Research on workplace experiences

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Hi Everyone, I am currently a student of the Milgard School of Business at the University of Washington, in Tacoma, Washington. I am researching a paper for my Effective Managerial Communications class on the best ways to integrate high functioning autistics or AS into the workplace. I was hoping you might share recent work experiences with me via email or within this forum.
1. I am interested in reading about your best experiences and worst experiences.
2. Which environments worked for you and which didn’t?
3. What industries and fields you feel best fit your skill set?
4. How did your social interactions with colleagues affect your job?
5. Did your supervisors and/or colleagues know you had AS?
6. Is there anything specific your supervisors could have done to help or prevent difficulties?
7. If you could include your gender and age, that was also be helpful.

I apologize if these questions are vague and would be happy with any information you are willing to share. I will be collecting this data until December 1, 2006.

I think it is also important to mention, I am the mother of a 5-year-old autistic son and I am anxious to create a world that accepts him for who he is, not for who the world thinks he should be. Any information you share will be helpful and confidential. I would also be happy to forward you a copy of the finished paper in mid December.

Thank you,

Rachael Randall
[email protected]
206-852-2263

I just ordered several books about this topic which I should be receiving soon.This is ,by far, my biggest concern and stresser.I am 43 and have been working off and on since I was 16.I will give you as brief a synopsis as I can.


Hardies.....was fired when management changed.They tried to get me to quit by giving me demeaning jobs(like cleaning out the button holes on the seat cushions with a toothbrush)but I stuck it out until they accused me of having a short till....it was a set-up,a co-worker had a short till but was friends with the boss,then they recounted and it was my till that was short...hummmm.Might have been my only friend there was sleeping with the "older" manager and I knew about it....can you say...Statutory Rape...

KFC....worked in the backroom preparing the meals,so less customer contact.My manager was nice and seemed to like me and the work I did.I was fast and organized.Co-workers???don't even remember them.

Hotel room cleaning...fired in a week.I couldnt talk to other staff in break room and was to much of a perfectionist(I actually was compelled to DO the cleaning instead of just fluffing over the surface)

Waitress at a pizza place.Did OK with the boss,no friends but no enemies,worked extra shifts and hours no one else wanted but....new management....told me I did not smile enough,wasnt friendly and needed to get a perm....I refused and was fired.

Bussing tables at Happy chief....fired after a week ,after a manager saw me drunk and making out with another girl at a New Years party....ooops.

Cleaning out apts after tenants left...found cat in freezer...didn't show up for work after that.Smell was horrible.

Parking lot cashier(in a little booth)fired shortly after being robbed.They were getting rid of all the punks and replacing them with people from Liberia,so I am not sure which reason got me fired.They made up a losey excuse about not showing up for a shift I had never been told to work.

Parking lot cashier....I liked this one because I didnt have to pee in the alley in the middle of winter like the other place(we had no breaks)I walked up and down the ramp singing and looking for car jackers and read in the booth between customers...not bad job and they liked me but...lost it to drinking and missing work...It was a legit firing and they gave me several chances.

Keep in mind that the last two jobs were AFTER getting a college BA in Psychology...lol.

After getting sober...

I worked for the city doing landscaping for min wage.I wa a hard worker and they offered me a manager job but it would mean I had to drive...in winter...at 26,I still didn't have a drivers lic. and was terrified of driving...so,I left.

Worked "temp" jobs for about 2 years at factories...loud and smelly but they seemed to like me,I was a hard worker but it was deadly dull.Co-workers were OK...no friends but no one was mean.eventually took a job at one factory,after saying no,for a year.

Plastics factory...boss really liked me because I could work like a ....mule,horse?whatever....they moved down to Mexico after about 6 mths.I liked ding the physical work...lifting and stacking boxes but wouldn't work on a factory line because I would get to dizzy and space out.

Residential Treatment Place for CD/MI Teens.Overnights.When I wasn't doing room checks,cleaning,preparing meals,listening to clients...I could read and do puzzles.The kids really liked me because I always let them break the rules that I thought were stupid,cruel or pointless.I also had several similar experiences,so they seemed to except me.For the same reason,I would get into trouble.
I never knew who the other night staff would be and some of them liked to "small talk" which was nerve racking and annoying to me.You could never predict how the night would go...sometimes very stressful with loud yelling,violence,crying....I was on the edge of quiting for about 6 years...never was incouraged to move onto the day shift by managers...but the benefits and pay was OK,so I stayed.I did like some of the kids,misfits I could relate to,but the other staff was like being an outcast in high school most of the time(a few exceptions)but never made any real friends.I did like the challenge of the work and learned a lot.I eventually quit after they changed management and everything was turned upside down...constant fights,drugs and sex between clients...it was a zoo.

I also worked for a year doing home health-care for elderly.Stressful making conversation but I didn't mind doing errands or cleaning/cooking if I was told specifically what to do.I hate guessing.They seemed to like me,OK and ther was no other staff to deal with but I hated the driving to new places.

Current job is doing residential overnights with DD clients.There are 4 guys in the house and I help them with personal cares(smelly)cleaning and cooking/laundry and charting.I hate this job and would love to quit but don't know what else to do.I bought the books on AS and employment after recently getting AS DX.I am hoping they will give me some ideas of what to do next.My main problem with this job is the staff are very lazy and I think the management is clueless or unethical to be hiring people who are such bad workers(they don't fire anyone,just move them to a new house)One client has constant anger outbursts and never stops talking,which makes me feel angry most of the time.The house managers have been very unorganized or apathetic,the latest one seems better but the workers are still useless and she cant do much about it.What I like about the job is the hours...one week on(76 hours) then a week off.I work from 10pm to 8am,so ,most of it is in low light and very quit ,so I can read or go on comp. when my work is done and before clients get up for the day.I haven't made any friends there,am older then most co-workers and they all "party".My reviews have always been positive except for my lack of "team playing"(I didn't think I was there to play?)

The job I would most like is something that I can do at my house...maybe medical transcriptionist?Anything that didn't involve people or driving or yelling or poopy diapers would be an improvement.

I didn't realise I had AS until I was 23 (I am now 24). I read my medical notes the other week and there it was as clear as day, was diagnosed when I was 7 years old. Hence up until now, none of my employers have known about my AS as neither did I.

Anyhow, I will start from my first job -

1. C&A Department Store - I worked in two stores on and off weekends part time (I was in college doing my A levels) up until January 2001 when the store closed down for good. I was employed with C&A through an agency. The first store I worked in the people were rather friendly towards me. I never manned the tills as they wanted me to man changing rooms and sort things in the stock room instead - minimal customer contact that I was happy with. The second store I had to man the tills and I realised just how unfriendly people could be. I think we had the worst customers on the planet as they were all rude and the staff weren't as friendly either and they gave me some demeaning tasks that they didn't want to do and treated me differently because I was 'from the agency'.

2. A toiletries store near where I studied in Altrincham, Manchester - the boss was a bit harsh at times but other than that it was a nice enough place to work. I left in September 2001 when I moved out of Manchester to start studying at Keele University, which I left and continued my studies at Manchester Metropolitan University. Both universities I do highly recommend as being very good institutions in which to study.

3. Slipway snacks - this was a takeaway place selling pasties, seafood and cakes and drinks on the seaside. In between my studies at uni, I would go down South (my dad lived down there, he now lives up in Manchester near me) to earn some extra cash. It would get really busy and breaks would be few and far between and customer contact was very frequent to the point where lack of customer contact was impossible. I would always feel tired at the end of every day and a bit soul destroyed, it was the people who worked there that made it for me as they were really nice. I left this job after three summers to get something Science based, but that fell through and had two other temp jobs before that.

4. Cooks bakery - a mass chainstore of bakeries in the United Kingdom. I worked in one not too far away from where Slipway Snacks was. I was only there for two weeks after I was set up for theft and fired. My dad simply told them that if they did not sort out their gross error within a week, we would take them to an industrial tribunal. Lo and behold, exactly a week later, I got a later of apology through my door telling me that 'recent evidence' meant that the thief was not me. They said they were sorry and should I need a reference for any job they would give me one. I won't even buy their pies let alone give me a bloody reference. They should watch what they are saying and who they accuse really.

5. Local pub - worked as a barmaid for about 3-4 weeks and it was all good as I knew the owners and the locals. I left after this because I relocated to Northampton to start a new job there.

6. Lab Technician in Northampton - the job itself I really liked as I was in a lab with a small number of people and would sometimes be left alone to work which I like. The only problem unfortunately was the people who worked in the lab. They were all friendly and nice to begin with lulling you into a false sense of security. It was about this time that I found out I had Asperger's and decided not to tell my employer as the people who worked there would have probably made my life hell for it as they already were making my life hell. And they were taking great delight in it. They were picking on other people too, but that is besides the point. They were a group of sickos who liked to mess with people's emotions badly hence my job there lasted only 4 and a half months.

7. Sales administrator in Manchester - this is my current employment. I want out of this job I really really do. It all started off really well and my employers were made known that I had Asperger's and they didn't treat me any differently from anyone else which was great and were quite understanding. Then the company started to expand which was a good thing. People were getting excited as well as stressed and my workload increased which I kinda expected in some sense. Then we all had to move offices and I was placed in an office with one manager and the confirmation managers which was amazing and I could just get on with my work, my days had structure (even though my tasks were ever changing). Now I have been moved into an office with pretty much everyone and I cannot cope with it. There are too many people and too many managers meddling with my work. One manager in particular is saddling all his jobs off onto me and my other admin, even though he is on at least twice our salary and passing the buck for things he hasn't done onto us. We now have no structure to our day as people keep meddling, interfering and passing the buck and I have had to take a week off this week as I am finding the constant bitching and backstabbing to much to bear. I am currently looking for another job. I was told I was going to get a pay rise two or three months ago and I still haven't had. Too many broken bonds and promises and too many backstabbing events now for me to want to stay in this place.

"I am interested in reading about your best experiences and worst experiences. "

Worst, as a summer student job, working on a production line at an aerosol factory.
Best, moments in my career as an optometrist.

"2. Which environments worked for you and which didn’t?"
The consulting room setting of optometry, with a small staff where it was possible to adapt to each other (when one sees them!), has worked pretty well.

I've left a couple of big firms where the levels of bureaucracy got intolerable.
I would tend to avoid big organisations, personally.

"3. What industries and fields you feel best fit your skill set? "
Optometry: scientific, well defined objectives and methodologies, some social interaction but within predictable limits.
I could have gone for something in librarianship, perhaps, or computing...
I was never going to be a racing driver or TV presenter.

"4. How did your social interactions with colleagues affect your job?"
Not greatly, as most of the day is spent with patients... The social life aspects, meeting for meals, or drinks, how birthdays and crises are handled took some learning. But work learned about me, as well as me learning about them.

"5. Did your supervisors and/or colleagues know you had AS? "
I didn't know, for the first 48 years of my existence! I knew I was odd, and didn't easily fit into the mainstream. Finally getting a diagnosis was a relief and a revelation.


"6. Is there anything specific your supervisors could have done to help or prevent difficulties? "
I didn't have much in the way of a boss or a supervisor! The biggest problems I have consistently run into come with "unwritten rules" and "office politics". And generally I negotiated that by "not playing the game". Somewhat awkward, sometimes, but better than anything else I have tried. It doesn't take long for it to be seen that I'm operating by a particular set of rules that others can rely on, and it usually doesn't tread on too many toes.

"7. If you could include your gender and age, that was also be helpful. "
Male, 50

Chris Brown, Bsc Hons, FCOptom,
Formally diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome as an adult.

1. I am interested in reading about your best experiences and worst experiences.

Worst: A job in the library of a small college in a small town where everybody knew everyone else's business. The work environment was very cliquy and as the only male staff member (not to mention my own social awkwardness) I did not fit in at all.

Best: Now. An environment that allows me to set my own pace, taking advantage of my analytical and organizational skills and my knack for solving problems and spotting things that are out of place.


2. Which environments worked for you and which didn’t?

Offices where everyone has their assigned tasks work well for me. Environments where everyone was expected to work together as a unit did not.


3. What industries and fields you feel best fit your skill set?

Libraries, anything that involves information management.


4. How did your social interactions with colleagues affect your job?

In the past, it did, because my social interactions were terrible. But the more time passed, the better I got. I compensate for my lack of social skills by being gracious and polite at work, and always displaying a positive attitude (even if I have to fake it). So, coming across as friendly and well-mannered takes the edge off the fact that I'm also quiet and tend to keep to myself.


5. Did your supervisors and/or colleagues know you had AS?

No.


6. Is there anything specific your supervisors could have done to help or prevent difficulties?

No.


7. If you could include your gender and age, that was also be helpful.

Male, 44