Is this part of autism? Anybody?

[AprilR]

Yes definitely. I cannot work with background noise either. Sadly in the office i have to work with 5 people talking at the same time and phone ringing and music playing. Fun times.

 

[Ken]

Does anybody else find it impossible to work and talk to coworkers at the same time? Is this part of autism? At work I'm constantly being told "you have to be able to talk AND work" so apparently that's what everyone else can do, but it's impossible for me because I have to give 100% attention to what I'm doing. Whether listening to what the other person is saying to me, or doing the task I'm working on. If someone says something to me, I have to stop what I'm working on so I can listen fully. But if I'm left alone for long enough, Its like I become one with my job and I get into a super focused mode that I can't explain. Anyone else experience this?

I'm pretty confident it is an autistic trait. At least it absolutely fits me.

This has always been a major issue for me. I could never understand why or how others don't seem to have that issue. That is; until I learned what autism is and that autism is me.

I figured out that my brain works linearly and sequentially - only. I can't parallel process anything. When I'm working on anything, the progress must follow the sequence for the work that is in my mind. Any interruption - even if it is related to the work I'm doing - derails my sequence. Then it takes a while to go through the sequence in my mind before I can continue.

It is interesting that my boss apparently figured this out about me before I did. He put me in my own private office and lab and put a Do Not Disturb sign on the door. He instructed everyone that any questions or communications for me had to go through him. This was a miracle for me. I was in heaven. It accelerated my career beyond my wildest dreams.

This taught me that autism can actually be a profound benefit, but only in the right environment. So, that's the key, seek the right environment and you will go far.

 

[Patrick Bushdiecker]

I'm pretty confident it is an autistic trait. At least it absolutely fits me.

This has always been a major issue for me. I could never understand why or how others don't seem to have that issue. That is; until I learned what autism is and that autism is me.

I figured out that my brain works linearly and sequentially - only. I can't parallel process anything. When I'm working on anything, the progress must follow the sequence for the work that is in my mind. Any interruption - even if it is related to the work I'm doing - derails my sequence. Then it takes a while to go through the sequence in my mind before I can continue.

It is interesting that my boss apparently figured this out about me before I did. He put me in my own private office and lab and put a Do Not Disturb sign on the door. He instructed everyone that any questions or communications for me had to go through him. This was a miracle for me. I was in heaven. It accelerated my career beyond my wildest dreams.

This taught me that autism can actually be a profound benefit, but only in the right environment. So, that's the key, seek the right environment and you will go fa

Yes definitely. I cannot work with background noise either. Sadly in the office i have to work with 5 people talking at the same time and phone ringing and music playing. Fun times.

Thank you. I had the worst day at work today. It started when I was woke up and told that I was late. I thought I had to be in at 8:00 but that was tomorrow. Today it's 5:00 a.m. I looked at my schedule again and realized it says: off, five, eight, off, eight, nine, five. Last week I did something similar because I thought I had to be in at six, but it was seven so I went in an hour early on accident. I told them I'm okay with coming in everyday at 5:00 if that's what they need, but I foresee more confusion and mistakes if my schedule varies everyday. So I got to work and communicated my need to them and they were understanding. Later on I blurted out something I had heard on a comedy show because it popped in my head and I thought it was funny. I wasn't really talking to anyone, and I didn't mean to be offensive but someone took offense and said "I don't find that funny". I then told them that I wasn't even talking to you, and they wanted to argue about it and I could not let it go. I went outside and I couldn't even eat on my lunch break because I was so messed up about it. I went back in and apologize cuz I felt bad. And my manager came over and asked me to clean something and I planned to, but he started doing it after he asked me to do it. I was like why would you ask me to do it if you're going to do it. Then he just kept talking to me and I felt like my space was invaded and I told him you're in my personal space and he just laughed and said that's my job. So I said I'm just going to go until you're done and I'll come back. So I went to the bathroom and he came in there looking for me and said I didn't tell anybody I was leaving he thought I quit. Something else he said, that upset me but he said "that was sarcasm. I guess you don't understand sarcasm so I won't use it anymore." But he will. That's how his personality is I guess. Then when I was all done he asked me do I like my job. I like having a job but I do not like having to be there. But I have to. This freaking sucks!

 

[Patrick Bushdiecker]

Yep, I have had this problem mostly in office jobs, not so much in warehousing, industry type of work etc. The last office job I had was in an open office, where sales reps answered phone calls constantly in the same room as others, which already made it hard for me to concentrate, and also people used to come up for a quick chat a lot whilst working For me it was really bad for my productivity because I am similar to what you mentioned, I get extremely focused on one thing, and if I have to take focus elsewhere for a little while, it takes time for me to get into that focused state again.

Thank you