Hey guys!  So first, I’m going to stand up a little and show you – NEW MERCH!  This is available in my Zazzle shop.  I have to order my own shirts when I get a shirt, so I ordered one of my shirts and it just got here and I might be wearing it around a conference I’m going to be speaking at in April.

So yeah, by the time you see this video, that conference might be over.  I’m really excited.  I’ve got this, and you want to see the other new merch?  This is a word cloud shirt.  And this is basically … I did a written-up piece recently called “What is Autism” on Patreon.

You can check that out on the Neurodivergent Rebel Patreon.  It’s free.  There’s a lot of stuff on the Neurodivergent Rebel Patreon page that is free.  There’s just a few … generally the stuff that’s not free is behind the scenes content and stuff like that, but a lot of the other content is publicly available.  If you want to see the behind the scenes content, you can subscribe for only a dollar a month.  That’s less than a cup of coffee… a lot less than a cup of coffee!  If you are wanting to see the behind the scenes, everyone gets the same rewards regardless of sponsorship level on the Patreon page.

But that is not what this video is about.  This week I wanted to talk about why I make a great employee as an autistic person, and I want to take that one step further and say not only why I’m a great employee as an autistic person, but why being an autistic person makes me a great employee.  I’m not a great employee in spite of my autism. <<Turn off that heater, it’s making me sweat! I’m going to perspire in my shirt and then there’ll be stains, and that won’t be good.  Anyway, this is supposed to be a professional video, ha ha!>>  So I’m going to say why.

First, I don’t spend a lot of time goofing off and chit-chatting in the workplace.  I am very task-oriented.  When I love my job, I can really tunnel-in and be so focussed on my job.  If I’m set alone here at home to work, I can work for fifteen hours straight with no break, if I really enjoy what I’m doing because I’m that into it.  If I’m working face to face with people, I’m not the one who is distracted and chatting and goofing off.  I’m generally always the one who is very focussed.  I have always been really good at memorizing workplace rules and following them and sticking to them.

I love procedures and policies.  That’s why I work in the field of HR and business and recruiting; because all of the geeky, nerdy, behind the scenes stuff of what makes businesses go has always been really, really interesting to me.  I am always very passionate about any company I work for.  I give it my all, because the way my mind works is – it is like a light switch, on or off.  I’m either completely invested, or not or all.  There is no “kind of” invested.  It’s one or the other.  If I’m in the right job, in the right workplace, where I’m supported and happy, I am your #1 employee.

I also hold myself to very high standards, especially at work.  When I have a deadline, that is the deadline.  If I have to pull an all-nighter to get the work done, I will do it.  I will do whatever I have to do, to fulfill my promises at work, whereas some people might be more willing to slack off.  So, you know, I am a great employee.

There are some accommodations I need to be able to do my job effectively.  I work from home a lot.  I set my own schedule and my own pace.  If I need to take off in the day to take a break or just go recharge, or I’m just not … I need the control to be able to control my work environment.  I need for you to know that I need to be able to take notes and don’t throw stuff at me and expect me to remember it.

I can do very serious upper-level jobs, but when I’m relaxed, I may come off a bit … people say sometimes I come off like “immature and childish” … I don’t know.  I hate that, but just because I’m fun and silly and bubbly doesn’t mean I can’t also be very, very professional.  When I need to be super-professional in the workplace, I can turn that on.  But I need the freedom to not have to be that way all the time, because I want to be myself at work.  I need the freedom to have wild hair.  I don’t know if anyone will understand this, but I just literally do not feel like myself when my hair is a normal, boring color.

I don’t know.  These are just some of the things that are just kind of different that I ask for the workplace, but I promise, if you let me come work for you …  Well, I already have a job, but you know … if you let autistic people come work for you, they can make great employees.  Everyone is different.  They all have different skills.  We all have different skills.  My skills are different from someone else’s skills, but we want to work, so let us!

Anyway guys, thank you so much.  Bye!

 

Neurodivergent Rebel Autistic Pride Gear on Zazzle

 

 

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