Autism At Work

Autism can often be a challenging thing to deal with in the workplace. Difficulties can occur every step of the way from getting an employer to hire you (especially if you disclose to them in the recruitment process that you're autistic), to carrying out your daily role if your employer is unwilling to make any adjustments or offer any allowances. Needless to say, all employees should be given the same chance to perform to the best of their ability in their role regardless of who they are or whether they have any physical or mental restrictions. Employers aren't always as flexible as they should be in providing these allowances though, and this is something that I personally have battled with for a year or so now (although I won't go into any specific details here on the blog).

It can often be the case that the simplest of things can make the biggest difference. Does the employee struggle with sensory overload from a noisy environment? The employer should let them wear noise-cancelling headphones. Does the employee need a little more time to make sure they're doing their job properly? The employer should provide a bit more time and/or offer some flexibility in any targets. Does the employee struggle with verbal interactions? The employer should allow as much interaction as possible via e-mail, text or other messaging channels. Just as a side note, I do often struggle myself to process things quickly enough or to get my point across properly in verbal conversations so I've found messaging and e-mails to be very helpful. I'm lucky enough that I work in webchat, which makes my role a largely digital one with minimal face to face or verbal interaction.

And it's not just autistics with a formal diagnosis who should be eligible for adjustments. Self-diagnosis is valid for a number of reasons - especially where it's difficult/not possible to get a formal diagnosis - and at the end of the day, who knows you better than you! In the UK the Equality Act 2010 states that a diagnosis isn't required for reasonable adjustments to be made at work in relation to any disability whether mental or physical. All of the following 3 criteria do have to be met:

• It has to affect normal day to day activities outside of work
• It has to be substantial
• It has to be either a long term condition of more than 12 months, or be life-long.

As long as you meet all of these 3 conditions your employer legally can't refuse to put reasonable adjustments in place for you. However, if they do there are still options available to you such as contacting citizen's advice, ACAS, your union if you're a member of one, or raising a formal grievance.

Autism is different for everyone and it can often be both a gift and a curse.When it comes down to it, we autistics often have skills and qualities that set us apart from our neurotypical colleagues but we can sometimes just need a little bit of help to unlock the potential that it gives us. Sometimes this is as simple as reducing outside distractions and can work wonders for productivity, thus making us hugely valuable employees given the chance.

The information in this post is based on UK law and my experience as a UK resident. If you live and/or work outside of the UK please look to your government or any local resources available to you for support and guidance if you need it.