AIBU to think dismissal during probation was unfair given autism adjustments?

[SereneRoseRobin]

I’m looking for honest views because I’m not sure whether I’m being unreasonable or whether this was genuinely unfair.

I was recently dismissed from a graduate/analyst role after my probation was extended. I am autistic, and my employer knew this. I had raised the need for clear written instructions, defined objectives, examples of similar work, timelines, and timely/direct feedback. Some support was put in place, including coaching, but I don’t feel the actual adjustments were properly embedded or reviewed before the decision was made.

The difficult part is that the concerns raised about me seemed mainly to focus on communication style, professional behaviour, asking for clarification, Teams messages, and quality assurance under pressure — rather than on whether I could actually do the analytical work. Some recent written feedback said my analytical skills were good, that my work did not contain relevant errors, that I was taking ownership, and that I sought support appropriately. Another person said I had picked up on a complex project well.

The project I was criticised on was not straightforward. I was a first-year graduate with no prior experience in that sector, and I was assigned open-ended/data-heavy modelling work with a lot of ambiguity and short deadlines. Some outputs were expected within hours or by the next day, so there was not much time for structured review. I also didn’t always get timely feedback while I could still act on it. Some feedback came months after the work had ended.
My probation extension was meant to allow support and coaching to take effect, but I was dismissed before the extension period had fully ended. I had submitted evidence of improvement the day before the decision, but I don’t feel it was properly discussed or considered.
The coaching report apparently said the benefit of coaching should be assessed after a longer period, because performance can dip while new strategies embed.

I’m appealing because I think they didn’t properly separate disability-related communication issues from actual capability, didn’t give recent improvement enough weight, and didn’t consider alternatives such as letting the extension run, providing clearer QA/communication frameworks, assigning more standard analyst work, or redeploying me to a more suitable team.

I’m not saying I was perfect. I know there were areas to improve. But I feel like I was assessed against unclear expectations, on complex work, without the timely feedback and structure that had already been identified as necessary for me.

AIBU to think this was unfair and potentially linked to disability discrimination/failure to make reasonable adjustments? Or is this just how probation works, and I should accept it and move on?

Oh dear you come across as belligerent and unable to accept a hierarchy where you are at the bottom and have to do what you are told, not decide for yourself if something was ok or not. You seem to think that if you feel you have a valid reason for doing something you don't have to do what others ask you to do. If you are told you are not allowed to do something then you should immediately apologise and correct the behaviour. Also you need to get along with people. You have asked people on here to give advice but then you are rude to them and don't give them the information they need to help you. You seem to be completely unaware of how others may see you or what they might be thinking or feeling. You are never going to fit into an organisation so you should focus on a different career.

I did warn you 14 pages ago.

OP - in answer to your question - I don't know if it was unfair. Readers can't know it was unfair. We don't know the full story.

What I do know: there is nothing you can do about it now. You need to take what you can from the experience. You built valuable work experience, you also learned what doesn't work for you, and what you learned what elementary mistakes to avoid in future.

Rather than arguing on Mumsnet, you need to turn your attention back to the jobmarket, which is a bloodbath for graduates.

You need a clear story about why you have moved on - something like a very corporate world not being for you, not playing to your strengths.

There are freelance job platforms for discrete pieces of analysis you can do to keep busy. You can also do some pieces of analysis using open data to evidence your skills - build a portfolio of projects.

If you go into a future interview emotionally-tethered to the old job, it will show. You need to do a reflection exercise, then disengage.

You may be able to go back to your university careers service, and also sign up for NHS IAPTs-type therapy to process your experience.

For people with ASD, one of the challenges is not only that 'bad things happen' (they happen to us all). The further challenge is that adapting to/responding to/growing from the experience is more difficult.

The challenge for you now isn't simply that your job ended, but that you are not moving forward. Think of it as a problem to solve rather than a campaign to fight.

thanks for your kind words

The problem is that Partners/Directors choose the team they need for each assignment - you are required to build your reputation within the firm - it's quite cut throat in that respect - people often find this hard and whilst you can develop a reputation for brilliance, the opposite can easily happen too and you will spend long periods without meaningful work.
Beyond the Grad programme - someone like the OP will just not be chosen for a project/assignment because she creates more unnecessary work for a team that will already be under time pressure, that might be accepted if it was balanced out with exceptional skills elsewhere that helped take the pressure off the team to make up the time - but I don't get the feeling that is the case - she would be a very difficult resource to allocate and her utilisation would fall below acceptable (profitable) levels - there is no way out of this and that is why they would let her go, of course they'd try to minimise the risk of tribunal but they wouldn't keep her on for fear of it.

OP if you’re still reading, I think the advice to find a role more suited to your skills and preferred ways of working is correct.

Good for you, for trying consultancy. It’s really, really hard and there is no shame in acknowledging that it isn’t for you. You have also told us you are good at the analysis part of the job. Can you look at roles, where there is more certainty built in? We all need some soft skills, but consultants are at the extreme end of this and it sounds like that will never be your comfort zone.

FWIW, I have a lot of Autistic traits, although not formally diagnosed. I find people exhausting and have limited patience with endless meetings. I have a senior job that allows me to work from home part of the week so that I only need to “people” and mask twice a week. I’m well paid because of my experience and knowledge. I would be a terrible consultant, but I have found my place and there is somewhere for you too.

Op I’ve given you lots of advice but you’ve been rude in return to me. Why is that? What is it about what I’ve said that makes you reply in such a defensive and rude way?

I don’t think your list of adjustments is reasonable. It sounds like you needed extensive daily management and coaching support to do your job. You’d be expected to be much more independent in a graduate role.

Agreed. Unfortunately, I think universities and schools lead some people into a false sense of security re adjustments and what is realistic in the workplace.

what the fuck.

If this is how you responded to feedback within the job it’s no wonder you struggled. I think the first step is that you need to be open to feedback and properly take the time to understand it, reflect on it and do things differently as a result. Feedback should be focused on both behaviour and work content and you need to be open to receiving both.

Going by this post and looking at your previous posts, you often describe situations where you feel you’ve been treated unfairly, but the common factor across these experiences is you, the recording issue alone constitutes as gross misconduct.

People here are responding to the question you asked, even if the answers aren’t what you hoped for, that isn’t bullying or trolling; it’s simply how a public forum works.

Based on what you’ve shared, it’s understandable why your employer chose to let you go, and it doesn’t appear to be connected to your autism.

OP, most of the posters here have many years experience in the workplace, and many are actual employers. It would do you good to listen to what they have to say. Even if it isn't what you want to hear. Don't simply dismiss it as written "in bad faith" because I doubt that very much. You need to hear this.

Young people are finding it harder than ever to find jobs, one of the reasons (not all) is because employers find them difficult to work with, disrespectful, and entitled vs older generations.

This was just your first job, hopefully, in a long run of many jobs you'll experience. The best thing you can do is go on to your next job and build more experience from that.

I work in the legal profession. I'm not in a top law firm earning ££££ though, because I simply don't have the "soft" skills to do what's necessary - client schmoozing, business development, etc. I love the technical aspects of my job and I'm really good at them. And over many, many years I've managed to learn how to fit in better, look after staff and run a small department. But it's been hard and I've fucked up many times, simply because I don't always "get" a particular situation.

Not seen any trolling on this thread. You asked a question and people have responded with measured and sensible advice and feedback. It’s not always gone your way, but that’s because people didn’t always agree with you, or wanted to put an alternative point of view.

Stop throwing your toys out of the pram, and take this constructive feedback on board. Appeal or go to a tribunal if you must, thats your prerogative, but take some personal responsibility for your actions, and wise up to the world of work. As someone said up thread, a business’s aim is to make money. Everything else is secondary.

OP, stop trying to win the argument here - you're wasting your valuable time.

How about a lovely day building a Python package? You can add it to your CV!

Or get on Kaggle and look for energy data, do something with it. Write up the results, stick it on a blog and your GitHub.

I'm also ND, but back when I started work, it was just my personality! Honestly, it was better like that. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and when you fully understand that about yourself, you will succeed in life. I am well suited as an accountant.

Amendments have to be REASONABLE. The expectation is that you'll do your job AMAZINGLY with them, and ok without them. In other words, you'll be worth keeping. The amendments are not meant to allow a blind person to be a pilot.

You are the troll for starting up these multiple threads and not taking on board our advice.

Why do you think that? Because they don't agree with you? I think you maybe have to consider why strangers on the internet would (a) be able to help you on this; and (b) having come on to say something that they would come with "bad faith" intentions. Who has the time or the energy?

People are trying to tell you that your approach is not helping you. You can take that advice and use it, or decide that your autism prevents you using it, but the fact you don't like it does not indicate that anyone is acting in bad faith.

Exactly this. I, too, lack soft skills, but this is just part of my personality. I do a job where they are a smaller part of it and I've worked on them. They will never be my strongest skill, but I have improved them.

Also same.

All the OPs threads? No. Why would I?
I've read her posts on this thread.

I dunno, I'm stumped to why you didn't just apologise. You were way out of line and you needed to own it and apologise.

This place isn't a good fit for you. Maybe you would do better with a WFH job.

I’m interested in why you think the op has a good case?