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ASD in the workplace

Smashedmetal

Hi, I'm pretty new here and just need some advice. I'm a 51 and was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in my 30's. I have learnt to cope with it and know my triggers but recently finding it hard. Today i had a full autistic meltdown. ( First one in 10 years)  

I work for a large DIY store and recently my store has had some cut backs and had to move some people to different departments to cover this, I was told today that I am one of the 30 members of staff moving.

I have been on my department for over 8 years now and as you can guess, I didn't take too well and had a full meltdown at work. My new manager didn't know that i had ASD or how to deal with someone with ASD.

Only a few people at work know that I'm autistic because i don't want to be judged by my ASD and don't want to start every conversation with "hello, i have ASD". (especially when I meet new people)

I need advice or any links for dealing with ASD in the workplace. Thank you

  • Smashedmetal said:
    I need advice or any links for dealing with ASD in the workplace. Thank you

    If you want them to make accommodations for you then you need to approach the HR dept and present them a copy of your diagnosis document and tell them that you are autistic and want to arrange "reasonable accommodations" for you disability.

    You should also tell your manager that you have done this but most importantly you need to think what the changes you need are going to be. The changes have to be reasonable so if for example you wanted to go back to your old job but the old department no longer exists then this is not reasonable.

    You don't need to tell anyone other than those who have to make your working life tolerable. HR will give you some protection if your boss does not know what to do (practically and legally) but it is your boss who needs to actually implement the changes for you.

    I would expect them to sit down and talk about what the "reasonable accommodations" should be and how they can be achieved. For this I strongly recomment getting a union rep to attend with you (join a union if you are not in one) which will stop you being steamrollered by management.

    These changes won't be immediate in most cases so you may need to deal with this.

    What things do you struggle most with in your job? These will be important to build into any planning.