NAS Workplace assessments

Few people understand what AS means; most on line explanations focus too much on the Triad of Impairments, which only seems to substantiate the myths and preconceptions.

Also people will read up and look for all the traits. It may not be a good idea to give a copy of your full diagnosis to your line manager, although it appears that you weren't in a position to prevent it. The wording of a diagnosis tends to use your own stated evidence, which makes it look a bit like self diagnosis.

I was not so lucky. I consulted human resources about the work implications of my diagnosis, and had an interview with the health adviser. She asked for a copy of my diagnoses for the file, and asked if I wanted management and colleagues to be informed. I assumed she meant the gist of my diagnosis would be explained verbally and consented to this, as my hope would be for people to better understand my difficulties.

She instead scanned my full diagnosis and circulated it to many people as an electronic attachment to an email. This caused all kinds of misunderstandings as to what it all meant, my head of division drawing the conclusion I had self diagnosed because at the time a story was doing the rounds about academics claiming to have AS to enhance their careers (never have worked out how that daft rumour was supposed to operate).

Things improved in time because I got the diagnosis primarily in order to clear my own mind about issues, and my coping strategies rapidly improved, my self confidence and self esteem were boosted and I was able to perform better.

The sad fact is probably no-one in your workplace will properly understand it, and the information they will get off websites will likely not help.

Understanding of the workplace is still gravely lacking. I have found Malcolm Johnson's "Managing with Asperger Syndrome" (Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2005 ISBN 1-84310-199-8) a useful insight, but it is a slow read as it is overly biographical and I think his AS must have been mild as he doesn't report most difficulties I'd expect.

The way the workplace affected me was that NTs worry if you are not fitting in, and not saying the right things on cue, not being "collegiate" etc. On a number of occasions complaints had been made but when investigated amounted to nothing more than hearsay and grudges, but it was wearying.

If I'm tired or stressed I tend to defocus, and dissociate, and it is seen as if I've been drinking or on drugs. Work social environments and noisy meetings were difficult because I lose coherence when there is background noise - I preferred to stay near the edge of a room rather than mingle. I don't look people in the eye enough, get my person to person distance and voice pitch wrong in conversation, don't adopt the right tone for the situation etc. I tend to speak rapidly, conveying a lot of information off the wall, as I can synthesise information very fast, too fast for the average NT.

But these things don't describe well and critics just made fools of themselves trying to make out something was wrong with me. If you do a good job and you aren't failing on any key issues, the trivia, even if there's a lot of it, doesn't really matter.

Few people understand what AS means; most on line explanations focus too much on the Triad of Impairments, which only seems to substantiate the myths and preconceptions.

Also people will read up and look for all the traits. It may not be a good idea to give a copy of your full diagnosis to your line manager, although it appears that you weren't in a position to prevent it. The wording of a diagnosis tends to use your own stated evidence, which makes it look a bit like self diagnosis.

I was not so lucky. I consulted human resources about the work implications of my diagnosis, and had an interview with the health adviser. She asked for a copy of my diagnoses for the file, and asked if I wanted management and colleagues to be informed. I assumed she meant the gist of my diagnosis would be explained verbally and consented to this, as my hope would be for people to better understand my difficulties.

She instead scanned my full diagnosis and circulated it to many people as an electronic attachment to an email. This caused all kinds of misunderstandings as to what it all meant, my head of division drawing the conclusion I had self diagnosed because at the time a story was doing the rounds about academics claiming to have AS to enhance their careers (never have worked out how that daft rumour was supposed to operate).

Things improved in time because I got the diagnosis primarily in order to clear my own mind about issues, and my coping strategies rapidly improved, my self confidence and self esteem were boosted and I was able to perform better.

The sad fact is probably no-one in your workplace will properly understand it, and the information they will get off websites will likely not help.

Understanding of the workplace is still gravely lacking. I have found Malcolm Johnson's "Managing with Asperger Syndrome" (Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2005 ISBN 1-84310-199-8) a useful insight, but it is a slow read as it is overly biographical and I think his AS must have been mild as he doesn't report most difficulties I'd expect.

The way the workplace affected me was that NTs worry if you are not fitting in, and not saying the right things on cue, not being "collegiate" etc. On a number of occasions complaints had been made but when investigated amounted to nothing more than hearsay and grudges, but it was wearying.

If I'm tired or stressed I tend to defocus, and dissociate, and it is seen as if I've been drinking or on drugs. Work social environments and noisy meetings were difficult because I lose coherence when there is background noise - I preferred to stay near the edge of a room rather than mingle. I don't look people in the eye enough, get my person to person distance and voice pitch wrong in conversation, don't adopt the right tone for the situation etc. I tend to speak rapidly, conveying a lot of information off the wall, as I can synthesise information very fast, too fast for the average NT.

But these things don't describe well and critics just made fools of themselves trying to make out something was wrong with me. If you do a good job and you aren't failing on any key issues, the trivia, even if there's a lot of it, doesn't really matter.