How come other people can communicate better than me?

[autisticconsultant]

1. I was interviewing some teens for a scheme my company was running
2. I passed some, failed some
3. My colleagues, who have better social skills than me, told me that I was meant to pass all of them as they were only kids
4. I did not know that this interviewing thing was merely a formality and not the real thing

How did they know this?

Because they concentrate on their work instead of starting multiple SM threads.

No one on mumsnet can say why your colleagues knew something you didn't know.

But if you hadn't been told then you didn't do anything wrong. You were just working with the information you had.

Presumably it was interview practice for the teens. So the experience should have been gentle and educational for them so they know what to expect when they are interviewed for real and they pick up some tips (constructive and positive feedback). This might not have been made clear. Do your colleagues know you are autistic and make allowances for this, ie explaining what you’re being asked to do and why? Do you ask?

OP, I really sympathise, but this is just so many threads running simultaneously on linked subjects now. Too many, really,

This is at least your third thread today about not being able to do your job correctly. Stop asking here. Meet with you line manager and get some support at your actual place of work to support you with your autism, perhaps engaging the Access to Work scheme if relevant to you. Ask for more clarity before carrying out tasks which will avoid you making silly mistakes.

(But I imagine the answer was they used implied meaning and you were supposed to pick up on the inference, which is hard for an autist. Have you seen occupational health?)

Do try to stick to one main thread though. This is making my head spin and will irritate many posters.

I haven't seen your other threads.

One of my DDs has communication style that overlaps with autism.

She has learned to brief management and colleagues:

• be quite clear / explicit in instructions
• she doesn't read between the lines, takes things literally
• don't hint things to her, say them directly (even if it feels a bit rude to them to be so direct)

So in this case maybe they said something like 'make this a positive experience' but they didn't say 'everyone should pass this is meant to be confidence building to them'

Shouldn't it be:
"How did I not know that the interviews were only a formality and I should have passed all the candidates"?
Whether they were mock interviews or not, you should have been trained, advised, and initially supervised.

Well, we don’t know that. Perhaps it was your fault and you didn’t read/hear/understand the instructions. Perhaps there were no instructions as such. Perhaps you thought a 15-year-old should have the same feedback as a 19-year-old.

I can!

I have a magic stick. With which I can tell, and foretell many, many things.

Unfortunately, on the day in question, the batteries of said magic stick were exhausted and so I'll just have to have a stab at the answer myself.

The world moves in mysterious ways.

There you go.

I thank you (takes a bow).

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that they either read and absorbed the contents of email communications, or listened and took it in if it was verbal.

Judging by the OP's posts, I think she didn't do either.