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But-- it can be difficult to tell apart "he acts with apparent disregard for you because he doesn't give a shit about his work/you" and "he acts with apparent d

by dvtrn 7y ago

But-- it can be difficult to tell apart "he acts with apparent disregard for you because he doesn't give a shit about his work/you" and "he acts with apparent disregard because he has autism and requires different management practices." This is a valid point, it absolutely can be -but the mere existence of that dichotomy doesn't preclude the necessity of digging through the ambiguity of motive and intent by stopping to first clarify, communicate and consider before letting social "instinct"-as you've put it-dictate the course of interaction.

mlyle 7y ago
Yup. I don't think it's likely, BTW, that anyone gets fired for a single unexplained "no". But the unexplained "no" opens a social question, and it's the kind of interaction that if it's repeated without finding the true root cause will impair a working relationship. And "the person I'm talking to has autism and takes everything I say completely literally", outside of tech circles where autism is over-represented, is a pretty rare root cause.
- dvtrn 7y ago
  where autism is over-represented Not quite sure I grok what you mean here? Or, maybe better asked, over-represented how?
  - mlyle 7y ago
    Sorry, what I mean to say is that it is my belief that-- in the tech/engineering community, there are employees on the autism spectrum at a far higher rate than the overall employed population. In turn, this leads to better understanding of how to work with and manage people on the spectrum in the tech community than the population at large.
    - dvtrn 7y ago
      Ahh okay, glad I asked- and I think there may be something to that, the question then becomes: if employees on the autism spectrum are over-represented in tech, and this creates opportunities to learn how to work with such individuals and create workplaces, work styles and management styles that help them succeed with their peers, how do we create orthodoxies and systems of work that can be applied to the rest of the workforce? I don't have the answer, but it's an interesting question to probe. Thanks for the meaty conversation, I have my own little one on the spectrum so always thankful to have discussions like this one.

by dvtrn 7y ago

mlyle 7y ago

Yup. I don't think it's likely, BTW, that anyone gets fired for a single unexplained "no". But the unexplained "no" opens a social question, and it's the kind of interaction that if it's repeated without finding the true root cause will impair a working relationship. And "the person I'm talking to has autism and takes everything I say completely literally", outside of tech circles where autism is over-represented, is a pretty rare root cause.

dvtrn 7y ago
where autism is over-represented Not quite sure I grok what you mean here? Or, maybe better asked, over-represented how?
- mlyle 7y ago
  Sorry, what I mean to say is that it is my belief that-- in the tech/engineering community, there are employees on the autism spectrum at a far higher rate than the overall employed population. In turn, this leads to better understanding of how to work with and manage people on the spectrum in the tech community than the population at large.
  - dvtrn 7y ago
    Ahh okay, glad I asked- and I think there may be something to that, the question then becomes: if employees on the autism spectrum are over-represented in tech, and this creates opportunities to learn how to work with such individuals and create workplaces, work styles and management styles that help them succeed with their peers, how do we create orthodoxies and systems of work that can be applied to the rest of the workforce? I don't have the answer, but it's an interesting question to probe. Thanks for the meaty conversation, I have my own little one on the spectrum so always thankful to have discussions like this one.