…and 8 more things your non autistic colleagues can do to help
I am fully aware that my two previous articles were a little bit on the heavy side, so I’ve decided it is time to post some easier to digest material, including the following tips and advice for improving things at workplace for autistic people. I have gathered these by talking to a number of autistic professionals and I have separated them in two sections: what autistic individuals can do to improve their own work conditions and what others can do to help their autistic colleagues.
What we autistic lot can do:
There are a number of challenges that we autistic people might have to deal with at our workplace, including sensory and communication issues, as well as executive function difficulties. Although autism awareness and acceptance is still at its infancy, there are a few things we can do ourselves to improve working conditions:
1. Request clear and direct communication, starting perhaps with requesting accommodations for the interview process. Oral communication, texts, emails. If there is any ambiguity don’t stress it too much, just reply back to the sender for clarification. It is better to spent some extra time clarifying instead of messing things up.
2.Politely ask colleagues for precise use of language and alteration of the way they are communicating with you.
3. Try to keep your meetings short if you can and plan ahead using your calendar. This will give you a little more control of both your work schedule and anxiety.
4. Make sure you have a place to retreat or an emergency plan when you reach autistic burn out stage. Request reasonable adjustments at work, such as dimming lights, cancelling headphones, a private desk and flexible working hours/hybrid working pattern.
5 Remove yourself from the situation that triggered the burnout. Step outside the room or the building if you have to. Try some breathing exercises or meditation if you can.
6. Explain to your boss/colleagues that you work better if there is some work structure in place. ‘Fight for’ it if necessary.
7. Should you disclose? This is a difficult one. Should you tell your colleagues you are autistic? Unfortunately there is still discrimination and stigma at play here and to be honest there is always a trade-off when you are different. However, according to individuals who were bold enough to ‘come out’ , knowing led to less problems and conflicts with others. In addition to this, dropping the mask can improve your mental health and sense of self.
8. Regardless if you chose to disclose or not, do not shrink. Try to be as authentic as you can and find helpful adjustments to perform at your best.
What can you do to help your autistic colleague (or the colleague you suspect might be autistic):
1. Be straightforward when communicating and try to be precise with the use of language . Directly request something if you are the boss and avoid using expressions such as ‘if I were you, I would probably…’ or ‘you could perhaps…’ . Don’t text with vague requests or suggestions. We often have difficulties to read between the lines and don’t usually speak ‘passive aggressive’, even when you are obviously mad at us. Avoid sarcasm and metaphors when talking about work.
2. Give plenty of notice regarding meetings- avoid unscheduled meetings and last minute emails/texts. Give all required information upfront, preferably in an email. What may be a minor inconvenience to you might be a very distressing situation to an autistic person.
3. Keep it down when we work, speak to someone on the phone, or talk to a patient/ client. Sensory overload can be very distressful for autistic people, while we also find it challenging to get back to our task after we have been distracted.
4. Wait for your turn to speak or request attention from us or the person we are talking to. Interrupting causes unnecessary disruption to our train of thoughts, makes our work impossible and most importantly is rude, even if you start with the phrase: ‘sorry to interrupt, but…’
5. If we are sitting quietly in a meeting does not necessarily mean we have nothing to say. It is difficult to know when to speak if you are autistic. People often just jump in non structured conversations and we usually need more time to process multiple inputs and decide when to intervene. That makes us often miss the window to speak. Maybe if your autistic colleague is consistently quiet during meetings, try to ask them occasionally if they have anything to add. Also try to keep the meetings short. Autistic individuals often have shorter attention span and can be easily overwhelmed and lose focus.
6. A peer support or a work mentoring scheme is not an easy accommodation, but when available is always helpful.
7. Don’t invade our personal space, we often don’t want to be touched, especially with your tip of your finger no matter how important the point you wish to make is.
8. Most autistic people want to feel accepted and welcomed into the workplace, even if they don’t appear to be particularly successful in socialising. Invite us for that after work drink, but only if you actually mean it. We often don’t speak the language of fake invites and politeness and no, we are not going to be hurt if you don’t fake it!