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Career change.

Catherine

Evening all

Just wondering whether anyone changed their career path after an adult autism diagnosis? Or how you’ve managed to advocate for yourself to make your work life more manageable?

I’ve progressed far (professionally and academically) in a public facing clinical role in healthcare. I’ve moved workplace multiple times in recent years due to “stress” and overwhelm (now known to be burnouts). I’ve never been signed off sick and have the mentality of just keeping on going (which no doubt added to my burnouts) preferring to try a different employer but always with similar outcomes.

I’ve recently moved employer again and received my diagnosis just a few days in. Already recognising repeated behaviour from me and not sure how to change the habit of a lifetime and stop the stress from reaching fever pitch! My new employers aren’t too interested in my diagnosis and I’m struggling to find support within the company though am persevering with finding out who can support. As a heavily masking professional female, I’m not sure how to make people (including myself) aware of the support (of which I don’t know either!) I need to prevent further burnout.

I’m considering leaving the profession but wondered if anyone had similar experiences?

Very introvert otherwise so find it difficult to gain others’ perspectives.

Many thanks

  • Hi Catherine, 

    The job market is terrible at the moment and switching career isn't an option for most people at the moment. If you've got an employer that makes the very simplest of reasonable adjustment is incredibly lucky. Just because you've obtained a formal diagnosis doesn't mean you'll get the support to change career or be able to rely on the benefit system while you try and figure it out. 

    At the beginning of this year i asked for some very simple reasonable adjustment with my local authities library service i was working for at the time. I was contracted 20 hours a week as admin support assistant and was promised when started to be taught skills that would enable me to work from home in a situation my bowel disorder played up. By then end of my employment with the library service i was working my contracted 20 hours and working 4 different relief contacts for the library service including Electronic Library Supervisor, Library assistant and General Assistant. I was repeatedly punished for refusing work by my locality manager and then punished by my Manager and Head of service for exceeding 37 hours a week. I had no licence at the time and was travelling in excess of three hours a day on multiple buses to specific libraries to provide cover often 3 hours shifts. If i refused shifts i would not hit my 37 hours need to support myself. I was on universal credit at the time and not receiving my benefits because my employer payroll department where reporting my monthly income multiplied by the four contracts and it got to the point where HMRC got bailiffs involved to remove good from my flat because i couldn't afford pay the false tax i needed to pay. My managers said they would deal with it and they didn't because payroll couldn't see the error on their system. 

    After all this happened i asked my former employer as they have put me under immense stress that if i could default into into roles that where vacant. One being additional 17 hours in the admin department so i would work 37 hours in one department and keep a routine or keep my contracted 20 hours in admin and 17 hours at my local library. They refused. i then asked for redeployment and my admin manager contacted every department with a vacant role and inform them not to hire me. 

    I will never accept a job that makes me travel in excess of an hour now. I physically cant do it anymore or rely on public transport.