Here is the problem that I have experienced:
----
Job coaches through ovr [office of vocational rehab. Called other things in other states, is supposed to help us find jobs and then offer supportive employment]
...those job coaches are ill-prepared to deal with my social anxiety and autistic issues.
The ovr wants to shove us into any job around, even when that job is grossly unfit for us [I reverse numbers. So they got me a job typing up spreadsheets with billing prices, a lot of billing prices. Who paid what, how much they owe...fortunately, ovr failed to get their paperwork in on time. That job fell through].
They got a job in a supermarket for someone I know with Prader-Willy Syndrome.
---
The ovr workers in my state are not familiar with autistic adults-- except through the lens of Auti$m $peaks. They push person first lingo.
My state PAYS for autistic kids to be sent to the Judge Rotenberg Center. JRC is the hellhole where autistic kids are forced to carry around day packs that enable the staff to shock them for breaking the various petty rules.
---
I am very fortunate with my workplace.
Other workplaces not so much.
---
This is USA only.
---
Some workplaces will grant accommodations for a little bit and then gradually forget about it.
When asking for accommodations in the. workplace, a dialogue happens between us and a member of human resources. HR is not there for the benefit of the worker. HR is there to avoid negative publicity and lawsuits for the company.
The open office grab a desk in whatever project you are working on at the moment concept does not work for most of us.
Many work places are physical assaults on our senses-- glare, noise, fluorescent lights, phones ringing...etc.
After all these years, I still don't get office politics. I have just recently began to understand the concept of team. I was on one "team" where if I did not do the paperwork, it did not get done. The manager did not care who did it and no one else would.
What does socializing in a bar have to do with working relationships? I question the hyper-socialization exhibited by some NTs in the workplace.
Other staff people have the concept of "my relative is a person with autism. You do not resemble them." And high functioning labels.
Stimming is autistic body language. Very few places will accept someone stimming, even when the stim is quiet and sanitary.
Thanks to popular media "autistics do not mind doing repetitive work/brain numbing tasks" we are often given the work that no one else wants.
Bullying in the workplace-- both subtle and obvious-- is a thing.
---
The older I get, the less willing I am to just "sck it up buttercup."
Do look at blogs of #actuallyautistic people for other examples of workplace h*ll.
---
My current workplace accommodates everyone, no questions asked or required notes. And when we don't know what we need, the bosses help us to figure it out.
My workplace helps autistics and others. That is why it also helps its workers.
