Borderline hikikomori, only go out for doctors’ appointments, paperwork, things I can’t avoid without severe repercussions.
Most interactions cause me dread and anxiety beyond what I can express in words. Even the first time would be terrible; long-term would shatter my quality of life and cause a nervous breakdown. Speaking from experience, though not in programming.
Flat affect and bad at keeping up with real-time interactions face-to-face or on the phone. While I can’t know exactly how I come across, it can’t be within normal parameters even for a neurodivergent lot.
E-mails and messaging, I could handle.
Willing and able to put in hours each day to learn. Already been doing so for a little while.
No expectations for great income, I’ll take what I can as long as I’m able to do it consistently with low stress.
So I guess what I’m asking is, is whether it’s possible to make an income, in any way, as a programmer without talking to with another person outside of text. I don’t need medical advice or pity, only information. I’m already aware of the possibility of game-dev without a team.
That’s great if true and if the only communications are by text in some form. Though as I understand it, the norm is to have daily meetings on Zoom and other non-text interactions that would be a no-go for me.
I would expect it to be pretty uncommon to find a job where you never interact in any way other than text while collaborating with any other programmers.
Yes, it’s possible. Consider freelance programming on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr, focusing on tasks like coding, debugging, or writing scripts. Open-source projects or remote roles in development also often rely on communication via email or messaging.
Freelancing requires a lot of direct communication with clients and you need to do a lot of legwork to establish relationships. If you are going to be paid to do open source work, it requires a lot of coordination. Programming just requires a lot of communication very often.
Programming is a surprisingly cooperative job. While many software development teams do try to use asynchronous communication heavily, it’s still normal to have at least one meeting per day and for there to be an expectation of willingness to have impromptu conversations as-needed. If you have a disability that impacts your ability to communicate in certain ways, then you can request reasonable accommodations, but the expectation of working cooperatively will still be there.
I would suspect that traditional freelancing would be a poor choice. As a freelancer, you are not just the coder, but the marketer, customer service rep, and billing department. Something similar that might work for someone who prefers to work in total isolation would be selling prebuilt code in established marketplaces. Popular tools like Wordpress allow you to build and sell themes and plugins. I don’t imagine that this is a pathway to great wealth, but with a lot of work and luck it might provide a side income.