Specific examples

I screwed (pre-diagnosis) up by thinking I was like everyone else - I had no idea how different I was until it was pointed out to me.

I thought that everyone worked hard with a common goal - wrong.  

I thought that hard work gets results and promotions - wrong. 

I had no idea about office politics,

I screwed (pre-diagnosis) up by thinking I was like everyone else - I had no idea how different I was until it was pointed out to me.

I thought that everyone worked hard with a common goal - wrong.  

I thought that hard work gets results and promotions - wrong. 

I had no idea about office politics,

If you go through school as an outsider, it is almost inevitable that you don't have the faintest idea how to do office politics. I reckon I was marked down as an outsider before I even got to Primary School.

We didn't have nursery schools in those days, and I was too ill some of that time to go out and play with other local kids. (They were actually a really bright bunch!) Let me see. Primary school, two secondary moderns, strict grammar school top stream, a glitch-rich brand new comprehensive school and technical college; all before I left home, having lived in about seven different homes during the same time. and then an endless stream of different dead-end jobs because my face didn't fit anywhere and no one really could be bothered to take any notice. This isn't really an exaggeration: I still get PTSD-type dreams from my education and work. I frequently wake up believing I still haven't fulfilled an academic or work requirement that I actually completed decades ago.  And somehow I remain relatively cheerful.

After 15 yrs of working in different industries my career has shown me the same. Sadly I feel the common goal is personal progression, but often they don't care about the people around them. I have a particularly tough time with being managed, I've only met one manager that cared about their staff genuinely - and I'm 99% sure he's an aspie. I remain friends with him to this day.

Thank you for your input guys, so important to hear these examples.

I don't engage with office politics, and am quite outspoken against playing 'the game'. It has often made me unpopular, but somehow has elevated me amongst my peers in some instances. Seen as being a sort of renegade of sorts, but I literally just point out obvious ways to solve problems. Seems simple to me.

I've learned about picking my battles a bit more carefully though, as I have always just said it how it is and got into trouble, I now take a breathe and sometimes just keep it in go avoid the problems that have always come up.

It's tough though because often you can see the answer to something in B&W, and seems logical to me to just say it, but I know the NT culture is based on some bizarre game of facade making.

I always like to take lunch alone. This is never an accepted decision and makes me seem unsocial, but is when I can recharge a little from the overstimulation.

I can't handle florescent lighting, bright screens, of any type of distraction behind me.

I suffer panic attacks in meetings if I can't easily leave, I always sit near the door.so I can if I need to. This causes problems, especially if I ever have to lead a meeting or do a presentation, as I know I can't leave then, so I immediately start to have a panic attack. They are the bane of my professional life, and have slowed my progress. I think my IBD flares due to the stress of this sort of situation