Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello,
I was diagnosed with ASD Level 1 by Psychiatry UK before Christmas last year. Although this has been very positive and a lot of things that didn't make sense to me now do, the report I received was only really a summary of the documents submitted and the appointment and was quite general with the issues I experience as a result of being autistic. I have still had to figure things out by trial and error to understand what does and doesn't work for me and I have gaps that I don't know how to address or even articulate to others e.g. navigating friendships and romantic relationships. Similarly for work purposes, although they know I have the diagnosis and have my report on file, they haven't been able to provide recommended/required support because of the lack of specifics.
I've tried looking around for adult support services in my area but can't find anything so I'm a bit stuck. My priority mainly is for work, I'd like them (and future employers) to have something that outlines my specific needs. Is this something I can seek out? And if so, how would I go about securing it?
Thanks in advance!
More specifically relating to your situation, would it help if you worked backwards, so to speak, to find out what your needs are and what would make your work life easier. For example, think of the last time you had a bad experience at work. Why was that? What caused it? Was it something that could take a small change to fix? As an example, I was struggling with people coming up to me and asking me to do stuff while I was working. I'd already planned all my work in my head to the last minute, so having to fit in new stuff would derail me and make me even more stressed. Now I make sure to check in with people beforehand and outline exactly what I will be doing, and ask then if there is anything extra they want done. If there is, I explain that something else will have to be missed out.
The uncertainty was what was stressful for me. My need was for a clear plan agreed in advance. The change was for me to communicate this directly.
Obviously this is reliant on me being proactive, and sometimes it is other people who need to change their behaviour, but this was the personal example I had.
So I think I have been doing this since I first realised I might be autistic and luckily my work have been really supportive in putting in place reasonable adjustments. I'm now in a different role since the diagnosis which has also provided some additional benefits. The main thing I'm thinking of now is that some errors I could in theory make can be quite serious and I'd feel better knowing HR had a document clearly outlining my deficits and potential problem areas. Put it another way, the reasonable adjustments I have got is entirely from my own proactivity as they can't offer anything unless it's explicitly stated as a need.The example you gave here is also one I've had trouble with and my former manager was great with, but now my new role requires a lot of self-directed work so I don't have the same type of communication needs or demands made on me, but it's made me realise just how forgetful and bad at organising I am!