Autism spectrum conditions are a number of different neurological conditions that include a wide range of symptoms and different levels of ability.
I’m grateful to have a fantastic manager who understands to listen and make allowances so she can get the best out of me … We have a safe phrase so I can let her know in a big meeting when I’m heading for overload and possible meltdown.
They are developmental differences, something you tend to be born with rather than caused by injury or stroke.
One in every hundred people are thought to have an autism spectrum condition, although many won’t be diagnosed until adulthood, if at all.
People who have previously been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome or Autism fall under what are now called Autism Spectrum Conditions.
Strengths and talents of autistic people
People with autism spectrum conditions often have particular abilities in:
- problem solving and thinking differently
- visual or spatial processing
- processing and retaining lots of information
- attention to detail
Other traits
People with autism spectrum conditions may also find that they:
- have difficulty interpreting the behaviour and intentions of other people, building relationships or keeping a conversation going
- have limited interests and show a tendency towards compulsive or repetitive behaviours
- dislike changes to routine
- find talking about emotions difficult
Non-urgent advice: CUH staff tell us
- We are individuals – if you’ve met one person on the spectrum you’ve met one person on the spectrum!
- We are brilliant at organising things
- We have excellent attention to detail, often picking out things that others have missed
- We often enjoy and are good at working with detailed spreadsheets, writing programmes and procedures and working with data, as well as presenting information in a way that is easily understood
- Sometimes what we do might look odd, but we work to the same standard as everyone else – we just do things in a different way
- We think outside the box, often coming up with innovative and different solutions to problems
- We don’t like or feel comfortable with small talk, but love it when people say what they actually mean. We may prefer to communicate in written format.
- Dealing with people can take a lot of energy and can make us feel stressed
- We can come across as blunt and then worry that we upset people – and we prefer to be told if we’ve upset someone so we can resolve it rather than being left guessing
- Many of us feel we have to be a different person at work, ‘masking’ who we really are