Emily♡

@ItsEmilyKaty

Jan 23 • 10 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X

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I asked autistic and ADHD people what challenges they face at work and out of approx 1500 responses (thank you!!), these were the most common challenges, in order.👇🏻

Challenges autistic and ADHD people face at work.

Challenges autistic and ADHD people face at work.

I am not surprised that navigating colleague relationships, the sensory environment and unclear instructions/communication took the top three places.

The title ‘challenges’ at top of page followed by six white boxes each containing a phrase: navigating colleague relationships and interactions; the sensory environment; unclear instructions or communication; colleagues and managers not understanding autism/ADHD; distractions and interruptions; changes in routine.

Challenges autistic and ADHD people face at work.

The title ‘challenges’ at top of page followed by six white boxes each containing a phrase: unwritten expectations or rules; background noise e.g. printers/phones/chatting; exhaustion from masking; focusing/concentrating; frequent burnout; becoming bored quickly.

Challenges autistic and ADHD people face at work.

The title ‘challenges’ at top of page followed by six white boxes each containing a phrase: meetings - icebreakers, team-building tasks, interrupts workflow; frequent overwhelm; open-plan offices; doing tasks with no purpose/interest/reasoning/variety; communicating in a socially acceptable manner; managing a 9-5 schedule.

Challenges autistic and ADHD people face at work.

The title ‘challenges’ at top of page followed by six white boxes each containing a phrase: remembering things/forgetfulness; time management; fluorescent lighting; ableism in the workplace; prioritising, organisation and planning; office politics.

Challenges autistic and ADHD people face at work.

The title ‘challenges’ at top of page followed by six white boxes each containing a phrase: having a different way of learning things; lack of motivation; needing longer to process things; being misunderstood due to different communication; staying on task; getting started on a task and finishing it.

Challenges autistic and ADHD people face at work.

The title ‘challenges’ at top of page followed by six white boxes each containing a phrase: bullying; being on time; being consistent with productivity; accessing reasonable adjustments; managing emotional dysregulation; meeting deadlines.

Challenges autistic and ADHD people face at work.

The title ‘challenges’ at top of page followed by six white boxes each containing a phrase: processing verbal instructions and information; multi-tasking and transitioning between tasks; hierarchy/authority that doesn’t make sense; unclear or short-notice deadlines; waking up early due to poor sleep; running out of energy quickly.

Challenges autistic and ADHD people face at work.

The title ‘challenges’ at top of page followed by six white boxes each containing a phrase: small talk; being accused of not being a team player; getting back on task after interruptions; expectation to attend office events/parties; managing anxiety and meltdowns; having to make and answer phone calls.

Stay tuned for part two of what people said would help them at work and a blog post summarising all this! ✌🏻

If you liked this thread, my book is available for pre-order now! 🫶 linktr.ee/girlunmasked

A photo of my book Girl Unmasked: how uncovering my autism saved my life by Emily Katy Out 28 March with the text ‘pre-order GIRL UNMASKED now - link in my bio!’

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More from @ItsEmilyKaty

Emily♡

@ItsEmilyKaty

Jan 21

The #NotASchoolSkiver stories keep coming. Making me sad and angry, but also hopeful and reassured that none of us who have been there or the children who are there now are alone.

Remember the facts:

Title page reads: #NotASchoolSkiver with the subtitle: stories from those who have been there.

92.1% of those with school attendance difficulties are neurodivergent.
(Connolly et al. 2023).

@froggiebi is #NotASchoolSkiver

Screenshot of tweet by @froggiebi: I was #NotASchoolSkiver, I was a kid with undiagnosed neurodivergence, trauma, severe anxiety & suicidal ideation. School was overwhelming, there was abuse & neglect at home and I had very little help through all of it. I'm lucky to be where I am now & most of it is because of me

83.4% of those with school attendance difficulties are autistic.
(Connolly et al. 2023).

@aayraharper is #NotASchoolSkiver

Screenshot of tweet by @aayraharper: I was #NotASchoolSkiver I was an undiagnosed female-presenting autistic whose traits weren’t recognised because they didn’t fit the white male-centric diagnostic criteria. Some days I was so anxious about school that I made myself sick by drinking salt water

Emily♡

@ItsEmilyKaty

Jan 9

Dear @GMB and the government,

I was #NotASchoolSkiver.

I was a child traumatised by school and exhausted from the relentless panic attacks and anxiety it triggered.

I was a child forced back into the same environment day after day, regardless of its effects.

I was #NotASchoolSkiver.

I was a child hurting from the bright lights, loud noises and crowds, who had no choice about having to experience this pain every day.

I was a child who was broken from my school experiences - the bullying, the fear and the anxiety.

I was #NotASchoolSkiver.

I was a child burnt out from having to navigate school every day, despite my brain working differently.

I was a child who was desperate to please and terrified of getting into trouble, and spent far too much time working myself up over this.

Emily♡

@ItsEmilyKaty

Jan 8

A thread of my neurodiversity mind-maps!

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💖💜

A spider diagram with the title Autism in the centre. The arrows point to circles which read: challenges understanding social situations, literal, blunt/honest communication, intense interests and in-depth knowledge about subjects, anxiety over uncertainty or change in plans and routine, sensory sensitivities such as to loud noise, black and white or fixed thinking patterns, difficulty regulating or understanding emotions and finding busy places or lots of people overwhelming.

ADHD. 💖

A spider diagram with the title ADHD - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the centre. The spirals read: being easily distracted or daydreaming, forgetfulness and easily losing things, difficulty concentrating or focusing (unless very interested), difficulty with organisation, feeling restless, fidgety and struggling to sit still, talking a lot or being very loud, emotional dysregulation and sensitivity and avoiding tasks which require a lot of effort.

Dyspraxia. 💛

A spider diagram with the title of Dyspraxia in the middle, with the arrows pointing to circles with the following text: poor spatial awareness causing frequent bumps, fine motor difficulties such as poor handwriting, difficulty using equipment like kitchen utensils, gross motor difficulties such as kicking a football, speech and language differences, finding it hard to learn new motor skills, difficulty with time management and organisation and poor balance or posture.

Emily♡

@ItsEmilyKaty

Dec 10, 2023

I spent my teenage years chasing the idea of ‘anxiety recovery’ that I later discovered didn’t exist. I wanted a life without anxiety, because all I knew was that it was limiting, destructive, painful, and stole too much. I also thought that was what I was meant to want. 1/27

At church, year after year, people prayed for my anxiety to go away. Anxiety was a popular new topic on YouTube, so I watched as many videos as I could of people sharing how they overcame their anxiety. 2/27

The goal of the brief Cognitive Behavioural Therapy intervention I had was to stop feeling anxious and to stop having panic attacks - at least, that’s what I understood of it. So, it was natural that my idea of ‘anxiety recovery’ meant not feeling anxious at all. 3/27

Emily♡

@ItsEmilyKaty

Dec 8, 2023

Autism versus ADHD appears to be a contradiction…so what does #AuDHD look like?

Autism: needs routine. ADHD: sticking to routine is challenging. Autism: struggles with change. ADHD: quickly bored of things. Autism: needs familiarity. ADHD: craves new things and new experiences. Autism: needs time alone to recharge. ADHD: busy and chatty with other people. Autism: likes order and tidiness. ADHD: messy and chaotic. Autism: planner. ADHD: spontaneous and wants to do things immediately. Autism: thinks through decisions. ADHD: impulsive. Autism: organised. ADHD: disorganised. Autism: focuses on details. ADHD: brain too busy to notice things. Autism: likes to be on time. ADH...

Not all autistic people or ADHDers will have all traits listed - we are individuals and this is an overgeneralisation. But looking at how they typically present, it is easy to see how they appear to contradict each other! Yet they so often co-exist…so what could that look like?

ADHD likes NEW, Autism likes the SAME. ADHD is IMPULSIVE and spontaneous, Autism likes PLANNING. (A massive over-generalisation of course, but you get the picture). Imagine how disorienting it is to have your brain constantly pulled in two opposite directions.

Because AuDHD-ers may not present as typically autistic or typically ADHD, they may be less likely to be recognised or diagnosed. It is worthwhile considering what an AuDHD presentation could look like.

Emily♡

@ItsEmilyKaty

Dec 4, 2023

Autistic joy - a thread. 🌟

A pastel coloured background with a white box with the text ‘autistic joy’ in the centre underneath a small outline of a heart.

What is autistic joy?

A graphic of a search box with the title ‘what is autistic joy’ next to the magnifying glass. The text reads: ‘Autistic joy’ describes the all-encompassing, very intense feeling of joy and excitement that many autistic people experience. This may be over things which seem small to other people (but definitely aren’t small!) The joy completely absorbs us in that moment. It can feel very intense and radiate through our whole body. We often release this feeling through stimming.

What can autistic joy feel like?

Six speech bubbles underneath the title ‘what can autistic joy feel like?’ Speech bubbles read: being completely consumed by the feeling of joy, being flooded with warmth like sparks travelling through your body, needing to move and stim to release the feeling, the intensity can feel overwhelming or exhausting, your surroundings melting away and the joy being all you can focus on, like every part of your body is tingling.

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