Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I had been to a private psychiatrist who said he thinks I have aspergers. He then wrote to my gp to recommend I be referred to the diagnostic team.
In the meantime I had mentioned this in my review at work as part of the well-being part. Since this I have regretted it. They have brought it up at every review. At present I have been working in my job role for 5 years and recently changed post. So I have managed to get this far.
Now they want to refer me to occ health to see how they can help, but I have already stated that I am enjoying my new post and am finding no issues. I have possibly jumped he gun in telling them. I don’t know what to do now for the referral to me seems pointless. Is this referral a necessary step they have to take when I have told them I’m not having any difficulty? I just feel vulnerable and put in the spotlight.
Occ Health jsn't as terrible as it sounds. Isn't necessarily useful either. I had some mental health issues leading up to my Autism discovery, my appointment resulted in me getting two weeks off to take a break (which for me was necessary - doesn't mean you would need nor be required to take it), she told me she couldn't do anything about how my managers conducted themselves (which was the issue) but she was able to advise that I was fit to do my normal duties which had been denied to me.
Kind of a partial win for me as it got my managers to back off a little.
The thing that has helped me, is a Wellness Action Plan. You may be able to find it on your Companies' intranet. It's effectively a document with a series of questions that explain what affects your mental health, what improves it, what might trigger an issue, how it manifests and what to do about it if it occurs. It's not just for Autism. It can be used for anyone.
It's effectively a written dialogue between you and your manager about how to manage your mental health so they can get the best out of you. My guess, is they are constantly bringing it up at your reviews because they think it's being supportive. They are trying to tick the 'I care about my staff' box, but like my managers who think that if they tell me to 'take my time' when my ptsd has been triggered, they haven't a bloody clue what they actually should be doing.
If you provide them with the WAP, it will lay some groundwork that they can then use to offer appropriate support as and where needed. It was recommended to me, that it comes out at every review and is updated regularly, which makes sense as you will change as you discover things, or when situations change. If you can't find it on your work intranet, you should find it on the Mind UK website. Sorry, I'm not in a position to track down the link. It is good that they are willing to discuss it, so look on it as a positive. It will strengthen your position if you can demonstrate what affects your work (it's often little things that can be adjusted) rather than leaving them to think that your some kind of ticking time bomb - always the impression I got from my lot!
Whoops, just realised the age of the post. I suppose the info is still useful if anyone wants it!