Occupational Health

[Stevie1903]

I'm a police officer in the UK. I was diagnosed with Aspergers about 18 months ago. Initially was off work with anxiety and that led to my diagnosis.

Having an anxiety disorder I was taken off front line duties and have been working regular hours in a desk job.

This week my boss wants me to have another assessment with the occupational health doctor. It's about a year since they last saw me.

Problem I have is they will be pushing me to go back out onto 24 hr shifts on the front line. I didn't join the force to work in an office however I have decided I do not want to go back out. I don't feel I'm in a position to now cope with the demands of front line duties.

I realise that many people probably don't feel Aspergers is something that should prevent someone from carrying out their job. I just don't feel capable anymore.

Last year when I met the doctor I was very offended. She said ASD diagnosis had become fashionable, referred to me having personality traits and avoided using the word Aspergers. I felt she belittled my condition and was not interested finding out how I am affected by it in everyday life, at home or work.

It's a different doctor this time but now feeling anxious again and got nearly 3 weeks to wait.

I suppose I'm wondering if anyone else had been in a similar position, particularly police officers.

 

[AsheSkyler]

It really depends on the job. Some Aspies don't have terrible sensory issues and can work anything noisy but others should avoid working as a cashier at a busy shopping mall as if it was the plague. Some have severe social anxiety, some are great actors and speech givers.

Could you possibly remain a front line police officer, but work in a different area? In example, we bumped into an officer while shopping recently and while he was a full-fledged, academy trained fellow, it was his job to be the main guy assigned to the local high school. Presumably, he works only when students are there. And that was the extent of his job. I think he said there were several other positions like that in our area where officers weren't stuck at desk jobs but they didn't all have to chase down traffic violations or thieves. If the UK does something similar, would it be worth looking in to? You might could be a guard at a bank if your station likes to assign officers to sit at a bank all day.

 

[DC1346]

I'm a police officer in the UK. I was diagnosed with Aspergers about 18 months ago. Initially was off work with anxiety and that led to my diagnosis.

Having an anxiety disorder I was taken off front line duties and have been working regular hours in a desk job.

Problem I have is they will be pushing me to go back out onto 24 hr shifts on the front line. I didn't join the force to work in an office however I have decided I do not want to go back out. I don't feel I'm in a position to now cope with the demands of front line duties.

Hello Constable!

May I first ask some questions to help clarify your situation? How long were you engaged in front line duties before you received your diagnosis and what events led to your seeking a diagnosis?"

The reason I ask is that you are presumably still the same person you were before you learned you had Asperger's. If you were able to perform your duties then, is there any reason why you could not expect to perform front line duties now?

As an alternative, could you request a transfer to a force in a rural community? Assuming you are currently in a metropolitan area, would service in a rural area help to alleviate some of your stress?

 

[Aspergirl4hire]

I wasn't sworn, as we say in the US, but I worked with a police force organized along paramilitary lines. There seemed to be an uneven approach to these things, but generally they seemed open to working it out (the younger captains and commanders). Some of the more enlightened captains and commanders were actively engaged and thoughtful.

It seemed to be about the job itself, really. Does anxiety improve or limit performance? Under what situations do you hesitate? Where might you break discipline?

And then there's the piece about you. What do you genuinely worry about? What can you really do? What do you think you can't do, and why? What do you really want?

A job you don't really want is a bad situation. A job you don't want, in emergency response...is bad in some worse says. As you know. If you don't want it because you're going back to it a little uncertain, that would be normal. Only you know how strong that feeling is.

DC1346 makes a good point. You are the same person, and you have more self-knowledge. How does Asperger's help you be phenomenally good at your job? In crisis situations, it would help. In community policing, where civilian relationships are paramount, it might or might not.

Finally--it's also possible that you've changed; you are the same person, and your self-knowledge has made you more aware. So it may not be the Asperger's that's opening your options up, so much as what you know about yourself know--the consequences of knowing, and the meaning and significance you give it.

Because Asperger's is popular doesn't mean it's understood. Healthy situations acknowledge your individual traits--"that's what he does"--and doesn't label them. I can't speak to the respect issue, but it may be well to focus on how you present to the world, and what the real limits are. Not what people think "Asperger's" means. Does that help?

 

[Stevie1903]

Thanks everyone. All your replies offer something and speak sense.

I realise I am the same person as I was before. For me though I have struggled through out my police career. I spent the first 7/8 years on the front line and I know myself I had to work very hard to avoid or swerve certain things. That doesn't sound good I know but it was my way of avoiding things I just felt I couldn't deal with or just wouldn't be able to understand. I find many situations confusing and find I get overwhelmed with noise and too many things going on all at once. There is the thing of carrying a heavy work load, prioritising, dealing with the unknown. Frontline policing just doesn't allow you to be in control. You are a slave to the radio and it's all or nothing. You cannot pick and choose what you deal with.

At the moment the only thing I have problems with is really the noise in the office. That can be overwhelming and I have been off work twice this year with anxiety. My attendance at work is far improved over the last 2/3 years. I am settled where I am and can cope with the role I have. It is a police officers job so not something just given to me for something to do.

An employer has a legal responsibility to make reasonable adjustments here in the UK. By allowing me to continue in my current role to me is a reasonable adjustment. I have been told my boss in more than happy with my attendance and standard of work.

The aspergers came about after being off with anxiety. I believe the anxiety was caused with trying to be someone I'm not. Trying to cope with being a frontline officer for example.

 

[DC1346]

Constable - If the noise in the office is bothering you, could a reasonable accommodation be for you to wear headphones so you could listen to soothing music whilst working on reports?

 

[Stevie1903]

Constable - If the noise in the office is bothering you, could a reasonable accommodation be for you to wear headphones so you could listen to soothing music whilst working on reports?

Yeah that's what I've been doing recently. It does help to a degree. Still got to be able to hear the telephone ringing!

 

[DC1346]

Yeah that's what I've been doing recently. It does help to a degree. Still got to be able to hear the telephone ringing!

Sadly having to deal with stress is part and parcel with who we are.

If you are unable to perform front line duty your choices seem limited. You are already on desk duty. Have you considered the possibility of requesting a transfer to a smaller station?

Would medication help? Also - are you in therapy to help develop your coping skills?

 

[Aspergirl4hire]

"I believe the anxiety was caused with trying to be someone I'm not. Trying to cope with being a frontline officer for example." Ah. Makes perfect sense to me.

I have a set of headphones designed to cancel background noise (helpfully called 'noise-cancelling' with this feature explicitly listed on the box). I can hear the phone ring, and my own computer beep, but all the conversations around me move back another 10-15 feet in noise level once I put them on. They were a bit pricey, but very well worth the investment. I was in a very 'open' environment at the time, and I just couldn't focus. They helped that problem.

 

[Mr Allen]

Apparently the UK Police Force are still bound by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Equality Act 2010, if they fired you due to having AS, or took you off duties without your consent, you could have a case to sue the pants off your local Force for discrimination.

But don't take my word on that, I've been saying for years that both those Acts have no teeth because our useless government don't enforce them.