are actually safe to send out into the world.

If you don't want to get a degree, and you're relatively physically fit (or don't mind getting that way on the job), framing houses and carpentry is a good trade to learn and always in demand. Apprenticing as an electrician can lead to a good career as well, and doesn't require a degree.

As far as hobbies go- that's just... Whatever you like to do. You don't have to pick one. It's whatever you'd do to fill your time if you weren't focused on surviving.

Well, having a hobby is healthy in many ways. I highly recommend it. Especially some form of a creative outlet.

Here’s the good part, it’s up to you to define your life. If you have people supporting you, it’s even better because you have more options. Think about what is important to you like money, career, or family. If you don’t care about those things then don’t make a life around them, you will be miserable. Just be honest with yourself about what you want, even if it’s not what others think you should want.

I think the only option is to grasp how terrible everything is before finding something to distract yourself for the next 50 years.

What do know and what do you like to do?

Im assuming that you're young, so plenty of time to try stuff and make mistakes. I'm much older and still don't know what to do with my life. Yes, try a hobby or two, see what sticks. Yes, see what the college is offering. Yes, see if you can get a job. Keep making decisions (it doesn't matter (major caveat here!) if they turn out to be the wrong decisions) keep moving, keep learning, keep growing.

Don't think that a college code will define you long term, people can have many successful careers in one lifetime. It just arts the starting point.

If you learn from each opportunity, everything is beneficial in the long run.