Thinking About Workplace Adjustments

Me apparently. Because I have no idea why I replied with that.

A better answer would be: I will see how things go, perhaps I can work out ways of making my work environment a little more comfortable, or perhaps I need better recovery methods to use at home. 

What doesn't make any sense?

Thanks for this. Some of these I already have and most aren't really possible in my job/workplace, but I'm thinking of asking for extra breaks even if I have to work later. Thanks for sharing.

It doesn't make sense at all.

It's always darkest just before dawn. Stick with it and see what's round the next corner; it probably won't be any worse, at least. 

I've been tearing myself apart with question of whether I stay or go.

I agree. Sometimes the places which are most understanding of children's differences are least understanding of adult differences. I don’t get the inconsistency either...

I came across this page recently which has some examples of reasonable adjustments in the workplace. Hopefully some might be relevant to your situation.

https://autismhampshire.org.uk/about-autism/making-workplaces-autism-friendly

Reasonable adjustments for individual autistic workers might include:

• paid time off when needed
• fixed hours rather than variable shifts
• reducing specific sensory stimuli in the workplace, e.g. locating that individual’s workstation in a quieter or less bright part of the office
• change of work location, for example to be nearer home, or nearer support facilities, or to a work location which is quieter or less over-stimulating
• extra breaks to enable relaxation
• providing a mentor
• individual support where schedules are unavoidably disrupted and when changes are introduced
• adjustment to the way in which assessments are carried out
• a clear routine and work schedule
• a personal workstation (rather than sharing a workstation or ‘hot-desking’)
• relaxation of triggers for disciplinary action for matters such as sickness absence or mistakes arising from executive function impairment
• additional training time off for treatment/appointments, as part of a policy for disability leave
• re-allocating some work to colleagues, with their agreement.

Keeping your diagnosis a secret is crazy and so sad. They should be proud to present an autistic role model to the children.

Regardless they should and could still provide reasonable adjustments, without needing to publicly announce them to everyone.

If you keep masking so much you will burn out eventually. Coping strategies might delay it a bit but there will come a point when you can't function anymore. 

In your situation I'd be looking for another job, somewhere more inclusive and supportive.

Thank you, so much.

It does send my head in a tail spin. "Autistic children are valued here, are an important part of society, are wonderful and capable, but shhh, don't tell anyone you're autistic, they won't understand. "

Ugh. I can understand, I have had similar work situations, although not for so long.

Please be kind to yourself! It takes a long time to adjust to a late autism diagnosis. It's nearly two years since mine (and I thought I was autistic for some time beforehand) and I feel like I'm still adjusting. That's sad that you have to hide your diagnosis even though you work with autistic children.

Thank you!

Congratulations Luftmentsch!

Thank you. I've never had to mask so much as I have to in this job. Been there 5 years and been falling apart for about 4 of them. In that time, severe depression, the mention of autism, and a private diagnosis. I think my head is still swimming.

I'm still trying to stop thinking that I'm NT, and I certainly haven't got to grips with who I actually am. But it's all a work in progress I suppose. And who would think that working with children who are autistic would mean I'd have to keep my diagnosis a secret. This world is a complicated place.

I can't really change anything in my workplace, but will hopefully be moving out of my parents' house in the coming months when I get married and will be able to have a home life that fits me better with my wife.

Thanks, but they aren't really relevant to my situation. But thank you for replying!

Stimming is not such an issue for me. I do it a bit, but not a lot and it doesn't really help with work stress. I'll let you know if I find anything.

I'm going through a similar process with my manager at the moment.  I am lucky in that my manager and team are very supportive, I can work from home and have flexi time.  I attended something a few weeks ago where they had two slides with suggestions, many of which I found I already did e.g. colour coding my calendar, trying to block out time to focus on specific tasks, using bullet points to summarise meetings and actions.
The things we are currently exploring/talking about are more for when I'm in the office as I kind of know how to deal with things from home.:

• Permanent desk when working in the office rather than hot desking.
• What to do in the office if I'm overwhelmed e.g.
  • using a meeting room or finding somewhere quiet.
  • being able to take an extended break.
  • setting myself to do not disturb - maybe even having something on my desk.
  • using noise cancelling headphones.
• How to more effectively delegate tasks.
• What the trigger point should be for sick - I was off last year for the first time in 4 years with stress, then I got Covid, so it triggered a HR check which wasn't helpful.
• Rejecting invitations to meetings the same day.

So, don't know if any of those ideas help?

Cheers,

Joe 

I've heard the name, it came up in some research, though it was just a mention.

I'm not able to have reasonable adjustments made. So I was trying to find alternatives that I could do myself. This is so complicated. 

Thank you for the info.

Have you read anything by Luke Beardon? He is known for the golden equation 'autism + environment = outcomes'. In his book "Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults" he states:

"most of the time your anxiety will stem from the environment, not from within yourself, so the focus should be on changing whatever the cause is within the environment"

In essence there is only so much you can do in terms of coping strategies if the anxiety is the result of external environmental factors. The rest has to come from others, in the form of reasonable adjustments to reduce those environmental factors.