For Autistics

Together We Are Stroger

Reputable practitioners & diagnosticians: a few recommendations by the community

USA

AANE (Asperger / Autism Network) Directory of Diagnosticians (US-centric)

Boston/Cambridge

Maren Oslund http://www.trestlescounseling.org/ (particularly helpful for autistic parents of autistic children)

AU-SYD

Diverse Minds, Erskineville

Coping techniques & executive functioning

Coping with sensory overload & over-stimulation

Alternate between standing and sitting at one's desk

Get regular exercise - especially running/walking
Switch environments - get outdoors and fresh air when weather permits
Schedule breaks in your day for downtime - at work or at home
Wear noise-canceling headphones, earmuffs, or earplugs

3M Peltor X5A are a great pair of noise-cancelling earmuffs

Wear a hood or sunglasses to reduce brightness
Wear a weighted blanket: Temple Grandin's research shows that pressure is calming
Play with a soothing fidget or rubbing a soft material or surface
Create a plan for where you can go or what you can do to help yourself feel grounded

Executive functioning

Use conservative estimates for how long specific tasks may take (depending on priority)
Leverage program management tool that can share your co-works assign work items to a TODO list you can snooze, hide, or give away items you can't work on right now

Books, Learning & reading content

Autism @ Work course

The course was designed by and for autistic students, job seekers, and employees (and those with similar differences). The course is titled "Navigating Your Differences in the Workplace".

LINK: https://autismspeaks.myabsorb.com?KeyName=ChernNYD

Title: Navigating Your Differences in the Workplace

Audience: autistic employees, workers, job seekers and students. Course can be taken with a support person.

Time: 90 minutes (self-paced; can be retaken as many times as needed)

Subjects covered:

Self-advocacy at work;

Disclosure in the workplace;

Guided scans of the workplace for potential challenges and solutions;

Supports for advocating for individual needs with your employer

NOTE: this course is currently being translated into Spanish.

After logging in, users will see that they have a choice: they can take the version of the course designed for people working in manufacturing / distribution centers, or the version designed for customer-facing roles such as in retail environments. However, the principles taught are the same in both versions, and one does not need to work in manufacturing or retail in order to benefit (it has helped me, for instance, although I’m not autistic and I work in non-profit J). We simply started with courses dedicated to those industries because of who are corporate partners are.

Communication & social interactions

Work & everyday situations

The Three Parts of an Effective Apology (Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center)

- The three (or four) R’s of a meaningful apology, e.g. Responsibility, Recognize, Remorse (and Reparation)
Tuxedo Tips: suggestions for what to say in various work situations (in meetings, expressing opinions, delegating work, etc.)
PEERS® for Young Adults: a collection of short demonstration videos illustrating social skills for various everyday situations
17 Ways to Say "I Love You" in Neurodivergent

De-escalation

When overstimulated, it can be helpful (or even necessary) to walk away to process or return to one's baseline "normal". Here are a couple of suggestions:

Express how you are feeling in that moment: that you're having difficulty in the moment, feeling overwhelmed, etc.
- "I'm not able to respond as my best self to this right now"
State when you intend to resume the discussion, debate, argument, or topic (suggestion from the book “Difficult Conversations”)

Avenues and activities for practicing social skills (safely)

Improv: ImprovJam is an internal Google group for virtual improv

Role playing games (RPGs): can be played virtually or in-person
- Theatre of the mind style, allows for different personalities to be tried out
- Many game styles & varieties, from Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) with lots of rules, to lightweight games like Dread with minimal rules (great for one-shots or "one-offs")
Theatre / acting / comedy
Lunch Ninja / Virtual Coffee Ninja (internal): you can tag your interests and communities - @Autistics is an option

Identifying emotions

The Emotion Wheel: What It Is and How to Use It (Positive Psychology)
Emotional check-in exercise: start by identifying which of the 5 (or 7) primary emotions you’re currently experiencing, then think about and try to articulate why

Empathy The “Double Empathy Problem”

Double Empathy Problem article by Dr. Damian Milton (from the National Autistic Society of the UK)
Revealing the Double Empathy Problem (Apr. 2020, by Laura S. DeThorne, PhD; The ASHA Leader)

Stimming tools & self-soothing

Discreet and inexpensive DIY fidget

- Combine keyring(s) or binder ring(s) with soda can tabs, hex nuts, paperclips, rubber bands, and other small, commonly found objects
Pop socket on the back of a cellphone

Tactile

Suction cups: resistance, satisfying popping sound when pulling them on and off a surface
Slinkies: standard play, running hands across coils, wearing like a bracelet
Purple brand mattress: 2.5” x 2.5” x .5” sample of their purple mesh
Memory foam pillows are soothing to hug and squeeze.
- FanGamer makes a cute and huggable pixelated dog pillow
Stimtastic sells a huge variety of stimming tools and fidget toys
Tangle toys
Knurled pen: nicely textured surface; discreet, can be broken down into many parts for play
Fidget Cube

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