Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello, my partner has been really struggling recently. He is awaiting a diagnosis of autism and he thinks it highly likely he is on the spectrum. His work is the most stressful thing in his life; he mainly works in factories and feels very pressurised working to targets and being told to be faster. He is planning to visit the job centre for support as he does not want to stay in this type of pressurised work but in the interim would anyone suggest being open with the employer and explaining how he feels? He's often threatened he will be fired if he isn't faster with the work and after this happens he has meltdowns, banging his head constantly. He feels at a loss what to do job wise as he desperately wants to work but finds this very stressful. If anyone has any advice it would be appreciated. He is looking into software engineering as mentioned previously although not that keen to do a long training. He does not like being around others and prefers working alone.
Hi there,
Thanks for your post. I'm sorry your partner is struggling so badly.
I feel like, totally from the outside, working a kind of manual target focussed job might not be the best fit for him. Maybe he needs to do something that is more in line with his ability to manage his own time and take breaks when he needs.
You mentioned he's 35 which is the same age I am. It's by no means too late to re-train and do something new. He would need your support (maybe even financially) to get onto a new path, but generally IT roles are largely at-home based now he could work from anywhere. I know a number of neurodiverse people who prefer to work from home, alone, as it suits them better.
GOOD LUCK x
Hello, thank you so much for your advice and completely agree with you, I think something less pressurising would be wise. IT roles sound good, do you know of any courses? Thanks again for replying. x