"My managers are coaching me to feel confident in my work relationships and develop the skills needed for the role."
Sonia
- shares her experience of employment
Sonia works at the National Autistic Society, helping schools, adult support services and health providers to develop the support they provide to autistic people.
She tells us about her experiences as an autistic person in the workplace.
Can you tell us about your previous work experiences?
During the very early stages of my career, I didn’t know I was autistic and how my autism was perceived by others. At the time, I often questioned my place and whether I needed to change role/work sector. At work, I was masking, draining my energy too quickly because of the impact of my unknown neurodivergence.
Once I became more aware, I changed my model of work into something that worked better for me: I continued to teach, but only 60% of the time, and the rest of the time I was working remotely into another role that I self-developed and it gave me more fulfilment.
"At work, I was masking, draining my energy too quickly because of the impact of my unknown neurodivergence."
I also tried to request small communication adjustments, but the organisations I was working with didn’t really abide by them or fully understand how they would benefit me and improve my quality of life. Perhaps if I’d had better self-advocacy skills, I would have been able to support myself better.
I felt unsafe whilst working because I didn’t think other staff understood me and I couldn’t self-advocate enough. It’s easy for autistic people to fall into work abuse and, on one occasion, I had an extremely unpleasant experience where I felt my autistic qualities were misused by an employer.
The most disappointing factor in all this is that I was working in the education sector. I was a teacher and also tried working in Special Needs education.
What barriers have you experienced in the past in relation to work?
I was able to attend job interviews with minimal adjustments. However, every time I worked in a new place or a new team, I didn’t want to stay very long or preferred to work on my own. For example, I didn’t understand that the way I communicated could be seen as critical and that I was isolating myself even more. I also didn’t know how to explain my communication needs and preferences. This meant that when I was offered an opportunity to stay in a role or move up, I would decline/refuse because I found lots of good reasons to convince myself that it was not going to work.
This communication gap meant that I had very little self-representation and understanding of my autism and how to advocate for myself. I found some sensory environments very draining. It was difficult to find a balance and there were no break rooms or quiet spaces for me to work in. Lack of adjustments around transport meant I would leave work early to get the first train and, sometimes, I would continue working at home in the evenings.
How have you found working for the National Autistic Society?
Once I started working at the National Autistic Society, things came together. The team support me to advocate my needs and I am learning to self-advocate. They understand that adjustments are not something that can be fully in place from the start. Which means they are supporting me in reviewing the adjustments I will need based on the different aspects of my role. My managers are coaching me to feel confident in my work relationships and develop the skills needed for the role.
Every colleague in the Accreditation team has a connection to autism or more general neurodiversity. They understand where I am coming from and are very accepting.
"My managers are coaching me to feel confident in my work relationships and develop the skills needed for the role."
What things work for you in enabling a successful and supportive working environment?
1. Having one person/mentor or manager that I can debrief with, to discuss aspects of the job and clarify directions so I am clear on what I need to do.
2. Organising my own workload and travel arrangements. This means I have become more productive and have more capacity.
3. Working with colleagues who do not see communication differences and processing style as a deficit. Understanding that if I ask questions, it is not to challenge people but to gain a better understanding of things.
4. Having a quiet space to work in.
5. Feeling safe with the people I work with and knowing that my different skills and qualities can be used in the right way.