Telling work.

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I was having some issues at work which I mentioned to my psychiatrist today (I see her every 4 weeks).

She suggested that I tell my supervisor that I have AS.

I'm not sure what to do. I have avoided telling anybody at work as I'm not sure how people will react and the possible discrimination.

The benefit of telling work is that I can tell them that my reactions and behaviour are not the same as normal people and the reason why.

What do people think?

My psychiatrist has a good reason for suggesting that I finally tell.

Why do such a lot of people have psychiatrists or psychologists? Aren't they only for like mental illnesses and crap? Exactly what are they supposed to do for an aspie/autie?

Danlo,

I'm not autist but my psychologist helps me to make sure my thought process is straight and to help me see options that I might have missed. It's never been suggested that I have a mental illness or crap, but I guess that's open to debate. She can be objective about my situation when I can not be.


Daniel,

It would help if you could tell us what country you live in. Laws vary. I have a learning disability that I have not disclosed to my employer for various reasons. If you believe that disclosing would help, because you could then ask for accomidations, I suggest you first get familiar with the disabilty laws in your area.

BeeBee

Daniel,

I'm hunching that you're from Australia. Anyway, April is Autism Awareness Month here in America, and I see no reason why it shouldn't be in Australia (or the UK, or anywhere else). A couple years ago I took advantage of that and wrote an e-mail to everyone at work explaining what autism is and how it affects me. It put a lot of things into perspective and got me a lot of respect. Try it...if anyone treats you differently, remember that you probably have some laws on your side to protect you and your job. But like BeeBee said, check first. G'luck.

Duh! Canberra! Good catch, Zed.

I'm not familar with Australian law but your psychiatrist could probably help you with resources.

Thanks for those views and taking the time to respond.

My supervisor actually has a 12 year old son with ADHD so I would hope that she would be understanding. We also have laws and work practices (but I will look into it - thank you for the suggestion).

I have a psychiatrist because I was really down and my general practitioner (GP) referred me rather than just prescribing anti-depressants. My psychiatrist has been helpful for the last 12 months as she has been helping to monitor how the medication is working, and how I can deal with stresses as they arise.

Unfortunately not all of us with AS are able to cope as well as others with stresses and traumas etc and a psychiatrist can help with therapy to put things into perspective.

If I hadn't got help when I needed to, and with the support of a few friends, I'd probably be dead by now. So please do not devalue the role of psychiatric treatment. Some of us really need it.

I'd take face time with a psychiatrist over medicine any day. Gotta be REAL careful about what they put you on. I was on some stuff that made me a total zombie, and some other stuff that was totally wrong for me. Hope things are on the upswing for ya, and let us know how this all shapes up.

I had a talk with my boss yesterday and he was quite sensitive and understanding. I had also sent him the reference on AS from Wikipedia

He said he'd let my supervisor know (he is also her boss) about my AS and what it means.

I guess the real test will come when I get back to work on 3 April.

I told my boss the other day.

I am 16 and i work part time in a web design company, my boss said that iwasent to worry about it because it proboly improve the job that i do (i work in my arae of obbsession). he also knew quite a bit about the subject and has said that if i find that things get to much then i need to tell him and he will see what he can do to help.

he is an awesome guy my boss.

Jammie

Well, I've been back at work for 2 weeks now (except the two days I took off last week, and the Easter break).

All's well. My big boss decided to move me to another supervisor instead (who was away the first week I was back, and then sick the second week), who I think I can deal with (excuse the preposition).

I am still wondering whether I did the right thing telling work. Just as well the big boss knows my abilities. I think it is important to wait until the work area know the extent of your abilities before telling them, otherwise they could form an inaccurate opinion.

But still, I did it (tell work) on the advice of my psychiatrist.