Does leaving a job, when you believe you're going to be fired, affect benefit eligibility?

Spoonie_Turtle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81954514#Comment_81954514

Yes, the entire assessment process is to determine whether someone meets the criteria :)

Shadweller

Yeah I couldn't really be bothered explaining everything to the 2 posters, seemingly doubting Autism diagnoses, or thinking people are exaggerating, for some mysterious incentives that just don't exist, but the media likes to peddle this angle, and so many people believe it.

It's generally a pet peeve of most Autistic people, to be met with the response "everyone's a little bit Autistic."

Although that response is invalidating, and does show a lack of understanding, information, and awareness, personally I'd probably agree more with the statement, to some extent, as explained below, compared to most other Autistic people.

It would have to be a lot more precisely articulated though. (The need for precision in communication is a highly Autistic trait, in and of itself.)

For instance, I would say that it is true that nearly everybody has at least some Autistic Traits. Take the Autism Quotient questionnaire for example, it's a useful screening tool, for people on their diagnosis journey. It questions 50 traits that are correlated with Autism.

I cant imagine anyone scoring 0, with no traits what so ever that could be possibly correlated with Autism. But the thing is all about the number of traits. So if someone has 7 out of 50 traits, they should stop their Autism journey there, as that indicates that it is highly unlikely that they have Autism. Even if they have 7 traits that could be deemed Autistic. To that extent only, everyone is indeed a little bit Autistic. But they have nowhere near enough traits to merit continuing their assessment journey. I think it's like 20 - 35 = borderline. Above 35 = very likely.

I scored 41 or 42 out of 50. So I'm a lot Autistic, according to that measure. This was about the 3rd thing that I encountered that convinced me that I was on the right track. An Autism diagnosis encompasses a huge number of factors; childhood manifestations, issues with birth, whether premature, whether the mother smoked and drank etc, And the condition is also highly heritable. It does not just come out of nowhere!

I guess everyone is entitled to an opinion. To be completely honest though I really don't care very much about the opinions of internet strangers who don't seem to know very much about the subject. Other than parroting the generally negative and invalidating stuff the media comes out with.

I'm not claiming to be any kind of authority on the subject, but it has been something that I have spent a vast amount of time learning about.The posts like the 2 I referred to are exactly why I say we have 50 years to go, before we catch up with how attitudes and understanding has shifted towards LGBT issues. At least those posts weren't rude, abusive, hostile, threatening etc. Just invalidating, possibly without even being aware that they were being so.

We face much worse in our daily lives though. When your social presentation is not "the norm" you become a target for all of those things in real life. And consequently a majority of Autistic people also have mental health conditions like anxiety or depression on top of their Autism. It's a reaction to how we get treated. It's the main reason my working life has been plagued with issues and difficulties. The vast majority of Autistic people don't work. Either because they can't get through the recruitment process,or the whole thing is just too stressful and difficult to deal with.

We are essentially 'not wired' correctly for the neuro-typical (non Autistic) world.

There are structural / brain chemistry issues correlated with the condition.

There are documented chemical imbalances in the brain that are highly correlated with Autism. We tend to be extremely GABA depleted. GABA is the calming neurotransmitter, but for Autistics, GABA levels tend to be painfully deficient, causing all sorts of sensory and anxiety related issues.

In a very similar way as to how the ADHD brain tends to be painfuly low on dopamine. The motivation neuro-transmitter.

And for those of us that have both conditions, well it's just a double whammy!

Altior

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81954514#Comment_81954514

It doesn't mean you shouldn't be subject to a performance review at work, however. That's the general issue, some folks would use it as a free pass. As a former manager of many people, I have seen all sorts of situations leveraged nefariously for an easier life. And yes it does undermine genuine cases.

I am absolutely autistic, and have got far worse with age. However I've never sought a formal diagnosis until very recently, as I consider it a part of me and enjoy the advantages (as I see them). Sure, I am absolutely socially unintelligent, near hermit, and there are a bunch of other drawbacks! But genuinely if I had the choice I would choose to be how I was made. I suppose the technology we enjoy make it far more tolerable than it would have been before the internet et al.

To bring it back to the OP's scenario, I totally view the two elements separate. Yes they have MH conditions but you either have the ability to complete required tasks to a certain standard or you don't. There are plenty of jobs that someone who is autistic will be superior at to a regular person who isn't. I don't know enough about the details to be specific about any advice, but I don't feel like they should assume that there is a correlation, or that being put on review definitely means they will get fired (unless they can't actually cope with the job). Yes, paranoia comes with the territory, something that can be very difficult to get past.

unforeseen

The only time that I have used my diagnosis in the work environment was to insist I have a separate work phone, primarily for using Authenticator as I was not comfortable having work stuff on my personal phone.

I also tended to struggle if things were done off process asi need a routine.