How can we contribute to work efficiently and not bothering other colleagues ?.
Sometimes our heightened awareness can seems to be a nuisance to typical colleagues which sees us as busybody ?.
They said they wanted to normalise us. But, they themselves are like pretend to include us which can be seems confusing and tiring for us to join in.
Or maybe as different group we could just give them space for their conversation and have our lunch somewhere quiet.
Hello @Ouchast_93. Autistic and ADHD adults often overwork because of hyperfocus and difficulty sensing depletion, so setting hard stops and allowing proper recovery time is important. You need to understand that your brain genuinely needs more rest, and that’s not a weakness. Your heightened awareness is a real asset at work, and channelling it by writing observations down before raising them can help you contribute meaningfully without feeling like you’re overwhelming colleagues.
On the question of inclusion, what you’re sensing is real ~ while performative inclusion creates a gap between what’s said and what’s actually felt, and that gap is exhausting to navigate. Choosing a quiet lunch isn’t failure or self-exclusion, it’s self-preservation, and if it helps you feel more regulated for the rest of the day, that’s good for you and everyone around you. True normalisation shouldn’t mean performing neurotypicality..it should mean the environment adapting too, and when it doesn’t, protecting your energy is a completely reasonable and valid response.