Help in the Workplace

One of the things that I’ve found about work and employment is that for those jobs that are considered suitable for those of us with ASD, even if we have and/or can gain the relevant skills or qualifications, we lack the relevant experience, especially if diagnosed later in life - at age 52 and being out of work for 3 years during Covid after 17 years in supermarket retailing up to Sept 2019 (out of a total of 30 years) being diagnosed online during Covid, I felt pressured by everyone to start a new job at a new-build hotel as a kitchen Porter too soon after my diagnosis, with no post-diagnostic support - the only reason I stayed in retailing for so long is that I come from a background where one’s career path was decided for you by others and you were not allowed to object, made to start your first job, any attempt to leave if not suitable was blocked, even after a few years in one job, not permitted to do any other training nor look around for other jobs (surrounded by paranoid people) told to be silent if you attempted to discuss the issue, others sent in to talk you out of it and blocked “behind the scenes” giving bad telephone references if attempts to change jobs were made “off your own bat” even without telling anyone - just over a year at my current hotel job now, it’s not up to me to change jobs, it’s up to the social workers/support workers/family and/or if I’m let go due to poor performance/behaviour issues and/or if they have other reasons - if it’s the former, I would be sanctioned if applying for benefits - yet the KP role (far more so than Public Areas) is the hardest role which I’m doing next week mixed shifts in - there is also language barriers and cultural differences when dealing with some people as well including in HR and in the other areas - I don’t want this to be acrimonious or coming across as I’m being lazy and don’t want to work and/or moaning and making lame excuses - I was once told that I don’t know the difference between bullying and discipline and don’t understand that I’m wrong by someone with an older brother with this condition who takes great pleasure in sending him into meltdown and openly brags about it all the time, even though her mother works in the area of mental health - she’s a teenager with zero patience and there are cultural differences there too 

One of the things that I’ve found about work and employment is that for those jobs that are considered suitable for those of us with ASD, even if we have and/or can gain the relevant skills or qualifications, we lack the relevant experience, especially if diagnosed later in life - at age 52 and being out of work for 3 years during Covid after 17 years in supermarket retailing up to Sept 2019 (out of a total of 30 years) being diagnosed online during Covid, I felt pressured by everyone to start a new job at a new-build hotel as a kitchen Porter too soon after my diagnosis, with no post-diagnostic support - the only reason I stayed in retailing for so long is that I come from a background where one’s career path was decided for you by others and you were not allowed to object, made to start your first job, any attempt to leave if not suitable was blocked, even after a few years in one job, not permitted to do any other training nor look around for other jobs (surrounded by paranoid people) told to be silent if you attempted to discuss the issue, others sent in to talk you out of it and blocked “behind the scenes” giving bad telephone references if attempts to change jobs were made “off your own bat” even without telling anyone - just over a year at my current hotel job now, it’s not up to me to change jobs, it’s up to the social workers/support workers/family and/or if I’m let go due to poor performance/behaviour issues and/or if they have other reasons - if it’s the former, I would be sanctioned if applying for benefits - yet the KP role (far more so than Public Areas) is the hardest role which I’m doing next week mixed shifts in - there is also language barriers and cultural differences when dealing with some people as well including in HR and in the other areas - I don’t want this to be acrimonious or coming across as I’m being lazy and don’t want to work and/or moaning and making lame excuses - I was once told that I don’t know the difference between bullying and discipline and don’t understand that I’m wrong by someone with an older brother with this condition who takes great pleasure in sending him into meltdown and openly brags about it all the time, even though her mother works in the area of mental health - she’s a teenager with zero patience and there are cultural differences there too