Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all,
I am an autistic male with an official diagnosis from Psychiatry-UK. I revealed myself as autistic to my workplace, and the results were disappointing.
My knowledge of corporate environment tells me that the HR is just scared of a discriminations lawsuit and advised my managers to keep me at distance. They cannot just fire me because I waited for 2 years to disclose my condition.
Some questions:
Thanks
Judge Dredd said:Would I be liable if I did not disclose my mental condition in the job interview?
I don't think there is any loability involved unless your condition / disability brings a threat to others (eg being an autistic bus driver who suffered meltdowns in traffic to the point of crashing the bus). If there is any risk at all then disclose it, but as a network engineer configuring routing tables, subnets and installing switches etc then I cannot see anything that would be an issue.
Judge Dredd said:Apart for homeworking, is there any adjustment that can be asked for a network engineer?
This is for you to decide. Do you find anything an issue because of your autism that sensible changes could improve? Think stuff like sound, lighting and smells typically, but if you do not suffer these sensory issues then focus on what does affect you.
Trying to cut out speaking to people altogether is never going to work as you are part of a larger IT team and there are very reasonable expectations for you to act as a part of that team.
Maybe if you tell us your autistic related issues we can help.
Hi Iain, thanks for the answer.
My issues were pretty standard autistic issues: I can function pretty well in a standard work environment, but I cannot perform in the required social environments for a corporate job. I can spend entire days without saying a word, I have no interest in socializing, and going to a "networking" event is just out. As you probably know, corporate job entails a lot of "networking" (brown nosing the right people). The HR accused me of "not being a good cultural fit", while some of my colleagues described me as "scary" even if I never spoke or interacted with them.
Judge Dredd said:The HR accused me of "not being a good cultural fit"
I would give HR a copy of your diagnosis and ask for you to be recorded as disabled if you have already done this - this will stop them from being able to act on that as has happened to me before.
It may be worth writing to your manager and explain that your autism will not affect your ability to work but the social aspect (which isn't really essential) is a challenge for you and you would prefer to avoid this is at all practical.
There will inevitably be some interaction required so chosing to mask is inevitable, but by reducing the frequency of these events you should be much more able to tolerate them before needing to recharge after.
This is an area you can work on if you are interested - here is my recommended reading list:
Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships Decoding Social Mysteries Through the Unique Perspectives of Autism - Grandin, Temple, Barron, Sean (2017)ISBN 9781941765388
Social Skills for Teenagers and Adults with Asperger Syndrome - A Practical Guide to Day-to-day Life - Nancy J., Ph.D. Patrick (2008)ISBN 9781843108764
A lot of us can work much better when we understand the rules that are intuitive to neurotypicals so these guides help fill that gap and let us play the game on a more level playing field.
No, I am not going in management. I want to get in a higher tier tech position, but the management will not even consider you for advancement if you cannot kiss the right asses. I need a course in corporate ass kissing. I can mask well enough to pass in a cursory inspection, but I need a whole skillset if I want to be endorsed by an idiotic manager and a dumb *** from HR.
Judge Dredd said:I have seen how people are chosen for advancement, and it is 5% tech skills and 95% social skills.
Ah, my mistake. Sorry for misreading it.
Yes, you are right. To move up from being a techie you absolutely need an abundance of people skills, so this is what will hold you back now and will affect your ability to maintain a position elsewhere if you get a team leader / manager / project manager role elsewhere (assuming this is the progression you mean).
I had to read up loads on social skills to get into management in the first place as managing IT techies is like herding cats. You need to understand people and know how to motivate, sustain and discipline them in the right situations and for a long time I resisted this path.
You need to speak with everything from salesmen to accountants, office managers and other teams to get stuff done - meetings can sometimes take up all your working time and not leave you time to do your actual job.
This was long before my diagnosis so I had to try to learn like a neurotypical.
It can be incredibly stressful as you have to mask constantly and you have the management above you pushing for things to be done their way and techies below you telling you that is rubbish or unobtainable - you have to keep both sides placated while still getting the job done.
Its no coincidence that my first management position coincided with my hair falling out.
Are you sure you want to go down this route? I would advise caution.
As I said before, I already disclosed them the diagnosis and I became an untouchable. Sure as hell my chances of getting a promotion are about 0%, this is why I want to move to a different company.
>your autism will not affect your ability to work but the social aspect (which isn't really essential)
That's simply not true. I have seen how people are chosen for advancement, and it is 5% tech skills and 95% social skills.