Recently diagnosed with autism!!

I got diagnosed with autism on Friday 10th November and not sure what to do now, my boss won't be in till after Christmas (she recovering from serious surgery) so I can't let her know, I got a post-diagnosis counselling appointment sometime in December. I don't really know where to go from here, any help would be much appreciated. 

Parents
  • Hi Skel1ingt0n, welcome here! 

    That's quite quick to get that appointment within about a month! Maybe there's no reason to do anything right now, just try and let it settle a bit? Is there an urgent reason why work should know? Problems that are likely to get you into serious trouble, like having already received a written warning for sending unprofessional emails when you did nothing else than being honest, or having had meltdowns or shutdowns at work, that sort of thing. In that case it may be worth telling HR (although this can also have the opposite effect and make you much more vulnerable because you are basically telling them which buttons to push to make you react in certain unwanted ways, but I hope that isn't the aim in the place where you work). Otherwise, if it's more about things that are difficult for you to deal with and could be made easier (by "reasonable adjustments") if someone understood the problem, or simply to explain some things that others may have noticed without this having caused problems so far, then I think it may be worth waiting until you had those counselling sessions because there you can discuss these things and they may have useful advice for you (or you may get some advice here too). Either way, best not to rush it, I'd say.

Reply
  • Hi Skel1ingt0n, welcome here! 

    That's quite quick to get that appointment within about a month! Maybe there's no reason to do anything right now, just try and let it settle a bit? Is there an urgent reason why work should know? Problems that are likely to get you into serious trouble, like having already received a written warning for sending unprofessional emails when you did nothing else than being honest, or having had meltdowns or shutdowns at work, that sort of thing. In that case it may be worth telling HR (although this can also have the opposite effect and make you much more vulnerable because you are basically telling them which buttons to push to make you react in certain unwanted ways, but I hope that isn't the aim in the place where you work). Otherwise, if it's more about things that are difficult for you to deal with and could be made easier (by "reasonable adjustments") if someone understood the problem, or simply to explain some things that others may have noticed without this having caused problems so far, then I think it may be worth waiting until you had those counselling sessions because there you can discuss these things and they may have useful advice for you (or you may get some advice here too). Either way, best not to rush it, I'd say.

Children
  • I agree with most of the above post.  Depending upon who you work for, you may not need to inform your boss of your diagnosis, but that you are working on making improvements in your personal and professional life.  I would ask your boss for an actual appointment to talk about suggestions that your boss may have.  When you meet with your boss, keep your emotions out of it.  No matter what they say, write it down.  If you don't understand, ask for explanation and suggestions on how to achieve these things.

    I don't know that it is necessary to inform your boss specifically that you have a diagnosis of Autism simply because that means something different for each person with a diagnosis and they may misinterpret that diagnosis.  The only time I would bring it up is if you need special accommodations in order to do your job.  i.e. you need noise cancelling headphones because you work in a cubicle and are having trouble completing your work assignments because of all the noise.  

    Sometimes it is the simple things that elude us.