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Identifying what is and what isn't autism

mumofone

My daughter has autism and my husband is borderline aspergers.  My query is to do with the difficulties my husband is having at work.

At various times throughout my husband's career he has been bullied (one did lead to over a year off work).  During that time he was assessed for autism and the conclusion was that he has some traits.  He started his current job about four years ago and this worked well until a new performance management system was introduced.  He was placed in the lowest category for two reasons, one of which was not noticing when someone wanted to move the conversation on to a new topic.  

His line managers are making an issue out of the communication difficulties and have refered him back to occupational health to determine which of the problems are due to autism and which aren't.  I feel this is a difficult task.  Has anybody tried to do this?

Parents

  • Mumofone stated one of two reasons her husband had been put in the lowest category in a performance review was:

    "not noticing when someone wanted to move the conversation on to a new topic"

    This is a common problem for people on the spectrum. So where is it mentioned in the NAS factsheets for employers?

    Granted the factsheet mentions the uniqueness of individuals. But not enough is said that would lead employers to expect anything different from the specified issues. The nearest equivalent, under Social Interaction (being part of the triad) is "they may not notice if the person they are talking to is not interested in what they are saying".

    An employer might suppose that all that needs be done about this is to point it out to a person on the spectrum when it happens. The way the triad symptoms are expressed, it must look to employers that these issues are easily resolved or rectified.

    Under the factsheet for managing someone with autism there are three tips for avoiding misunderstandings by increasing awareness. But again it reiterates the same triad characteristics. They only cover "if the person seems aloof or uninterested" ... or often says the wrong thing, it is unintentional, "if the person tries to hard to fit in and irritates colleagues by seeming to 'muscle-in' on a conversation, be patient, and explain the boundaries if necessary".

    That's a whole lot of new information. Still not related to moving the conversation on, but it gives a great deal more insight. So why isn't it in the "what is autism" factsheet?

    On another page of the managing factsheet they quote a "person with autism": "I have difficulty picking up social cues, and difficulty knowing what to do when things go wrong". Where are social cues mentioned in the employer factsheet What is autism....?

    Employers are placed in a tricky position here. If the information about what to expect from a person on the spectrum doesn't match what they actually see, what conclusions are they likely to reach?

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  • Mumofone stated one of two reasons her husband had been put in the lowest category in a performance review was:

    "not noticing when someone wanted to move the conversation on to a new topic"

    This is a common problem for people on the spectrum. So where is it mentioned in the NAS factsheets for employers?

    Granted the factsheet mentions the uniqueness of individuals. But not enough is said that would lead employers to expect anything different from the specified issues. The nearest equivalent, under Social Interaction (being part of the triad) is "they may not notice if the person they are talking to is not interested in what they are saying".

    An employer might suppose that all that needs be done about this is to point it out to a person on the spectrum when it happens. The way the triad symptoms are expressed, it must look to employers that these issues are easily resolved or rectified.

    Under the factsheet for managing someone with autism there are three tips for avoiding misunderstandings by increasing awareness. But again it reiterates the same triad characteristics. They only cover "if the person seems aloof or uninterested" ... or often says the wrong thing, it is unintentional, "if the person tries to hard to fit in and irritates colleagues by seeming to 'muscle-in' on a conversation, be patient, and explain the boundaries if necessary".

    That's a whole lot of new information. Still not related to moving the conversation on, but it gives a great deal more insight. So why isn't it in the "what is autism" factsheet?

    On another page of the managing factsheet they quote a "person with autism": "I have difficulty picking up social cues, and difficulty knowing what to do when things go wrong". Where are social cues mentioned in the employer factsheet What is autism....?

    Employers are placed in a tricky position here. If the information about what to expect from a person on the spectrum doesn't match what they actually see, what conclusions are they likely to reach?

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