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Someone explain how autism is an illness... its not going to "get better" later on. And how does it interfere with taking criticism?
People on the Autism spectrum can range from complete unawareness of criticism to explosion. They can be very rigid (black & white) over anything, so criticism (being told X is wrong when they think X is right) can result in overwhelming anxiety, anger, lack of body control, and occasionally violence. I have worked with Autism in the past and with adults, it's not uncommon although behavioural therapies prove very useful. The challenge is that higher-paying adults often don't seek this out. My son's therapy was two years, and he has learned to cope without an outburst.
Supervisors have a fixed number of hours in their day as well. Delegating upward where they spend time on a matter most if not all of your co workers handle on their own, means your boss has less time to accomplish things that make a different in the business. In this situation, your "weakness" has impacted your boss as well in a more significant way than it does now.
This is not a way to make a career with increasing responsibility and pay in my experience. The opposite is the way, take things your boss does away from them and do it yourself is the way to make bosses more successful because of you. This gets you more money and more responsibility.
I recognize this issue is huge to you and a very real one. But the impact of delegating upward is not the course you want to go in my view.
People on the Autism spectrum can range from complete unawareness of criticism to explosion. They can be very rigid (black & white) over anything, so criticism (being told X is wrong when they think X is right) can result in overwhelming anxiety, anger, lack of body control, and occasionally violence. I have worked with Autism in the past and with adults, it's not uncommon although behavioural therapies prove very useful. The challenge is that higher-paying adults often don't seek this out. My son's therapy was two years, and he has learned to cope without an outburst.
ok... and how do you accommodate this as an employer besides firing them when they go off on you?
do you expect an employer to outright ignore the outburst? he is more a danger to himself and others and become a liability to the company
the op isn't a case of he needs quite where the boss can sit him in a room and left to do the work, he doesn't want to be criticized, this isn't going to be accommodated because there is nothing wrong with criticism
Having a disability or some other thing that places you in the category of protection under federal law does not protect a worker from not being able to do a job. If someone can't do the job properly and timely, being disabled or black or hispanic or old or female won't protect him/her. Those laws come into play only when the worker can, first, do the job with reasonable accommodations.
An inability to take any correction or questions implying criticism in the normal course of work might be considered part of doing a job properly and timely. If a worker's job includes providing Bob with a spreadsheet containing certain info by a certain deadline, and Bob can't walk down the hall and ask if the spreadsheet is ready, when it's overdue, or the info provided is wrong...that may be considered an inability to do the job.
You can request to be sent emails, instead of telling you in person. That is reasonable. But to request that coworkers be unable to ask you for something that's overdue or to correct something's that wrong is unreasonable, IMO. They have deadlines to meet, and all they need is a quick answer or fix of the spreadsheet. What if HR is in a meeting, or gone for the day? Does HR have the time to follow up on questions to you from co-workers?
BTW, there are personality disorders that prevent people from taking criticism w/o being overly emotional. We all have to deal with issues of our own. But if a person is hired to do a job, the job is the main thing. Not our issues. If one is narcissistic and can't take criticism w/o getting defensive and angry and lashing out, he'll have problems in most underling jobs (however, people in high positions can get away with this, since they don't have to answer to anyone).
Did the OP specify what criticisms the coworkers were bringing? A line employee does not answer to another line employee. At least not in any job I've worked. If the OP is doing something where "criticism" is in order, it seems logical to have the supervisor address it with the employee. There is nothing unreasonable or unduly burdensome about that. A manger's job is to manage.
You would likely get more benefit from paying attention to the comments, looking for a pattern of errors, and using that information to improve your performance. The best way to stop the criticism is to get better at your job. Refusing to acknowledge a problem will not solve it.
If your goal is simply to avoid hearing about what you need to improve, you will never improve, and you will continue to be the subject of criticism. Insisting that all negative comments be directed to your supervisor so you don't have to hear them will likely backfire. All you supervisor is going to remember is all the complaints about you.
If Moderator cut: . you cannot or will not face your mistakes and make an effort to correct them and improve your performance, then it is possible you are in the wrong job. Asperger's is not a blanket excuse for poor work performance. You are probably doing yourself a disservice by trying to hide behind a disability or use it as a weapon against your coworkers or employer. You can learn to accept criticism when you make mistakes, and you can learn to use that information to improve. You do have the ability to improve the quality of your performance and the quality of your work experience. You just have to give up the victim mentality and take charge of your own life. It may require professional therapy to get to that point, but you can get there.
Last edited by toosie; 01-14-2017 at 05:20 PM..
Reason: deleted "special snowflake" - don't call names
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