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Newly diagnosed.. but does anything change? Work issue.

Ukulelegeek

Hi everyone

I was diagnosed autistic in August (late diagnosis I am in my thirties.) Straight after this the psychologist went off on sick leave and has yet to return. I haven't had my report yet and I've just been left in limbo. 

At work I had previously told my supervisor that I was going through the assessment process and back in August I told her I had been officially diagnosed. I thought then I would wait on my report to have the information with me to go through where I could have any adjustments made at work. I work in a very big and busy shop (not ideal but after leaving other jobs it seemed ok for the time being and now I've been there over a year). I do struggle daily with sensory issues mainly. We don't get a proper break as we only work six hours (although in some ways it's easier than having to spend 20 mins making small talk). I do remove myself when I can to have a minute breather but sometimes that can be hard. 

Despite telling my supervisor she still puts a lot on me, gets me to do a lot of the work and will come interrupt me when I am trying to do something which I find annoying. Also after years of making and saying everything is fine are imbedded. 

I think I will speak to my main manager and my supervisor again when I finally have my report and letter to work to say where I am struggling. But has anyone been through this? I just think I can show the evidence and say I am autistic but I sincerely doubt they will make any proper adjustments. And I'll just carry on the same as I always have done.

Apologies if this sounds very negative I waited over two and a half years for diagnosis, finally got somewhere and then nothing since August.

Does anyone have any suggestions at work / anyone else work in a busy shop?

Thank you 

  • Hi Ukulelegeek

    Welcome to the Online Community.

    You might find some helpful information on our employment pages here: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/employment

    Best wishes

    Sharon Mod

  • Ukulelegeek said:
    Despite telling my supervisor she still puts a lot on me, gets me to do a lot of the work and will come interrupt me when I am trying to do something which I find annoying.

    In the sort of work environment you are in I don't think this is unreasonable of your supervisor unfortunately. Where you work needs a pretty flexible approach to the workload and demand so it is hard to think of a fair way for you to work and not be interrupted if there is nobody else around to help with the issue (ie down to short staffing and the ebb and flow of customers).

    The key thing around Reasonable Adjustments at work is they need to be "reasonable" which is why I'm highlighting this.

    Can you think of a way you could sensibly do your job without interruptions? If it does not mean you are skipping a core part of your role then consider writing this up to request to your manager formally, copying in HR if you want to. You do need to tell the HR dept about your autism (no formal diagnosis required but it helps) and it helps if things go sideways once your autism is disclosed and if treatment of you becomes discriminatory.

    If work will not allow you to change the way they work then I can think of 3 probable scenarios:

    1 - You get so stressed by this that you choose to leave

    2 - They allow a change in role (maybe more you behind the scenes) and you continue working there

    3 - You learn ways of coping that allow you to continue. A good therapist should be able to help with this.

    It does sound like the current situation will not be sustainable which is why I didn't list it.

    I have noticed than immediately post diagnosis a lot of autists tend to allow work issues like this to become overwhelming for them. When you think about it nothing has actually changed other than you now know why you find these things unpleasant and why you feel the way you do so it is strange that we seem much less able to cope once we know.

    I digress - the above is all my personal opinion and observation so please do your own research before making any decisions.

    Good luck

  • I wonder if it is possible to contact the place where you were diagnosed to ask for an interim letter from someone else to say you have been diagnosed, whilst waiting for the full report.