Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi There,
I am in my late 40's and have discovered I have autism a couple of years ago, I started working for a new employer who does lots of team building and what I call forced social events about a year ago and am really finding it hard. I had my first meltdown since I was a child this week when I walked into a room for one of these events.
I am trying to work out what reasonable adjustments I can request and wondered if anyone had some tips to help me. I like the job and like the people I work closely with and my manage is very supportive but I can't seem to get them to understand me and how it effects me.
Any help would be great.
Thank you
Mark
Hi Mark. There are 2 things which help me at work. The first is that I always familiarise myself with the room / venue before meetings / events take place. The second, which on the surface seems bizarre, is that I tend to run the meetings and events. I hate talking in front of people, but if the meeting is 'mine' then I create and run 'the script' ie the agenda. My niche at work is that I'm the person who is very good at organising things - I am, because the alternative is the sort of messiness and randomness I can't deal with. The other thing about being the chair or host is that I'm not expected to interact with individuals in the group, so much as set agenda, keep to time, create minutes / follow on actions - ie I have a specific and known role to perform. Although it's difficult, I find this much easier than being a participant