Old Life

JT said:

now I'm in a position where I am able to admit my limitations from ASC actually do stop me from doing the work I used to do.

How long were you working "normally" before your diagnosis?

JT said:

I can't travel in public transport, I have to drive, and I can't adhere to a full-time role,

I understand that you were able to do these before with an accompanying level of stress. What has changed to stop you being able to live with these levels of stress again?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying go back to all the stress from before, but if there are elements of it you could tolerate in order to be in a workplace then could you do these? If the work itself was less of a stress on you then would 30% of what you put up with before be acceptable to get you back into work?

JT said:

How do I continue on when my old life no longer fits my new self? I

Is it really a new self or just the old self with added understanding?

My take post diagnosis was that I had been empowered by the knowledge and could change the way I approached my day job in a way that made it easier for me and I was more willing to put a stop to stuff that was previously affecting me.

For example I had a 2,5 hour commute each way to work in London so I used to put on sunglasses, my headphones and sleep on the train on the way to work - that turned what was a stressful commute into a chance to rest away from the demands of people. I left my phone in flight mode too to stop people chasing me for out of hours questions.

in the office I asked for a set location to work at which was approved. You could get other "reasonable adjustments" is you disclose your diagnosis to them. I also had fixed shfts and several days to work from home which made it much easier.

My job had a lot of interaction with staff so there is no way to avoid that but learning to take a few seconds after each interaction to conciously relax helped a lot. Stress management is essential in this sort of situation.

My takeaway from this is that I was the same person post diagnosis as before but could now make my life easier as I had the knowledge and tools at my disposal. Therapy was also a boost and taught me to refine the techniques, work on the traumas and make me better able to take on the world but more on my terms.

JT said:

now I'm in a position where I am able to admit my limitations from ASC actually do stop me from doing the work I used to do.

How long were you working "normally" before your diagnosis?

JT said:

I can't travel in public transport, I have to drive, and I can't adhere to a full-time role,

I understand that you were able to do these before with an accompanying level of stress. What has changed to stop you being able to live with these levels of stress again?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying go back to all the stress from before, but if there are elements of it you could tolerate in order to be in a workplace then could you do these? If the work itself was less of a stress on you then would 30% of what you put up with before be acceptable to get you back into work?

JT said:

How do I continue on when my old life no longer fits my new self? I

Is it really a new self or just the old self with added understanding?

My take post diagnosis was that I had been empowered by the knowledge and could change the way I approached my day job in a way that made it easier for me and I was more willing to put a stop to stuff that was previously affecting me.

For example I had a 2,5 hour commute each way to work in London so I used to put on sunglasses, my headphones and sleep on the train on the way to work - that turned what was a stressful commute into a chance to rest away from the demands of people. I left my phone in flight mode too to stop people chasing me for out of hours questions.

in the office I asked for a set location to work at which was approved. You could get other "reasonable adjustments" is you disclose your diagnosis to them. I also had fixed shfts and several days to work from home which made it much easier.

My job had a lot of interaction with staff so there is no way to avoid that but learning to take a few seconds after each interaction to conciously relax helped a lot. Stress management is essential in this sort of situation.

My takeaway from this is that I was the same person post diagnosis as before but could now make my life easier as I had the knowledge and tools at my disposal. Therapy was also a boost and taught me to refine the techniques, work on the traumas and make me better able to take on the world but more on my terms.