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Autistic adults in the workplace

NAS65744

Hello! I hope this is okay to post...I am an autism researcher doing some consulting work for a company that is seeking to make a training video about embracing neurodiversity in the workplace. As my interest/focus is on autism, including a discussion of how to best support autistic employees is very important to me. I want to ensure that the materials and advice I've compiled so far includes the perspectives, concerns, and experiences of autistic adults who themselves are in the workplace - after all, these are the people who would know best what sort of support is needed! So, I wanted to ask: if you are an autistic adult who works in an office environment, what do you wish your employers knew? How can they best support you? What do you wish your coworkers knew? Any and all information is helpful about your own experiences!

Also, if anyone is particularly passionate about this, I'd love to discuss more and would be happy to connect via email. 

Thanks very much for any help!

Samantha 

  • Hi ,

    Thank you for your interest in our community.

    Unfortunately, we are unable to allow research surveys to be posted on the online community. As a result, I have locked this thread.

    This is in accordance with Rule 8:

    Requests for research study subjects and surveys need to be directed to research@nas.org.uk for data protection and research ethics reasons. Further information can be found on our research pages.

    And can also be found in our terms of service:

    Gathering information for surveys and research studies, or similar, using the Community is strictly prohibited unless prior permission has been given by the NAS.

    You can find the rest of our rules here: https://community.autism.org.uk/p/rules

    I hope that you still find the community useful and informative. 

    Kind regards,

    Dani Mod

  • Hello~
    I don't exactly fit your criteria, as I don't work in an office environment entirely, though I do have to work as part of a team with many other staff for part of my day on the shop floor, so to speak. My thoughts on the matter, initially at least are as follows:
    I work full time, and have done for many years. I was working when I was finally diagnosed with Aspergers in 2016. This diagnosis came about in part because I was struggling to cope with certain aspects of my job. Since then, the support I've had has been... hit and miss I think is probably the best way to word it. I've had repeated issues, which result in me requiring time off to reset myself and resettle. Each time, work ask me how we can prevent it happening again. Agreements are then put in place for adjustments to my duties to help me be more settled and avoid unnecessary stresses. Each time these agreements start okay, and then slowly over time seem to lapse and no longer be respected or kept to, and thus the cycle repeats again. It feels as if they think if the agreement is kept for a while, then I'll be okay and 'normal' again, and therefore no longer need those adjustments to be kept to. Honestly, at times, it feels like I'm banging my head on a brick wall fighting the same battle over and over and over again. There seems to be a very large blind spot/lack of understanding about just how much even little things can result in big effects later on. A lack of understanding about how feeling a bit unsettled makes everything a struggle, even things which I normally find easy. 
    This is ongoing even today. I've just recently had to speak to the doctors about this to try and seek further advice, and again it feels I'm fighting the same battle again. It would be nice if they could just understand: "We need to do x,y,z to help Mr/Mrs employee get the best out of themselves in our workplace, benefiting their health and our productivity/effectiveness" And then Actually DO That and keep to it. Otherwise their supposed help/adjustments are just empty words and meaning well without being very good at it. These things and adjustments can't or should not be just be some generic diversity policy or tick box exercise either, as each individual with Autism will require different adjustments and parameters of adjustments to get the best out of themselves in a work environment.