I think a work colleague has autism

[LavendersBlue32]

Hi,

I work in mental health and one of my colleagues is showing very clear signs of Aspergers Syndrome and it is having a seriously negative impact on their work.

This colleague has already been given spoken to by senior management regarding issues raised by staff (attitude and patient care)

Aspergers runs in the individuals family and when I say this person ticks every symptom box, I mean every box.

I have a good professional relationship with them and would hate to see them lose their job, which is the direction they are heading. I have been considering having a very informal chat over it and suggesting it's something they look into however I don't know if it's my place?

I think it’s a positive thing that people consider the possibility of an underlying struggle before tarnishing someone as a bad person or worker. Especially in health care.

I would have appreciated this in some past work situations.

Hans Asperger was a WW2 German scientist who experimented on autistic children. The highly intelligent children were deemed useful and Hans named this sub category after himself.

Totally beside the point I know, but I don't think he named this group after himself, or did he? I thought Lorna Wing proposed the term Asperger's Syndrome (after him), this was late 1970s or early 80s iirc.

Think you’re getting a hard time here op. Just wanted to let you know I don’t see any reason for you to be apologising - the nuance in f your position is pretty clear and it’s also pretty clear you are not trying to armchair diagnose, treat him or anything else. It’s clear you’d like to support him in a challenging workplace if you can..
I would say from personal experience of this that these behaviours are not something that can be managed towards improvement in patient-communication in a stressful environment- and a psych ward is definitely a stressful environment!
you may be better off ‘stepping out the way’ and allow him to be managed out-

That's good.

But the OP is wanting the colleague to change how they are intrinsically and that's different to dealing yourself with the issues you struggle with which is a personal journey.

Im ND and had CBT years before I had a diagnosis. It helped me cope but didn't solve the issue of feeling misunderstood. Finding out the reason for things being difficult has been very helpful and means I manage things differently, rather than trying to change myself to fit in.

@Wombat27A I don't think that the OP wants to change the person intrinsically though? I think she suspects he finds some aspects of work overwhelming (eg the singing). I think she was hoping that if he could access some help and support he might be able to manage better and could maybe keep his job. I think that was her intention at the start of the thread. Not to change him, but to support him.

If you think it is as simple as telling someone they have autism and them then being able to cope in role then go ahead. Otherwise what on earth do you hope to achieve?

i think it is clear from the op that was not her intention- her intention was to help him find any support available and help him manage in his job 😂👍
I do wonder though if the pile on here is a good ‘case in point’ example of how the op’s intention might be obtusely misunderstood by her own colleague and she is probably better off allowing the inevitable rather than attempting to offer her colleague help! 🤷‍♀️