Published on 12, July, 2020
I recently got my dream job as a Python Developer and at first it was really great, but after a few weeks I had to declare I was on the autistic spectrum because my boss kept taking the mickey out of me infront of my colleagues at daily standup meetings when I asked questions where he thought the answers were "obvious". I had to take to take him aside and explain that I do need to ask questions and the answers aren't obvious to me, but he responded by giving me a really massive project to do that involved learning a great deal. I managed it, but it took me six weeks and during that time he had increased the level of ridicule so I was having regular anxiety attacks infront of everybody and making a lot of errors because I couldn't concentrate. Things came to a head when they brought the whole team on a work getaway to Menorca that I really didn't want to go on. I had meltdowns in the airport on the way there and on the way back and felt I was going to lose my job because of them. The week after we got back I managed to complete the task and was fired immediately. I had been expecting it but I was not expecting to be informed the same day and told to leave my keys to the building. I did not really understand what was going on and I felt really awfully let down after all those group exercises about how we were a family.
Now I don't know what to do and my anxiety is driving me crazy. I'm failing tech tests I should pass and employers aren't being accommodating about adjustments at interview - one in particular is demanding I make a video of myself explaining my work and this is not something where I feel I understand what I'm being tested on - I don't want to be a presenter, I want to be a coder.
I'm going crazy. If I don't get a job before Christmas I won't be able to feed myself or my cat - my cat is the reason I've stayed alive really and I don't want to live without her. I don't want to go on Universal Credit either because I'm sick of the jobcentre. They are not subtle about how much they hate people like me and I don't like being around people who despise people who need help.
Well being a python developer is a great skill set and in demand. (I teach students to code in Python). Can you talk to Citizens Advice re workplace bullying and wrongful dismissal. Did you receive warnings before they fired you? Lay a support plan in place etc etc.
Try agencies also for employment also. You may also be able to work from home.??? You don’t need with tech nowadays to actually be on site - Skype, email etc
I received no warnings at all - even tho one of the Reasonable Adjustments I did ask for was for them to put things like that in writing so I could have a chance to address them.
I am quite junior as a Python Developer, so although one of the points of my latest career direction is to eventually work from home, I am really scared about not having a supportive team I can learn from. WFH Python positions I have encountered tend to be contract positions - so I would have to register my own company and pay my own tax - but the biggest concern for me is reassurance I'm producing the right code that does the right thing and opportunities to learn from other developers.
Tbh I'm not very good at interpreting the requirements of technical tests and that has been a stumbling block for the last month as I try to get back on my feet - if the task description says it does not need to be production code I don't check for PEP8 - or I might just get a bit confused about what people want and need to take extra time to figure it out.
I can understand then your need to bounce from others and have reassurance that you’re on the right track.
Most of my classes contain a higher relative proportion of spectrum developers the miswired aspie brain helps this... it’s a positive if you can get the right support and awareness from an employer your performance as less anxious can only improve, surely?
Absolutely! I feel it's a real bonus and gives me an edge on other people sometimes -I think I could really make a lot of progress really quickly if I had the right support - I've never had an employer who reacted positively to my diagnosis tho and a few who made it their personal missions to make my life hell, so I'm not going to disclose at all now until I have to - tho that's what I did this time as well!