Should I tell my employer that I have Aspergers?

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alessi
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24 Sep 2011, 10:59 pm

I am not sure whether it would be a good idea or not. I have been working at my current job for a number of years but only got a diagnoses of Aspergers relatively recently.
If I tell them it might help them to understand why certain things are very upsetting for me - for instance the noise from the renovations currently taking place in the office building.

I don't know, will it make things better or worse?



Tuttle
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24 Sep 2011, 11:13 pm

Are there any accommodations that you want for your AS?



alessi
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24 Sep 2011, 11:46 pm

Tuttle wrote:
Are there any accommodations that you want for your AS?


Well, I guess what I want is some understanding. For instance the noise from the renovations on our floor is driving me insane. My desk is right next to the area being renovated. I can't concentrate - I can't get any work done and I get a cracking headache from it every day. I asked if I could work from home whilst it is in progress and the response was to go around the floor and ask other people if it was bothering them. When the general reaction was that it wasn't a big problem for other people, they just seemed to assume that I was being melodramatic or exaggerating the problem. I am really, really sensitive to noise. Sometimes I hear high pitched electrical sounds that no one else can hear and it also drives me bonkers.

I want them to understand that I am not exaggerating or being a drama queen. It is a really big problem for me and stops me from being able to get my work done.

Also sometimes they ask me to travel for work. The idea of staying in a hotel in a strange city where I don't know my way around is very overwhelming for me. I absolutely dread it. I have very strict routines in my daily life which helps me to function and in a strange place I can't have my routines. The dread I have of getting lost is not so bad since I have maps on my iphone (thank goodness for the iphone and the ipad - they have completely changed my life for the better), but the thought of not being able to follow my routines - for example, not having my right food, not being able to go to the gym and not having a proper assigned workspace.. it is horrifying.

At this point I have tried to get out of travel with all sorts of other excuses. Earlier this year I had to go to another state for two weeks.

Thanks for your advice.



VIDEODROME
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24 Sep 2011, 11:47 pm

I would just say the sound is distracting to you as your trying to concentrate on work.



alessi
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25 Sep 2011, 12:52 am

I did try telling them that the noise was a problem but they won't help because no one else has complained about it. They just seem to think that I am making a fuss about nothing.



VIDEODROME
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25 Sep 2011, 1:24 am

Seems like a typical manager response.

Can you personally offer to move your work stuff to another area in the building? I mean do it in such a way that it doesn't become another thing management has to deal with?

Also as for traveling in this situation would that actually help? It would give you an escape from this noise. Maybe with enough preparation you can still have enough semblance of your normal routine to get by.

But really my feeling is the simple admission of AS is something they can't understand. Something as simple as being disturbed by loud noise itself should have been understood but it wasn't. Your employer is being dense and lazy not wanting to acknowledge there is a problem.

Beyond that maybe you could say you have difficulty hearing clients on the phone because of the noise.



alessi
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26 Sep 2011, 8:03 am

Thankyou Videodrome, for your insightful advice. I will try it.