Worst work meeting ever

I'm not sure about my access to work helper...   I'll give them another go, but I don't get a good impression or feeling.

thank you so much for this!  I'm going through a lot of trouble at work at the moment.  They are saying they've made a lot of adjustments for me and provided a lot of support, but they haven't at all.  I've proven I can do the work, and have emails and letters in which they've praised my work in the past.  I just need an environment that I am relaxed and comfortable in without people making loads of noise around me and away from strong smells and I'm fine.  There are empty offices so I don't think it's unreasonable.  As time goes on with me being forced to sit with constant sensory overload I can feel everything getting a lot worse for me, and in the past when this has happened I've ended up either in loads of trouble or walking away from everything and everyone and not being able to return.

thank you so much for this!  I'm going through a lot of trouble at work at the moment.  They are saying they've made a lot of adjustments for me and provided a lot of support, but they haven't at all.  I've proven I can do the work, and have emails and letters in which they've praised my work in the past.  I just need an environment that I am relaxed and comfortable in without people making loads of noise around me and away from strong smells and I'm fine.  There are empty offices so I don't think it's unreasonable.  As time goes on with me being forced to sit with constant sensory overload I can feel everything getting a lot worse for me, and in the past when this has happened I've ended up either in loads of trouble or walking away from everything and everyone and not being able to return.

I think you need to calm down and take advice, as I suggested before talking further with them. Especially from the union on what adjustments are considered reasonable for teachers, what precedents are there.

The angry talk of discrimination usually helps in getting compensation after dismissal, but not always in keeping the job.

To keep the job you need to develop a very clear position which demonstrates that you are fit to do the job (my point 3) with reasonable adjustments. Just blaming them [although justified] might only trigger nasty tactics to push you out.

If you need another member of staff to teach for you, you might be headed for difficulties.

How about ear defenders?

Hi Raindrops, 

I've been through this several times.  While it can be character building in the end it's definitely a destructive process while you're going through it. 

The biggest and most important thing to protect yourself is everything in writing.  Even then you need to force the language to not be ambiguous, which can be even harder than forcing things to be in writing.  

If they refuse to engage with you in writing, send them your notes in writing.  You need to be as diplomatic and reasonable as possible and really give them every chance while stopping them from being able to play games.  It's unfair and it's hard, doesn't always work but I've found can be key at least to emotionally moving on. 

This can be something as simple as an email thanking them for the meeting and asking for a Timeline on when they think they may consider reviewing what adjustments they can make.  Something diplomatic that puts the responsibility on them to react.  Explicitly mentioning things like the equality act are very effective as well, but be prepared for an aggressive reaction unfortunately if you chose to assert yourself in this way. 

In my experience the response normally comes back verbally, which I had to follow up by emailing notes back and me being labelled as aggressive etc. 

It took me three constructive dismissals to learn how to use these tools to defend myself, importantly though they work.  Happy to help pass on my experiences if you want more help. 

I've been doing it 16 years! I think I can do it. My managers are trying to move me to a different area which would disable me.

Thinking differently for a second, would popping earplugs in for those last 5 minutes help? I'm trying to let your employer off the hook, just thinking if there's any pro-active action you can take to mitigate the issue.

I used unison once - the guy was terrifying 

all the boses would pee thier pants when he came into the building. A Big guy who had authority oozing out of him. 

When my discilpinery happened - I became like him. It was like I was suddenly Prime Minister - I put them all in thier place and the CEO was like a little boy in my presence .

When I’m under extreme pressure - something happens and my IQ seems to go through the roof like magic. Like a download - Matrix style. 

Same.... It was East Lothian Council that did it to me by not granting holiday time for my wedding in 2006.. Nice. 

I made a propaganda video that I never posted on YouTube in the early days but was sorely tempted. Criminal activity by East Lothian Council members. OMFG 

Still have the video. Never swim in a pool managed by East Lothian. You’ll get some kind of chlorine poisoning through bad pool management 

I have to say that I have experienced this myself.  In one job I had a few years ago, I had some stresses that were caused by certain conditions at the place of work and which could very easily have been remedied.  My employers at the time even knew about my diagnosis and accepted me for the role, and I never gave them any reason to doubt that they had made a good choice in selecting me because I was good at the job.  The stresses, though, were caused by taking on additional tasks that could easily have been given to someone else.  When I brought up my objections I was more or less told that no one else had any problems and that I should just get on with the job and manage as best I could.  I ended up becoming sick with depression and taking time off.  I even saw an occupational health doctor who said that he thought my employers were not making enough accommodations for me.  I wasn't in a union, unfortunately, and it wouldn't have been worth joining one then because they couldn't take any retrospective action in my behalf.  I struggled to see any way out of things and by that time I didn't want to go back to the job anyway and found something else while I was off sick. I think they had decided that they wanted someone better qualified for the role I was in so had deliberately made things difficult for me, but I couldn't prove anything.

This is thier nasty mind game and social convention... it is called - 

This sounds perfectly reasonable to me.  And you should challenge it.  That adjustment would be negating the effect of your disability in reducing stress and anxiety, helping prevent a meltdown and enable you to work without the anxiety of the last five minutes of the day which you find the most stressful.

Occupational Health may be able to help, as they can advise that things should be done, but remember they are really to help your employer, not you.  You should be able to take someone in with  you to an appointment at occupational health, and this could be anyone, it is in support of you and the normal rules about who accompanies you do not apply.  Just explain to them when the appointment is made that you wish to be accompanied and also make it clear that you are autistic and would like to have someone who is knowledgeable about autism. 

My experience of Occupational Health is that it can take a lot of time getting through to them, they initially said of me that I was 'fit for all duties' which the employer can take anyway they wish!  It took a lot of objection from me and a further visit before I got someone who was sympathetic and the tide began to turn.

Remember there is no limit stated in legislation to the number of adjustments that can be made as long as they are 'reasonable' and they will help you in your job.  And if it transpires that more are needed in the future, they should also be given.  Five minutes assistance at the end of the day is not a great hardship for your school at all, and it will mean you will work so much better.  I got exactly the same thing from my employer about things being 'part of the job', but eventually, after a great deal of effort on my part, I managed to reach a satisfactory agreement and now things have settled down completely and I would say that now any problems at work are ironed out straight away with no argument at all and certainly no stressful 'quiet words'!

My previous comment about Access to Work still stands.  They have more power than anyone else as their reommendations would stand up as evidence in a tribunal and they are invariably accepted as such on occasions when they have been challenged by an employer.

Why did it stop for those other two year groups?  Were you given an explanation?  It hardly sounds like you're asking for the earth.  You're not asking for wheelchair ramps or hearing loops or changes to classroom colour schemes.  You're asking for one thing, not multiple things.  It sounds like they're simply making up excuses to suit themselves.  They're being extraordinarily uncooperative in my opinion.  I would do as others have said and go through a grievance procedure first, with some support from a union or some other staff representative.  You're not simply being fussy or a deliberate nuisance.  You have a diagnosed condition which makes certain conditions difficult for you to handle.  Such discrimination is inexcusable and as I see it indefensible.

Sorry last five minutes; not ten.

When I am teaching the music I am fine as I planned it and I know exactly what will happen in mach lesson.

My biggest stress is the last ten minutes of the day when I feel completely out of control and there is so much noise as the class are stacking chairs and getting ready for home time. I asked for someone to dismiss the class for me (one year group does on a Thursday, which is perfect) the other two year groups on Tuesday and Wednesday did for a while and it stopped.

I was told that if I got this I would keep asking for stuff and that I need to get used to it and it's part of my job. 

They said someone could come in and help me but I still had to be there. 

This is worse because then the class don't know who to listen to.

No, you are not wrong.  We get a diagnosis in order to give us answers to many of the questions that the struggles we have had in life have raised.  As you said, at least now you know why.  The school are being technically unlawful in their approach to this because they are discriminating against you.  If you had been diagnosed with some kind of other disability, such as a physical disability, but were still perfectly capable of doing your job properly then they would make the necessary adjustments for you if they were practicable.  The same if you had some kind of illness or condition that meant you needed support to do your job.  If you have done your job properly over all of those years and they haven't had any cause to complain about your performance, then they shouldn't be discriminating against you over this.  They must be aware of their obligations under the Equality Act, which means they cannot justify their demurral.  It is simply not good enough for them to say that every staff member has their own needs because the needs of disabled people will always be greater than those of non-disabled people.  Just out of interest, what kinds of adjustments would you need them to make for you?

The meeting was because I have just got my diagnosis. I have been at the same school for 18 years. if they look through my record, they will see that there have always been things that I struggle with but now I know why. Part of the the reason I wanted to get a diagnosis was because I thought it would help, maybe I am wrong.

Not wishing to be tedious, but also need to consider point 3 in my post, to avoid any mishaps.

Well I fit both 1 and 2 so more than fit the criteria.