I struggled with support for autism...so set up a charity
AN AUTISTIC worker who often ran into trouble with colleagues has been nominated for an award after raising awareness of the condition.
Zahari Brimacombe, 43, who uses they/them pronouns, would be branded “rude” or “short” by colleagues who didn’t understand autism.
The Government recently recognised that more needs to be done to help autistic people find and keep jobs. Just three in 10 are in work despite nearly all wanting a job.
Zahari said: “There is a lack of understanding of being an autistic adult but it can be particularly true in the workplace. I struggle when it’s too light, too loud, when there’s too many people, and this can really affect the way I act.
“I’m not very good with soft skills such as small talk and it never occurred to me that this was an issue – it is just the way I am – but at work, people were telling me that I was rude or short or bosses would pull me into an office and tell me that I needed to improve my interpersonal skills because it was offending my colleagues. It made me feel confused and upset.”
Isolation
Zahari, who has three children, felt no one understood the condition so reached out to others with autism.
The charity AuSomer was created, which allows autistic people and those caring for them in Somerset to meet up virtually once a week to discuss the issues they face and how they cope.
Zahari said: “I’m a wheelchair user as well and I find that people are usually willing to help me out by opening a door for me or whatever.
“This was not the case with my autism, so I decided I’d had enough and I started a charity to reduce social isolation for autistic people.”
Zahari has also been working to create a more accepting culture at work in collaboration with the employer. And Zahari has become an inclusion adviser to Girlguiding Somerset too.
As a result, Zahari is nominated in the Purple Pioneer category at the Scope Disability Equality Awards on April 25, supported by the Daily Express.
Scope spokesman James Taylor said: “There are 16 million disabled people in this country, that’s one in four of us. Many more businesses and organisations need to work with disabled people to improve how inclusive they are.”