Help! In trouble at work ...

[Nykii]

Hi,

I don't often post in here because forums are my giant tarantulas!

I am late diagnosis aspergers with possibility of dyscalculia (I seem to have similar issues to dyslexia but I really struggle with dates/numbers).

I started as a support worker for young adults last September. When I started, my employer knew I had never worked a job like this. And they know I'm aspergers.

I got really stressed out earlier in the year and my line manager put me on a performance management plan.

I missed a couple of deadlines due to actually going out and doing my job and have been called into a disciplinary meeting.

My question is, for anyone in support work, have any of your employers put reasonable adjustments in place and if so, what are they? I'm having to think about what would help and I just don't know.

Thank you so much if you can give me some ideas!!

 

[tree]

You missed a couple of deadlines?
Like, for submitting paper work? Or what?

Can you set up what used to be called "tickler files"?
Reminders that tell you how long you have before
you need to do a thing? Repeated reminders......

 

[Nykii]

You missed a couple of deadlines?
Like, for submitting paper work? Or what?

.

Yes. Support plans for all clients. I will point out at this time that some of my co workers are pretty behind too but I appear to be the only one being pulled for it. Also, when I started the job, we had it all on an access database with a page colour coded to show when these things get done - but that really confused me. We then got new software and 2 hours training on it followed by being explicitly told that that was all the training we were getting. I really struggled with the new software.

 

[tree]

As silly as this sounds, it would be possible
to make up a physical 'tickler file'----using index
cards and a box.

 

[Nykii]

That's not a silly idea at all!

I'll look to see if there's any apps out there that could do the same thing.

Because I struggle big time with dates, this might be a winner.

Now just to talk myself out of a warning...

 

[toothless]

nykki,i am not a support staff but i am under 24 hour care and in a past residential home for people with severe or profound classic autism there were two staff there who needed accomodation; one was aspie,she was allowed to not deal with challenging behaviors of mine or other service users so other staff would deal with it-the behaviors would sometimes make her meltdown,she also was allowed to make a cup of tea at specific times as part of her routine and she was also allowed to avoid dealing with cooking our dinners until she had learned properly;as her indepenant living skills were bad,another staff was severely dyslexic and she was able to avoid daily summaries/ABC forms/incident forms etc-other staff would help her with that,she also had help with counting monies,she was also allowed to take time off when her depression was bad.

 

[Nykii]

Thank you, Toothless. Your comment is much appreciated. I fear that I may have some of the lowest support people as it is - although when they go into crisis, they go into crisis! I really don't know what to suggest to my employer as I fear they may use it against me. I know I can do my job and do it well - I just take a long time to learn and because there is no practical training for the job, it has taken me much longer. I have had to learn to cope with aggression, upset, and lots of other behaviours while learning how to do everything. It's been a hard year but I finally think I'm getting somewhere and bang! Into a disciplinary hearing. Apologies, I'm not trying to do a poor-me but I am afraid of this meeting.

 

[gillie]

Hi,

I don't often post in here because forums are my giant tarantulas!

I am late diagnosis aspergers with possibility of dyscalculia (I seem to have similar issues to dyslexia but I really struggle with dates/numbers).

I started as a support worker for young adults last September. When I started, my employer knew I had never worked a job like this. And they know I'm aspergers.

I got really stressed out earlier in the year and my line manager put me on a performance management plan.

I missed a couple of deadlines due to actually going out and doing my job and have been called into a disciplinary meeting.

My question is, for anyone in support work, have any of your employers put reasonable adjustments in place and if so, what are they? I'm having to think about what would help and I just don't know.

Thank you so much if you can give me some ideas!!

Hi Nykii,
As with yourself, I also had a late diagnosis of Aspergers. I was nervous about disclosing or discussing it with my employer, but they've been incredibly helpful and understanding. In particular they understand the consequences of falling foul of the Disability at Work Act 2010. They have put in place everything I need to reduce sensory overstimulation, such as lighting, noise and temperature. My diagnosis was via the NHS and came with a 40 page report, a section of which included what my employer should be doing to assist me - such as being very clear and unambiguous about tasks and responsibilities. My guess is that your employer could be on dodgey ground, especially if they're singling you out. I suggest approaching ACAS, who would probably be very keen to follow it up on your behalf. They have a lot of useful information on their website.

 

[Nykii]

Thank you Gillie. It took them nearly a year and a half to put anything in place. I've had two OHS interviews since which state what you have above. But nothing really changed. There's no structured training - even when they brought new software in, we got one morning to tell us how to put a record on and that was it. And yet, there was no allowance made for anyone to get used to it. I feel I've fumbled about all that time and have done really well, considering, and I did get quite annoyed at meeting today and told them that - I work really hard and do the best job I can and yet I'm getting disciplined. I also found out they appear to be disciplining anyone for anything right now. Horrible situation.

 

[paloftoon]

Yuck Nykii, best thing you can do is show what you're trying to do to improve the situation when you're in a meeting being reprimanded. Take notes on what you can improve on, and just play like a beggar. Ask for as many specific ideas and suggestions as you can, and only praise your evaluators even if you don't agree with them.

At the same time, start applying for other jobs as much as you can as a backup.