Or what attributes do you feel were missing in your workplace? Ie. I feel I need support, inclusion and respectfulness from others. Sometimes just having my ideas listened to without being judged. I believe in lifelong learning and in learning from being around others its often dissapointing when people do not abide by rules or their values fall short.
This is a pet hate when it undermines systems, it can make working towards an overall goal fruitless. Although some directors and managers do like to keep people in the dark about why subordinates are doing what they are doing in the great scheme of things. For me it’s he clarity of knowing what is expected and why is vital.
I want a culture of following all the rules and policies.
I am retired now but I would have said the same. I like rules but I have extreme difficulty dealing with my emotions when others disregard rules. I believe it is a typical autistic trait.
This is a good question because I feel ideals and reality will conflict with autistic people at work. A strong sense of injustice can flare up when something doesn’t go the way It’s meant to in a black and white world so I feel strong communication and accountability when things do go wrong is important. Mentioning communication again; instructions should be made plain and clear as to what is to be done and how exactly is it to be done to avoid any misunderstanding and confusion, this is one way to lead to burnout and a severe case of job dissatisfaction.
Genuinely friendly and helpful managers who aren’t being entirely controlled from top down and are able to make positive changes to the work environment as needed.
I feel I need support, inclusion and respectfulness from others. Sometimes just having my ideas listened to without being judged.
I have observed that NTs don't give each other these attributes which is why I think they find it so challenging to change their ways of working to accommodate our needs.
I feel it really does need a change in society in gerneral for this to be effective, especially in larger teams as it is not how people interact socially.
The main difference seems that NTs don't get triggered by the same sorts of issues as us and do not make the same social errors in interactions, so I guess it is much more effective for us to do the adapting on these fronts if we need to survive in the workplace.
It isn't fair but it is a realistic solution.
I want a culture of following all the rules and policies. Not even in a discrimination way, I just want consistency with policy usage between areas, in all areas including uniform standards and staff training. I start wondering what the point of having the policy is when they won't follow it.
Yes. In my case they did many adjustments, but in the end, I felt I was unable to do it and left. I guess sometimes it is not easy for us even with many adjustments.
Its a matter of course for them to make minimal adgjsuments according to the law. Declaration may get you an interview or a job but may change peoples view of you, the biggest struggle has been for me how I am percieved when others use their relative 'normalness' to gain a social advantage.
I would like is for organisations to have robust reasonable adjustment policies.
Training for all managers on neurodiversity and autism.
Change the internal biases and sterotyping by managers with regards to autism in the workplace.
HR departments to work in the best interests of staff as well as the organisation. Too often the stance taken is purely about protecting the organisation to the detriment of the employees.
Real action on discrimination not just tick box exercises to look compliant and progressive.
Unions to stand up for autistic members and be prepared to fight for them in the courts.
In the real world the term reasonable is vague and too often subject to managers interpretation with all their biases and needs to be able to be challenged.
I was once hopeful that help to circumvent my barriers would be forthcoming because of the protection of the Equality Act but after witnessing at first hand after a career of over thirty years I am now totally disillusioned and broken.
Ideal world:
In my last job, I was paid for 37 hrs a week. The first day, I was leaving at 5 pm. Everyone looked at me estranged. I learnt soon that everyone was working about 45 hours a week "on their own will." and many of them working on bank holidays and weekends (this was explicitly celebrated by managers.) I think that was ridiculous.
Technically, the employer was not breaking the law, but I also doubt this should be allowed.
