Nonverbal communication required for work.... eep!

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So I'm going to begin working as a research assistant at a hospital. In the handbook for employees, volunteers, and interns it states specifically that we must be good at nonverbal communication, and we must be able to recognize and properly interpret body language, facial expressions, and other signals since some patients may have trouble communicating. Since I will be doing most of my work in an office and not working directly with patients, I don't know if this is actually going to become relevant, but I'm rather worried about it. Should I talk to the program manager about my difficulties with this sort of communication now? Or wait until I'm placed in a situation where nonverbal communication is required? I don't want to be told I can't intern there because of this problem (especially since I don't foresee it being an issue, but it says it's a requirement of everyone...), so I'm concerned that if I bring it up BEFORE everything is settled I may not be able to continue. What should I do? I imagine if I'm in a situation where I can't effectively communicate with a patient, I could ask someone else to come in and assist. But I don't know

Any tips?

I think you should wait until it actually becomes a problem before discussing it with your boss. Especially if it's a new job and you don't really know them that well yet.

If you really feel that you need to tell them, at least give them a while to get to know you and get a complete picture of your strengths before you tell them what you consider to be your weaknesses. If you've been offered the job, they obviously see something in you that they think would make for a good research assistant. Why give them a reason to doubt that judgement before they've even had a chance to see you in action?

The fact that the manual is for employees, volunteers and interns makes it sound like wasn't written specifically for your job, but is more like a broad description of what they hope to see in their employees. I think that the fact that you actually bothered to read it puts you ahead of most of the employees there as I'm willing to bet that most of them have probably only bothered to crack it open when they wanted to find out about something specific, like how many sick days they get.

I wouldn't worry about it either. you can certainly use observation and analytical skills to determine when someone is in distress. I'm better at it than a lot of people because pain is something I understand. it's the 2 way communication and innuendo that I don't understand.

also, do they have a policy against hiring blind people? I'd be interested in knowing if they discriminate against the blind.

I agree with the others.

Just bear in mind that if you ever want them to make accomodations for you or sue them for firing you for Autism traits, then you must inform them of your Autism before you are hired. Otherwise, it doesn't hold in court and they're not obligated to provide accomodations either.

a very, very big one:

become skilled beyond all words at your job.

the reason I say this is that you'll be so quick on your feet, and so incredibly efficient, that no one will really have time to question your non-verbal communication; they'll know they can count on you to get the job done.


After all, my "day job" is a concessions cashier, and a considerable amount of that requires socializing with the customers.

Believe me...I despise it, cause I think they're mostly dolts. But I'm so quick on my feet, and so freakin' efficient, and know what I'm doing blindfold and sideways, that the customers can't really complain...and they tip me pretty well too!

I've even somehow managed to intimidate hot babes in bikinis! Hey, it's nice gettin' tipped by 'em!

Tips which I then use to save up to pay my bills, and have some extra cash to take my girlfriend out

My view is:

1) Disclose your diagnosis and your limitations
2) Ask for accommodation by way of particular training with reference to developing the cognitive abilities to recognize and analyze non-verbal cues
3) Ask for ongoing evaluation and feedback during your probationary period.

If you are unable to meet the requirements of the job, the question should be, "why do you want to do a job that you cannot do as well as you would like?" On the other hand, if you are open up front about the additional help you might need, and you get that, then both you and your employer may be in a happy and productive relationship.

If I'm honest with an employer, I can't say to them that any kind of training exists to help me develop certain areas of the brain that don't function as they should (namely, social intuition - the nonverbal connection), so that's a tricky one. Employers, in some places, must provide accomodations. But they're not under any obligation to provide a cure or improvement for your AS. Which, again, doesn't exist.

I agree with that, for the most part.. the issue comes if someone is being dishonest. Recognizing great distress isn't too much of a problem.. but differentiating genuine distress from distress that's being faked.. that's an issue.


That sounds like something that may depend on the specific job description.. I mean, what kind of reasonable accommodations could be made for a blind person to enable them to do a job that requires visual observation? Can discrimination apply if someone can't actually do the job? It's not called discrimination to not hire a blind person as a pilot or a cab driver, is it?

no, point taken. but if they make accommodations for blind workers, then there's no reason to expect they can't accommodate someone with AS. if their policy is to not accommodate disabilities, then disclosing AS isn't going to help.

My thinking was actually in the opposite direction; someone with AS can see but not recognize, or not grasp significance. A reasonable accommodation for someone with AS in that area might be like a list of specific details that need to be observed that may not immediately register as relevant.
The biggest problem I can think of is what I said before about the honesty thing. Aren't almost all aspies as terrible as me at recognizing the difference between real distress and fake distress?

Mis-reading nonverbal communication or then consequently misunderstanding it has been a problem for me all my life. I didn't understand it before, but I understand now why I do think the way I do, why I react the way I do, but I'm often not quick enough in the situation; i usually have to think about it later to figure it out.

It does sound like you need to be open to problems others may have, and in that case you should ask yourself if you have been able to do this before, see things in others that distressed them or made them upset, and if so, have you been able to react to it?

Sometimes I don't see things and don't react appropriately, but sometimes I DO see things, small clues of what is happening, but I still don't react appropriately or at all and I can't save the situation. I guess maybe think about where you're at with seeing and reacting to things.