Seeking experiences with the Occupational Health referral process

From my own experience, you hav eto remember that person with ASD has a right to ask for reasonable adjustments, before the meeting, and before anything else happens, its all legal and each step has legal consequences, even if it sounds casual, And I would serch exactly what dose he want from work, what he want to acheve by the OH!   I always say this 

I have diagnosed ADHD and dyslexia and ASD . These can affect working memory, sequencing, processing multi-part information, verbal recall under pressure and the accuracy of written expression. They do not affect the depth of my understanding or commitment to the work, but I may need additional time to organise and communicate my thoughts clearly.

When assessing my application, I would appreciate the following:

• Please focus on the meaning and substance of my answers rather than minor spelling, grammar, repetition or differences in expression.

• Please provide requests, deadlines, decisions and next steps in clear written form, with separate actions where possible.

• If clarification is required, email is preferable to an unexpected telephone call, and a reasonable period to process and respond would help.

• Please allow the use of assistive technology to organise and proofread my written communication.

If my application progresses to a panel, I am likely to benefit from receiving the main questions or themes in advance where possible, being asked one question at a time, additional processing time, permission to pause or request rephrasing, and a short opportunity to provide written clarification afterwards.

• These adjustments would help me communicate my ideas accurately and participate on an equitable basis.  This way he dont have to answer immidiately, and get everything in writing, I personally would insist on using AI for the transcript, don't assume they will hive you accurate hand written notes,or even record it on your phone, Just take any precaution possible,  The workplace dont even have to listen to what OH will recomend, the key is to have everything in writing, after the metting type out the notes, and email back with all important points, And ask all detail questions, You can ask your chatgpt to help you with that.  All the detail will only be important if you enter a legal battle territory, 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and the useful information. Hope my partner can actually be referred to OH soon. 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and the useful information. Hope my partner can actually be referred to OH soon. 

Although I had support from OH, I do sense that a lot that is done by the employer is to protect them. After my first long period off, at the advice of a helpful professional I joined a union, as I discovered that was the only way if I had.to attend a meeting that I would be able to have someone to support me and have a note of what was said. Weekly meetings with a manager are because they believe that gives a greater chance of an employee returning. However when I was suffering from burnout this made it difficult to switch off and recover.  It also took a long while for them to consider reasonable adjustments. I was not able to consider returning until they were agreed.

No worries at all. Thank you for the further information. I’m at a loss and couldn’t believe my partner has to try so hard keep asking for the support that should have been provided in the first place. :’(

This is a huge problem for so many people, even more so for people like your partner or me with ASD,  face what now turns out to be a national problem not only entering employment, but staying well and supported at work. Recently UK government relesed The Keep Britain Working Final Report https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/keep-britain-working  identifies three persistent failures: fear that discourages early disclosure; fragmented support; and structural exclusion. It reports a disability employment rate of around 53%, employer costs of approximately £85 billion a year and societal costs from health-related economic inactivity of £212 billion.Access to help is unequal. In 2024, only 45% of workers had access to Occupational Health, ranging from 92% in large employers to 18% in small employers. Support is divided between the individual, manager, HR, Occupational Health, healthcare and other services. Each may address one part, but nobody helps the person navigate the whole situation.      

I have so much to say about it as I have my self experienced it first hand, and it makes me furious! - In the positive sense:) Basically this should have being picked up far earlier, at this stage the person involved feels surrounded by towering institutions all coming with very polite helpful tome, that brings no resolution, with each new email, As harsh as it sounds and its not to say that Im accusing anyone of anything, but HR is mainly focused on long term well being of the Organization, their goals are different than the single worker. Meanwhile the worker is expected to be at his best while at his worst. Its just so unfair! 

Luckily something is happening, because the cost of the long term sickness is so huge, that this cant be simply seeped under the rug. 

Sorry for venting like that, take care.

The article is worth reading, however its boring as hell.