Autism support workers explained: what they do and how to get one

If you're autistic and struggling at work, there's a good chance you've already decided it's your fault. From what you can tell, other people manage emails, meetings, and deadlines just fine, and you probably concluded that you must not be trying hard enough.

I want to stop you there, because that thought is doing a lot of damage and it isn't true.

Support exists, and it's often more practical than you'd expect. There are people out there whose actual job is understanding autism and helping you without judgement. And the best thing is, it’s completely within your rights to ask for support if something is difficult for you because of your autism, whether you’re diagnosed or not.

Are you failing or are you unsupported?

There are a lot of autistic adults out there who are diagnosed later in life (or began suspecting their autism later in life), and they're struggling with parts of their job that seem to come easily to everyone else. The worst thing is, it’s all trivial things, like how it feels impossible to open their emails, remember commitments, or sit through meetings without needing two hours to calm down afterwards.

Instead of thinking "I need some support here because this way of working is too difficult for me", they think "I must be doing something wrong". And then they are left with shame instead of a solution. But shame doesn't lead you anywhere. It just keeps you stuck and struggling, and convinces you that you don't deserve help or that asking for support would somehow prove you’re a failure.

You can be too overwhelmed to open your inbox. You can forget things that matter to you. And these things mean that you haven't yet got the support that would make those things easier, not that you are failing. That support is available, and there are people whose whole job is to help you figure it out without judgement.

What are you entitled to at work?

If you're autistic and employed, your employer has a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for you.

Reasonable adjustments for autism can look like almost anything, because everyone's needs are different. Some examples:

• Someone helping you remember tasks and deadlines

• Getting information in a format that works better for how your brain works, rather than the format everyone else gets by default (e.g. receiving voice notes instead of emails, getting advance notice of meetings instead of ad hoc calls)

• More time to complete tasks

• Changes to your physical environment (e.g. lighting, which desk you sit at)

• A different way of receiving instructions (e.g. in writing rather than verbally)

You won't know what's possible until you ask, though. Most people never find out what their employer could offer, simply because they never make a request.

If you haven't asked yet, that's not a failure on your part. Most people don’t realise that they can ask for reasonable adjustments, and many workplaces are lagging behind in fulfilling this responsibility, let alone proactively letting people know it’s an option. But that doesn’t change the fact that you can ask.

On top of anything your employer can offer directly, Access to Work is a UK government grant that can fund support separately from your employer. This is where things like a support worker usually come in.

What does a support worker do?

This is the question I get asked most. There's no fixed definition of what a support worker is, and that’s what actually makes them work so well.

A support worker isn't someone who arrives with a checklist of "autism solutions" and applies it to you. A good support worker recognises that there's no single way to be autistic, and that what works for one person might do nothing for another. Their job is to look at what's genuinely difficult for you, specifically, and work with you to find what would help.

In practice, that could mean help with:

• Breaking down and prioritising your workload

• Managing your inbox and calendar

• Preparing for meetings, or debriefing afterwards

• Keeping track of commitments and deadlines

• Building systems that actually fit how your brain works, so that you can get work done even on difficult days

Working with a support worker is an ongoing collaboration. A good support worker won't assume they already understand your autism just because they understand autism in general. They take the time to work out how it affects you specifically, in your job, in your role, with your personality, under your particular pressures.

That means the first few weeks with a support worker are usually about getting to know each other. During this time, they learn what's hard for you, what you've already tried, and what would genuinely help versus what sounds helpful in theory but doesn't work in practice. It's an iterative process, and that early time investment is what makes everything afterwards work well.

How do you get a support worker for autism?

Schemes like Access to Work can fund a support worker. It's worth knowing upfront that this funding is getting harder to secure, because the scheme has become expensive to run and the funding criteria have tightened as a result. That doesn't mean it isn't worth applying, it just means a strong, well-prepared application matters more than it used to.

To give you a realistic sense of what's possible, many people in full-time work are awarded around 8 hours a week of support, funded at roughly £16 an hour. That's not a fixed number and every case is different, but it gives you something concrete to picture.

If you'd like help putting together the strongest possible case for this funding, that's something I support people with directly. Preparation genuinely does make a difference to your chances.

Funding isn't the only route in, though. You can also just hire someone who offers this kind of support directly, without going through Access to Work at all.

If you already know your current situation isn't working, and you can budget in some support, you deserve to get help regardless of whether funding comes through. Effective support often costs a lot less than people expect. If this sounds like you, reach out to someone offering this kind of support and ask how they could help. You don't need to wait for a funding decision to get started.

Where to start

If any of this has made you think "Maybe I could actually get help with this", that is a feeling worth exploring. You don't need a perfect understanding of why work feels more difficult for you than it should, or knowing exactly what help would look like for you. Working these things out can be part of the process of working with a support worker.

If you feel ongoing hands-on support at work could help you, have a look at my support worker services.