Published on 12, July, 2020
Do autistic people get screwed over at work more or is it just me? Most jobs I have had I get taken advantage of or treated worse, with less respect, than other collegues by the people I work for. My most recent job I have been borderline defrauded. Two of my three previous ones I had to go to ACAS.
I'm quite a worldly wise person and certainly not naïve but yet I always get treated as if I am a naïve mug who doesn't know what's what.
I'm not saying all this cos I feel sorry for myself, I just want to know if this is a common autistic experience in the workplace or whether it's just me?
From personal experience I can't say this has happened to me; as of now I am doing a full-time council job and am on a decent(ish) salary of nearly 29K (which at 24 I am surprised with). I did disclose after interview about my autism and have support/tools for mental health and such (as my job offers various services). I can say from what I have researched online, it can be difficult for autistic people (depending on circumstances) to stay in consistent employment because majority of employers don't really understand autism well.
Disclosing can be a catch 22 aswell, especially because you don't know how an employer will react when you mention autism. I personally feel that there is not enough support in terms of finding suitable work for autistic people, most get written off or pushed into jobs that don't suit their needs and it is so sad to see.