Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I wear noise-cancelling headphones at work, and together with my tendency hyper-focus, sometimes I can become totally zoned out of my external environment. Sometimes, when my supervisor has something to say to me, he visits my desk without any warning and waves his hand in front of my face - otherwise there is no chance I would notice him there.
The thing is, like most autistic people, being suddenly distracted or surprised makes me stressed. Often my heart starts racing, my face goes red and I can't process what the person is saying, or figure out how to respond. My supervisor knows I am autistic but I'm not sure he understands some of the lesser-known issues (e.g. difficulties being interrupted and task-switching). I'm not sure I want to give my boss a list of instructions for how to interact with me. I was considering asking the university disability service to circulate some practical guidelines on how to be around autistic student/staff. I'm already in a noisy, open-plan environment with essentially no adjustments, so I do feel like I should do something.
Has anyone else experienced this? Cheers!
Hi - a good boss would appreciate a list of how to behave to get the best out of you (which they will stand the best chance of if you're comfortable and not stressed). Think of it like giving them the user manual for their employee (you) - who would turn that down?
But note that I said a "good" boss! It depends on your exact situation but if they are interested in nurturing the relationship they have with you, they should be very much up for talking about this stuff.
Try not to be shy about asking for adjustments too - you're entitled to them if they are reasonable, and as you know, sometimes a little tweak that costs nothing can make a huge difference.