Published on 12, July, 2020
I've not been diagnosed with Asperger's, but recently I had a long chat with someone with whom I shared so many traits/viewpoints and it turned out he'd been diagnosed.
My problem is that I start off well at every job, but within a year or two things go incredibly wrong, I feel that people gang up on me and I end up walking out. I can't cope with meetings: I can't think of anything to say, if I do say something it's ignored and I get told I project a 'negative attitude'. At breaks no-one talks to me. I feel like a caged bird, desperate to escape, and if anything overruns beyond the time it was supposed to finish, I get very angry and resentful.
I excel at time management, organisation and anything that requires loads of detail, but no matter how hard I try people accuse me of being unapproachable or I get criticised for things that others get away with. I help others as much as I can, but I get told I don't! I give praise and support, but am told I don't! I go out of my way to be friendly to people, but I'm told I don't! It's like it doesn't matter what I do I get picked on for it. My cards are marked, so to speak, because I am incredibly honest all the time and believe in justice, and people don't like the challenge. I find it almost impossible to manage my emotions and become either a blubbering wreck or 'aggressive' because I will defend myself if I feel something is unfair.
I'm getting to the point where I'm likely to walk out of another job because I can't stand what I perceive to be victimisation. Clearly the issue must be me, or the pattern wouldn't have repeated itself three times now. I just can't work with people; they have agendas that I really cannot understand.
Does anyone else experience these kinds of problems at work?
Poorlittlefish I have been in and out of jobs all my life lasting no more than two years with the exception of my last job the NHS where I worked for 12 years. I had new management that interfered with the way I worked, I got bullied to the extent that I went off sick for 12 months with stress and nervous breakdown. It was while I was off sick I was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism. I was 47yr old at the time. I have been out of work 12 months now (I had an operation last year but ok now). My prospects of getting another job are looking bleak. The jobcentre were not much help. I have set up a company recently but again no work yet. The main hurdle for me is regaining my confidence which after previous work experiences does come back eventually. Never give up hope. There are some genuine people out there you just have to keep faith. Amongst the many kind people you find a small minority of loud mouths who like to prey on vulnerable people. I feel sorry for them. It makes me feel better that I am not like them. Keep faith.