For Autistics

Together We Are Stroger

Reputable practitioners & diagnosticians: a few recommendations by the community

USA


Boston/Cambridge


AU-SYD

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

  • 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

Autistics Reading books


Self-care, compassion & coping


Communication, conflict & resolution


Autism-specific


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 (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


Empathy The “Double Empathy Problem”

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.

  • 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