Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi there,
I thought I'd start here as a way of introducing myself. I'm a 25 year old woman and although I've had my diagnosis (high functioning ASD) for a few years now I've not really joined anything like this. I think it's because I was still in denial and thought that with enough camouflaging I'd be able to 'hide in plain sight' - which as I now understand is not that unusual, particularly with women and girls.
I've just been signed off from work with stress, and I think I need to ask my employer to make a reasonable adjustment to my conditions of employment (shorter working day, unambiguous description of tasks). I've only been working there for two weeks so I'm not sure how they're going to take it. Does anybody on here have any experience of asking an employer for reasonable adjustment? What did you ask for and how did it all go?
Hi, yes I did. I had a good result, and got reasonable adjustments agreed (if not all implemented!) before I got my formal NHS diagnosis. Basically I now do all meetings by webex and don't do teambuilding-type stuff.
I'm done with Christmas Cards said:Basically I now do all meetings by webex and don't do teambuilding-type stuff.
That sounds like heaven to me. You are literally my God of Reasonable Adjustments.
I only disclosed my Asperger's to my first employer, which came a few weeks after I was diagnosed, and they asked me loads of questions that I couldn't answer because I was still in the early stages of reprocessing my whole life. Having burned out yet again, I now realise I need to start declaring it and asking for adjustments like the ones you mention here. Are there any other adjustments you have? I think primarily communicating by email, working from home etc., would also help me enormously.
Hi, thanks, that's really encouraging. I've been signed off for a week with stress so hoping to get something in place before I go back. I just can't cope with rush hour tubes and 9 hour working days while trying to live some semlance of a life..!