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Diagnosis later in life and work

NAS88971

Hi!

I have just been diagnosed in my mid 40s but not sure how to move forward with this new information with regards to work. I have managed for 20 years in the workplace (I am a teacher) but do feel like it is getting harder, but not sure if this is due to being autistic rather than just age and my professions anyway. I have only told two close people at work so far.

My question really is if you were diagnosed later in life, did you change how you work, ask for support or adaptations etc. I really don't want to be treated differently but then know as a professional myself I do what I can to meet the needs of autistic students in my classroom! Should I speak with occupational health? Light sensitivity and screen time is one thing I struggle with at times but a lot of work these days is online.

TIA for any advice.

Parents

  • I mostly work remotely so don't need many accommodations, but I've just been on a work trip and have recently disclosed my diagnosis to my employer as these trips DO need accommodations. So far I only needed to ask that I could skip social outings or leave them early if I was finding things difficult (I only had to skip one this time), but people have been pretty understanding.

    Something that I've already found quite handy on-site on the rare occasions I'm there is that I ask to sit by the window so I get more natural light and reduce the impact of fluorescent lighting. You might find that a change of room layout (for example) might be able to help with your light sensitivity too.

    If you've already disclosed your autism diagnosis at work then yes, occupational health is a good idea- they might have an idea of what's possible in your workplace.

  • in reply to battybats

    Can I ask what the process was for disclosing it to your employer?

    I work for a huge international company but when I spoke to HR about this they said there is no official way for me to notify them and no way for them to record the information in the HR system. All they could suggest was a “yes/no” to disability.

  • in reply to Deleted User
    Deleted User said:
    I work for a huge international company but when I spoke to HR about this they said there is no official way for me to notify them and no way for them to record the information in the HR system.

    You need to have a formal diagnosis for this to work but you should supply HR with a copy of the diagnosis and a link to the governments version of their responsibilities:

    https://www.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments-for-disabled-workers

    From your side I would read the ACAS take on this:

    https://www.acas.org.uk/reasonable-adjustments

    You need to have a solid idea of what the reasonable adjustments are that you want - asking to always work from home in probably not considered reasonable for example.

    Work out what the biggest issues are for you in the workplace and let us know and we can help you articulate these into your request if you like.

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