Newly diagnosed - work questions

[SquigglePigs]

I've been diagnosed this week with autism and I'm still trying to get my head around it all! I told my line manager a couple of days ago. He's generally great but it's pretty clear he doesn't know the first thing about autism. He's keen to learn though and to understand what I need (he's already agreed to a change in my hours that I hope will help me cope better). Does anyone have any ideas on where I could point him in terms of reading material etc. ? I've suggested he watch the Chris Packham programme as a starting point to understanding autism in general but that's not going to help much in terms of how work might be affected. Also if anyone has any suggestions for me they would be gratefully received!

I think there may be resources on the autism UK website.

Thanks. I'll have a look.

It depends how you’re affected really. It’s not very helpful for him to learn about general autism when what he needs to know about is YOUR autism. What do you struggle with, what adjustments do you need?

Personally I struggle with bright lights and noise, so when I worked in a big office I used to wear tinted glasses and earphones. Everyone knew why and didn’t hassle me about it. They also gave me a desk in the back corner and removed the light bulb directly above it. My boss knew that it panicked me to drop stuff on me at short notice, so she tried to avoid that - I knew in advance what work I’d be doing. Really it’s up to you to identify what adjustments you would find helpful and notify your boss.