Asperger's at Work

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When I'm at work I am able to work hard and carry out tasks to the best of my ability but there have been times when I misunderstand what needs to be done and keep having to ask twice about what tasks need to be done, I get quite flustered when it gets busy when I'm at till serving customers, and there's a queue building up, if customers are quite difficult, asking questions I won't always understand and even when I have to ring the bell for the manager or supervisor to assist me because I misunderstand how to do something at the till. It does leave me to feel like a useless idiot in the eyes of some people and making me think that is what they think about me. I always feel like the only one who gets told off for doing something wrong, putting things in the wrong place and being told off about not giving out enough special offers and promotions to customers as means to make more profit. They know I have Asperger's but they see me just like everyone else and maybe misunderstand or don't want to understand my behaviour depending on what mood they're in whether they are busy and haven't got time to listen and get frustrated themselves and I seem to feel they sometimes I don't learn anything and have to constantly remind about things when I should know the procedures by now. I'm supposed to have a good memory. I've also always feel like the only one in the team being called into the office about problems, I've had several warnings (formal or informal) because my till was down, and a customer issued a complaint because she lost a gift card with money still on it which I threw away at the time because I thought I had taken the money off and so therefore there was no need for the card anymore. I enjoy the job at times but I sometimes feel like its always me. I do try to be like everyone else in the workplace and I hate myself and get annoyed at myself when I get flustered, misunderstand and hesitate in front of customers going 'erm...' at times, one customer thought she was just talking to a brick wall, not knowing what to do when I don't understand something at the till in front of customers and not quite know how to do something and get a telling off for it.

Yes.

I can relate.

Not sure what you're looking for with this post. I'd suggest trying to get into a position that requires less customer-interaction, like shelf stocking or truck / lorry delivery unloading. As a cashier, working the till, you'll have to interact with EVERYONE who comes into the shop. Even if the the higher-ups "know" you have Asperger's, they don't really know what Asperger's is, and the customers won't know just from looking at you. I'd avoid working with customers so intimately.

Everyone has trouble with customer interaction, not just Aspies.

But, most Aspies have it worse than normal people, though I am one of the few exceptions because I get to answer special interest questions.

I do well with most of my tasks but I am slow learning new technology. That is atypical for someone with AS, as many seem very tech-oriented. I am far more people-oriented than most, even though I wouldn't call myself a social butterfly or a big talker.

An Aspie's middle name is STRESS. Its natural to feel stress. So when "I'm at till serving customers, and there's a queue building up" this is definitely a stressful situation.

I remember reading an article about servers in restaurants. The one key that helped them to become better servers was to repeat what the customer just said back to the customer. It is about building a connection between the customer and the server. A customer might say "I want a swiss and rye." and you respond "You would like a swiss and rye." The purpose of this is to not only get the request right but also to make a personal connection by mirroring the words of the customer. They know you are hearing them and concerned. Generally this technique resulted in higher monetary tips and much better service.

Now in the case of an Aspie, there is one more major advantage with this approach. It can be summed up with the word COMPREHENSION. When I was young, I would read a paragraph and find it very difficult to focus on the content of what I was reading. I would read the first sentence and then the next sentence but by the time I finished the second sentence I had already forgotten what the first sentence said - so I had to reread it. So reading a paragraph was very confusing and would take me an exorbitant amount of time. So what is the point? Reading out loud or even silently mouthing the words dramatically increases comprehension. So thereby for an Aspie, repeating the words of the customer allows the request to sink in and become meaningful.

So you might begin to practice repeating back instructions, whether it be from a customer, your boss or anyone else the you communicate with.

Work places are often dicey. And the lower you are on the totem pole, the more likely you will find people wanting to walk on you. Some may be jealous because they know that you are smarter than they.

Everyone is unique, and we all need to try and find places where we can contribute the most. When someone is being labeled as having this defect / difference, Autism - Aspergers, it is common that they have not been giving the chance to develop themselves well. And of course this amounts to a kind of child abuse.

Richard

I relate to that. It may be related to dyslexia & other related learning disabilities in my case.


I'm not sure what working the till is(I'm American so I'm guessing it's some UK slang) but I'm fairly certain your a cashier chris. I worked retail doing custodial stuff at two retail stores while they were open. I don't know what people or businesses are like in the UK but if it's anything like here in America, I can def see why an Aspie would have problems doing that job. I like ezbzbfcg's advice about trying to transition to a job that involves less customer interaction. Even if it's cleaning the place or stocking while they're open, you wouldn't be working with the customers quite as much & you'd mostly be assisting them by telling or showing them where a product they want is. Those jobs may not be an option if the place is a smaller store but maybe you could convince management to let you focus on those types of tasks more & only work the register as needed.

Interesting. I'm an American, and we're the same age. Though I don't use the word till everyday, it's not really slang. You've never heard the expression, "He had his fingers in the till" implying someone was stealing or skimming off money? The till just means the place where money from a business transaction is kept. Usually, but not necessarily, a cash register.

Maybe it's regional. They don't use it down on the bayou, but ask around New England now that you're living in Vermont.

I never heard that expression before. I'll have to ask my girlfriend about it at some point.

The most annoying rules that I get told off about are those that my manager has just thought of off the top of their head to get them out of a pickle of their own creation.

Within an organization, performing the task efficiently is important. So if something is not working smoothly, then the problem and the individual that created the problem are the responsibility of the manager to correct. Consider that an employee's performance is a reflection on the manager. He/she is responsible for correcting the anomaly. In the NT world, individuals instinctively know many of the rules and do not need for someone to provide detailed instructions for each rule.

I though would reject the idea that those on the ASD spectrum are somehow deficient, lacking knowledge of somethings they should know.

I don't talk about ASD as a difference, defect, or deficiency. If we have to talk about it then I would talk about it as a lived experience. In this way, I am one with all those on this board.

But I still don't want to call it Austism. I call it Shamanic Experience.

So work places can be difficult places under even the best of circumstances. But someone who is living the Shamanic Experience is not really part of the Muggle Herd. So we need to accept that this is true for many people, many of the most creative and intelligent people. We need to find ways to communicate which allow for personal differences of all types.

People who have reported to me have had large difference in communications styles. Eventually I learned how to benefit from their strengths and to compensate for and protect them regarding their weaknesses. We all need to do this, in the workplace.

In my marriage this was needed, but it did not ever work out.

Richard