Asperger's on the Job: Must-Have Advice for People With Asperger's or High Functioning Autism, and Their Employers, Educators, and Advocates by Rudy Simone
Authors: Rudy Simone
Tags: Asperger&rsquo
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least, receive assurance from bosses that it won’t happen again. You may have a case for compensation, but that depends on several factors, including the severity of the incident and laws governing your region.
Be brave and as self-assured as you can be when going through such an ordeal. You have a right to a safe work environment. Do not apologize for “creating a problem”—you didn’t create it.
To employers and advocates:
Adopt a zero-tolerance policy for bullying—in action as well as speech. It’s one thing to pay lip service to this policy; it’s quite another to walk your talk. Bottom line, it’s costing you money and making people’s lives hell.
Realize that while bullying has devastating consequences, the need is perhaps more urgent in the case of the AS person who will have a very hard time keeping a clear head during confrontation.
That fight-or-flight reaction to social contact can also cause us to freeze like deer in headlights when we are bullied, and we may be completely unable to defend ourselves verbally or physically.
There are organizations and individuals like myself who provide training tailored to this subject. Due to rising numbers, autism sensitivity/awareness training should soon be as required as sexual harassment training. Contact your local autism services to see if they know of any such programs or consultants in your area, or visit my web site ( www.help4Aspergers.com ). Management staff as well as workers can attend an in-house training.
Places like the Workplace Bullying Institute also provide workshops and in-house training. Their contact details are in the Resources section.
There are not enough laws against workplace bullying, but there likely will be in the near future. Get a jump on it by speaking with the bullies in your company, if you know who they are. They may be your best friends; cronies. You might have lunch together or play golf. Put your personal preferences aside, for they are costing you more money than they are worth. Tell them that their behavior towards the AS employee must stop or their time with the company will. Nothing speaks louder than that. Give him/her information about Asperger’s to read, such as this book, or have them speak with an AS professional. Recommend that they seek counseling on their own, since there probably is a reason for their behavior in and of itself. You can help more than just the person with AS with your efforts. Your stance is on solid economic and moral ground.
Follow through. This type of behavior is deep-seated and a person is not going to change overnight. Like any addict, they might backslide into their old behavior once they feel the crisis point is passed and they are no longer being watched.
Honestly examine your own behavior towards the easy targets in your company. Has power or anxiety over pressure made you a bully? No one thinks that they are a bully, but if you are short-tempered, unfair, if you have ridiculed or insulted your employee, then you may have worn that mantle from time to time. The same advice would apply to you as to any bully: try being nice to your victim, see the positive in them, talk to them calmly and privately. Tell them that you have changed your ways. Seek help for whatever is causing you to behave in such a way. Then stick to all these things, because you will need to prove yourself over time. Once you’ve bullied someone, they never forget, and it will be a while before they trust you again. If this sounds like advice one would give a child, it is because bullying itself is pretty childish.
There are many good books available to help you brush up on your leadership and management skills. You can bet that you will not find “humiliate and alienate” in any of them.
Write your own thoughts on bullying and strategies for prevention and correction.
What has worked in the past and what hasn’t?
CHAPTER 14
The Power of Praise
S ince we cannot always read subtle cues, positive
Be brave and as self-assured as you can be when going through such an ordeal. You have a right to a safe work environment. Do not apologize for “creating a problem”—you didn’t create it.
To employers and advocates:
Adopt a zero-tolerance policy for bullying—in action as well as speech. It’s one thing to pay lip service to this policy; it’s quite another to walk your talk. Bottom line, it’s costing you money and making people’s lives hell.
Realize that while bullying has devastating consequences, the need is perhaps more urgent in the case of the AS person who will have a very hard time keeping a clear head during confrontation.
That fight-or-flight reaction to social contact can also cause us to freeze like deer in headlights when we are bullied, and we may be completely unable to defend ourselves verbally or physically.
There are organizations and individuals like myself who provide training tailored to this subject. Due to rising numbers, autism sensitivity/awareness training should soon be as required as sexual harassment training. Contact your local autism services to see if they know of any such programs or consultants in your area, or visit my web site ( www.help4Aspergers.com ). Management staff as well as workers can attend an in-house training.
Places like the Workplace Bullying Institute also provide workshops and in-house training. Their contact details are in the Resources section.
There are not enough laws against workplace bullying, but there likely will be in the near future. Get a jump on it by speaking with the bullies in your company, if you know who they are. They may be your best friends; cronies. You might have lunch together or play golf. Put your personal preferences aside, for they are costing you more money than they are worth. Tell them that their behavior towards the AS employee must stop or their time with the company will. Nothing speaks louder than that. Give him/her information about Asperger’s to read, such as this book, or have them speak with an AS professional. Recommend that they seek counseling on their own, since there probably is a reason for their behavior in and of itself. You can help more than just the person with AS with your efforts. Your stance is on solid economic and moral ground.
Follow through. This type of behavior is deep-seated and a person is not going to change overnight. Like any addict, they might backslide into their old behavior once they feel the crisis point is passed and they are no longer being watched.
Honestly examine your own behavior towards the easy targets in your company. Has power or anxiety over pressure made you a bully? No one thinks that they are a bully, but if you are short-tempered, unfair, if you have ridiculed or insulted your employee, then you may have worn that mantle from time to time. The same advice would apply to you as to any bully: try being nice to your victim, see the positive in them, talk to them calmly and privately. Tell them that you have changed your ways. Seek help for whatever is causing you to behave in such a way. Then stick to all these things, because you will need to prove yourself over time. Once you’ve bullied someone, they never forget, and it will be a while before they trust you again. If this sounds like advice one would give a child, it is because bullying itself is pretty childish.
There are many good books available to help you brush up on your leadership and management skills. You can bet that you will not find “humiliate and alienate” in any of them.
Write your own thoughts on bullying and strategies for prevention and correction.
What has worked in the past and what hasn’t?
CHAPTER 14
The Power of Praise
S ince we cannot always read subtle cues, positive
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