In my experience: Jamie’s blog

About me

I am 42 years old. I made the finals of the local legends award at the 2024 South Australian Community Achievement awards for my services to the Autistic community. I am married with an 18-month-old daughter.

My neurodivergence

I was diagnosed as neurodivergent, when I was diagnosed with Autism in 1986. I was 3 years old at the time. My parents decided to get me diagnosed early because they were worried about my speech delays as a toddler. I didn’t speak until I was 3. During my childhood we visited speech pathologists and other specialists on a regular basis.

Throughout my primary school and high school years, I played soccer, basketball, cricket and Aussie rules football.

I have found it difficult to build deep friendships, however I have many acquaintances and know many people within the Adelaide community.

I try my best not to let my Neurodivergence stop me from achieving the things that I want to.

My strengths

I am a very loyal employee.
I am very honest.
I am passionate.
I am reliable.
I am resilient.
I am friendly and person-centered.
I am outgoing.
I am very social.
I am very confident.
I have strong core values.
I care about my family deeply.

My experience

After school in the early 2000’s I tried to find employment. I wasn’t having much luck, so I tried supported employment. I ended up quitting because I didn’t like feeling like I was being exploited for being a supported wage employee. Supported employment didn’t make me feel very happy because every time I did a wage assessment, I tried really hard and kept being told I was still only working at 50 percent productivity. This upset me because I knew I was more capable than that. This kind of stuff still bothers me at work. I have now been working at Woolworths for 17 years. Before I worked at Woolworths I worked for Coles supermarkets for 2.5 years. My first job was at Dominoes Pizza as a pizza delivery driver. I am also a long time volunteer at Autism SA. I have been there for eleven years.

In the workplace I feel like I am at the very bottom and everybody else is moving ahead of me. I have been told on multiple occasions that I am my own worst enemy and that I always want to get to the grass that is greener on the other side of the fence. This is because I want to be successful and a high achiever.

I struggled to complete year 12 but ended up repeating and doing year 13. I missed out on Year 12 by one bad mark. If I look back now, I wish I could have gone straight to university and studied journalism. I still intend to study journalism even if I am doing it when I am fifty!

I have completed a few different courses to try to get a better job. I am qualified in Hospitality, Retail, Business, Disability, Aged Care and Information Technology. I am passionate about news, sport and Journalism. I have met many people in the South Australian media. I also love different countries.

In recent times I have led my first marketing campaign when I was asked to lead the 60 a day for Autism SA campaign in 2024. This was during Autism awareness month. It was based around my own personal story of being on the spectrum.

I also got to promote quiet time shopping hours with Autism SA and Drakes supermarkets in 2023.

I am currently studying at Tafe SA. I am doing a diploma in marketing communications, so that I can hopefully pursue a career in social media marketing roles. I like to try to be a role model for the Autism community.

What I hope this resource will do

I hope that this resource makes it easier for neurodivergent employees to feel valued in the workplace. It will be great if this resource helps employers to understand that some employees require more support to be able to bring the best out of them.

I hope this resource can make it easier for neurodivergent candidates to access interviews and take into account that different candidates may have different needs.

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“As an employer I believe and have seen that supporting neurodiversity isn’t just about being inclusive, it’s good for business. It attracts a wider talent pool, boosts innovation, improves employee well-being, and reduces costs. In short, it strengthens your employer brand and builds a successful work environment.”

“As a small business we create policies and procedures collaboratively with staff, making sure that the policies are designed for them by them”.

“When you’re in an inclusive workplace people identify and understand the strengths you bring and accommodate work to focus on your strength areas”

“In an inclusive workplace neurodivergent employees should feel that they are understood by staff.”

“Inclusive onboarding for me really enhanced the comfort. Your first day can be really scary as you don’t know what to do, who to meet. At one place started at they told me what the plan was, who I was to meet and gave me clear instructions of where to go which helped me have a plan until the person who was collecting me arrived which made the whole thing a little bit less stressful.”

“I found work tours really helpful when they are part of the interview. It helped me sell myself during the interview as you can look at the types of equipment you will be using and get a better idea of what they want from you and the employer gets to see how you react to the environment”

“Feeling understood by my manager meant that I felt valued by the workplace, and that my unique perspective was valuable. When managers have understood me and my strengths, I have definitely felt more motivated to do my best for the business or company as a result.”

“I’ve noticed that in workplaces I’ve been in positive changes have been really successful when they come from the top down.”

“In the business I work in, to show job seekers that we are inclusive we have inclusivity statements on our website and our job ads. We also offer adjustments and accommodations as part of the recruitment process”

“The advice that I would give to businesses wanting to be inclusive is you have to start somewhere, even with something small. Be open to new ways of thinking and get input from staff to start making inclusive changes. Get it going, get it moving and let’s start doing something.”

“Your workforce needs to reflect your customer base. It really allows your customer base to feel more welcome and like they belong. I have found also that diversity of thought, skills background and knowledge also reduces bias and group think within an organisation, that’s one of the key things I have found”.

‘In an organisational setting, inclusion is seen as a means to improve performance and employee satisfaction. It improves employee loyalty, creative problem solving and teamwork.

“In my previous role I did not disclose this information because I was already having difficulties with colleagues. In my current role I have disclosed to team members I am comfortable with.”

Autism SA completed a National Survey in 2023, where 72 neurodivergent people were asked if they had disclosed during the recruitment process or in a workplace. 33% shared that they had not disclosed, 40% said that they had disclosed their diagnosis, while 26% partly disclosed.

“I love sharing my experience of being on the spectrum with people. It’s all about awareness”

“The number one thing that neurodivergent jobseekers look for when determining if an organisation is inclusive, is inclusive statements and language”

“Inclusive workplaces enhance teamwork and collaboration by valuing diverse contributions and perspectives.”

“Neurodiverse workplaces better reflect and understand the needs and preferences of diverse groups of people. This helps to expand the market and customer base and provide a wider range of products and services.”

“A diverse workforce is able to tackle a wide range of work challenges, thereby increasing overall efficiency and productivity.”

“This diversity can promote innovation and creativity, as different ways of thinking can lead to different perspectives and approaches to problem solving.”

“As an autistic employee, feeling valued motivates me to do my best”

“Inclusive recruitment has allowed us to build a diverse talent pipeline, ensuring our organisation’s long-term success.”