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Waiting for assessment (up to 3 years) but need adjustments at work

NAS85656

Hi all!

really happy to have discovered this community! I’ve been waiting years to get an assessment, when I was younger my behaviour was written of as being a hormonal teenager or shy and finally in 2019 my doctor took my concerns seriously and I was finally enrolled for an assessment. However, this was right in the middle of pandemic - and was on a waiting list for years. I’ve then moved to a new city and was told I needed to enrol again at my new GP - which I did last year and have only just received a letter that I’m on the waiting list with a wait time up to 3 years.

I’d like to some advice on what I can do to cope with everything in the mean time, whilst I await an official diagnosis.


I’ve been struggling with my work environment for quite some time and because I’ve not had an official diagnosis have been hesitant to bring up that I’d really like some adjustments to my work environment. Since the pandemic work environments have changed and they’ve introduced hot-desking (first come first serve), flexi-time into the office. This has been incredibly stressful for me as every work week my colleagues and I need to book a space in the office and because we don’t have set days or assigned seats, each week they come in on different days, sometimes cancel last minute in the morning and book different desks every week, which means I’m often sitting next to strangers in the office and my environment and routine is constantly changing which can be really overwhelming. 

I also find it impossible to be productive with all the noise and prefer to work in either a quieter environment or with headphones in.

whilst I don’t have an official diagnosis, I’m positive that I have autism (majority of family share diagnosis and exhibit most traits and symptoms) and am worried that if I tell my work they won’t take my struggles at work seriously. 

I’d love to know if anyone’s experienced anything similar and whether you think I should say something to work or just hold out for another few years until I receive the official diagnosis?

Parents

  • I'm not in HR so please don't take this as fact, but I'm fairly certain that if you believe that you have a disability, your employer must make reasonable adjustments for you. What those adjustments are wild need to be discussed between you and your employer though, but i think there are probably a few options for you here. The first thing I'd probably suggest would be permanently assigning you a desk and having it in a quieter part of the office with fewer desks around it.

Reply

  • I'm not in HR so please don't take this as fact, but I'm fairly certain that if you believe that you have a disability, your employer must make reasonable adjustments for you. What those adjustments are wild need to be discussed between you and your employer though, but i think there are probably a few options for you here. The first thing I'd probably suggest would be permanently assigning you a desk and having it in a quieter part of the office with fewer desks around it.

Children
  • in reply to this_is_phil

    This right here. I'm very familiar with reasonable adjustments and employment law and such due to my line of work. The disability act (I forget the year) means that your employer should be willing to make reasonable adjustments for you so that you can do your job or it could fall under discrimination. It may be they send you for an occupational health assessment which will give them guidance (they don't have to follow occ health guidelines unfortunately) but they still should do their best to make adjustments to allow you to continue doing your job. If you have a supportive line manager it may be worth having a conversation with them first.

  • in reply to this_is_phil

    I agree. I think the law is largely based upon whether you consider yourself to have a disability. I have some physical needs, which are really not very severe, but I always state that I consider myself to be disabled, as it is a long term condition and I need an adjustment to be able to do my job. I have never been asked to provide evidence of my disability.