Autism in employment.

lindens

I work with a middle aged man with Aspergers. SOme of his traits make him good at the job, some of them make him harder to work with. Bu t most people you work with have something about them that is annoying so it's no different really.

System

I think nearly everyone has a bit of autism in them, don't they?

marliepanda

andydownes123 wrote: »

I think nearly everyone has a bit of autism in them, don't they?

Of course not. Sorry but this is a bit of a bugbear so apologies for the rant, not aimed at you.

Autism is mental disability.

Are you saying everyone has a mental disability?

Of course not. What you mean is that you may have some friends who have personality traits which match some typical features of autism, such as getting annoyed if plans change, or finding it difficult to talk to new people. Those traits alone are not Autism.

There was a thread recently on the Anxiety and Adultery board (marriage fam whatever) where basically everyone decided they were an undiagnosed autistic because they hated small talk or didn't feel empathy in some situations.... eye roll.

Its the same way anyone who has pride in their house is suddenly OCD.

Its no different to saying anyone who ever experiences a pain in a joint is arthritic. Well everyone has a little bit of arthritis right?

chrisw99

My son is 13 and has Aspergers/autism, so the whole thought of how he will get on with further education and then a career terrifies me. He has got better in so many ways since the initial diagnosis though, but some things have gone worse, e.g. last year he refused to go to school for 50% of the year.

It was interesting going through the original diagnosis and questions because I saw a lot of myself as a child in him, so I assume I am on the spectrum myself. And I've held down a career for 30 years so that's promising.

Ja7188

I think nearly everyone has a bit of autism in them, don't they?

I guess what is meant here is that a lot of people have certain characteristics associated with autism, but they aren't actually considered to be autistic on the basis that said characteristics aren't sufficiently prevalent.

I may be wrong but I believe a diagnosis of autism is subjective to a degree?

Fireflyaway

At my last job I had a team member with Autism. He was great. Very very into numbers and spreadsheets so always a great help to those of us who struggled with that. The only adjustment I had to make was understanding that he took things very literally. If I said something such as give me a minute, he would come back in one minute.
Prior to that I worked with another autistic person. He was again very literal and liked to use signals as well as words. In the morning he would wave as well as saying hello and if someone brought in cake he would jump up and down with excitement. Lunch was always the same food eaten at the same time. None of this was an issue. Everybody liked him. Both of these colleagues were great workers and nice people.

Doshwaster

chrisw99 wrote: »

My son is 13 and has Aspergers/autism, so the whole thought of how he will get on with further education and then a career terrifies me. He has got better in so many ways since the initial diagnosis though, but some things have gone worse, e.g. last year he refused to go to school for 50% of the year.

It was interesting going through the original diagnosis and questions because I saw a lot of myself as a child in him, so I assume I am on the spectrum myself. And I've held down a career for 30 years so that's promising.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm on the spectrum too. There are some simple social things I struggle with that most people can do naturally.

You shouldn't worry about your son in further education. Indeed, academia is environment where many with Aspergers/autism thrive as they can concentrate on what they find interesting and are somewhat sheltered from the "real world". My postgraduate supervisor had Aspergers - brilliant in his field but sometimes a difficult person to work with. You will probably more people with Aspergers in Universities than in the population as a whole.

consumers_revenge

In all honesty I find some comparisions in his behaviour to mine but then some real odd stuff to. Hes learnt whats expected rather than it being natural to him. Well I say odd but the literal things in previous posts say the same.

Feyfangirl

As an autistic female (24 years old, diagnosed at 11 with Asperger's) I know how hard it can be, especially dealing with ignorance/prejudice in employers. It took me over a year to find my first job... was in it for two years.. then got bullied out of it in May this year. Am trying to find a job at the moment but it is so hard

Fen1

Feyfangirl, I'm sorry you were bullied in work. I was too, to the point that I resigned. However, I'm not on the spectrum, but was bullied simply because I worked in a very hostile and cliquey office. Sometimes it's not you, it's not the autism. Sometimes it's purely the culture in that particular office, and the b*strds will target anyone for any reason, just because that's what they do.

So please, please, don't give up hope. Hopefully, you will find an employer and colleagues who are genuinely nice people. Not all colleagues are sh*ts.

My OH and many of his friends are on the spectrum - maths, physics, computing. "Typical" environments for people with their talents. And I really do mean talent. I couldn't write code to save my life!