Hi everyone. I have started as a support worker 2 months ago and am enjoying my role so far. I am currently working with one person who although doesn’t have ASD, does have a learning disability and shows repetitive behaviour.
One of these is that they constantly ask about scaring people, whether that’s them saying “I scared you” or asking me to scare other staff members.
Being autistic myself, I feel this might be because their topic of scaring people provides them with structure and routine (especially when they finish college)?
The issue is that they fixate on this, and talks non-stop which can be overstimulating for myself and I had zoned out earlier in the week. I know of at least one other staff member who is struggling with this, as the person is also showing other behaviours of concern. Because of their disability, they cannot read social cues and tell when someone isn’t interested in their fixation after a while.
I am looking for ways to deal with this? Maybe they need a more direct approach (due to not reading social cues), and myself and other staff could try setting a boundary where maybe they can’t speak about it in the morning (when other students are getting up and need quiet) but they can talk about it for 30 minutes before college? What do you think?
