I was diagnosed with ASD level 1 today. I’m reeling with all sorts of emotions about it. Mostly I wish I had gotten this diagnosis when I was a child or a teenager because I feel like so many years of my life were wasted thinking that something was wrong with me and I was just bad at being a human.

I’m curious if there are any neurodivergent social workers in this group because I would like to understand what your experience has been, including challenges that maybe neurotypical people do not usually encounter.

I think knowing what I do now, it makes sense that I’m comfortable connecting with my clients on a deeper level. I dislike small talk but if you want to tell me all about how your dog helped you leave a toxic relationship, and how losing that dog is impacting you, I’m all ears. Let’s unpack it. And I get positive feedback from my clients.

But with that said, I struggle to connect with coworkers a lot of the time and feel generally “unlikable.” And I’ve never been able to understand why that is because I try to be kind, I smile at people, I try to build those connections with colleagues, but I just struggle at the end of the day.

Anyone else relate?

Originally posted by u/Objective-Sink-2462 on Reddit.

Top comment by u/Scouthawkk

I work really well with clients….and frequently have issues with coworkers and supervisors who are not ND. The biggest issue I have is people tone policing my written communication, and I don’t do small talk well so people read me in general as a bit of a prude or standoffish because all my communication is work related. But I’m REALLY good at my work - my clinical case management skills are on point and my documentation has been used as good examples to train others, plus I was tapped to do training for my department at a previous employer for onboarding new hires and some skills I excel in.