From the Culinary Arts Kitchen to Retirement: My Journey as a Chef Instructor to Finding My Autistic Self
- dchin1346
- Jul 8
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 15
It’s two in the morning on Wednesday, July 8th, 2026. I am sitting at my computer and have logged into my YouTube Channel; The Yesterday Project. My most recent three minute short, “Vlad III, The Man Behind the Myth of Dracula,” still has another 28 minutes to load.
This is the reality of what “high-speed” internet looks like in rural Nevada. The promise made by Elon Musk; to bring high-speed internet to all rural areas of the United States was never realized.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Rural Digital Opportunity Fund formally denied and rescinded SpaceX's provisional $885.5 million rural broadband contract on August 10, 2022. Following an appeal from the company, the FCC officially upheld its decision to deny the funding because it concluded Starlink had failed to demonstrate that it could meet the program's required high-speed internet deployment and speed standards.
As to why I am up so late on a worknight, the simple answer is that I have nowhere else to be and nothing else to do. I’m a retired teacher with 32 years of diversified instruction experience. I started out as an elementary teacher and put in 17 years that included 9 years at suburban, inner-city, and rural public schools. I subsequently spent 8 years teaching abroad at private American schools in Saudi Arabia working for Aramco (Arab American Oil Company) and at the American Community School in Beirut, Lebanon.
Unable to readjust to the reality of teaching in the public schools after returning stateside in 1999 during a time when education had been dumbed down to the repetitive basics of teach, drill, partice, and assess; I opted out of education and went to culinary school.
At 40 years of age, my (now late) father told me that I was having a mid-life crisis because I was throwing away a 17-year long teaching career that included a Master’s of Curriculum and Instruction to become a chef-wannabe.
After graduating with honors, I spent 5 years in the industry where my skills were further developed through employment with Bob Evans. Working for this restaurant chain literally taught me how to work every station at a casual dining restaurant; from the host station to being a cashier, server, prep cook, line cook, busser, dishwasher, shift leader, and manager.
In 2007, I returned to education as a Culinary Arts instructor. My 17 prior years of experience as an elementary teacher, my culinary degree, and my foodservice experience gave me an alternative path to certification as a Career and Technical Education instructor in Arizona. I subsequently spent fifteen years teaching Culinary Arts, initially in Arizona, but later in Nevada after continued state budget cuts in the Grand Canyon State caused me to lose three teaching jobs over five years.
I spent my last ten years in education with the Clark County School District where I taught Culinary Arts to largely indifferent students. It was during the winter of 2020 that I was clinically diagnosed with Level I “mild” autism.
This then, will be the subject of my next blog post; how I learned that I was autistic, why I sought a clinical diagnosis, and how this diagnosis changed my last few years as an educator. Looking back upon my life, I am amazed that I was able to teach for 32 years and to work in the food service industry for five years given how only 16% of us have full time employment.
If my experience resonates with you, please share your thoughts in the comments. Are you diagnosed with autism and if so, did you receive your diagnosis when you were young or were you diagnosed at a later age like myself? Are you currently employed? Are you pursuing a career? If you’re not retired and are unemployed, how are you supporting yourself?
I will reply to all comments as time permits.
Logging off for now.
David
Please feel free to share any thoughts in the comments section.
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