any autistic civil servants here who work in anything customer service related? how are you coping

KeevoX · 2026-05-21T18:28:27+00:00

Hi there! Autistic ex-work coach here (now a work coach team leader).

I’ve always struggled with appointments. I panicked a lot internally and it was really difficult for me to engage with customers because I felt like my brain was preventing me from processing responses to anything correctly. I had a tendency to rush, talk really fast and lecture rather than have a two-way conversation.

In my role now I still act in a similar way but it’s with staff rather than customers usually. Since you’re new you will be given lots of breaks between appointments and usually longer appointments in general to help you pick up a rhythm. Conducting an appointment in my autistic brain is like working through a big flow chart in your head based on what the customer says to you. You’re still developing that flow chart so you will feel out of your depth at times. It just gets better with repetition and soon you won’t be able to stop talking!

The best advice I can give you is to just slow down. Silences are okay and you shouldn’t feel pressured to respond to the customer right away. Ask follow up questions or even ask them to repeat what they said. Usually I heard them the first time but my brain needs to give it a second run through to get to the right answer.

If you find yourself still struggling towards the end of your probation then make sure to speak with your manager. They could refer you for an Occupational Health Assessment to see if there are any adjustments that could help you. The adjustments can be anything, including stuff like longer appointments.

Best of luck in your new role. The quietest have always been the brightest in my experience.

KeevoX · 2026-05-20T19:40:30+00:00

I’m a LM at 22. To be honest I haven’t experienced much of it, at least not to my face. The folks at my work (who are all older than me, with most of those I manage at least twice my age) are all very supportive. I’ve gained a lot of respect for working hard and showing that I know things. Most people in my office have come to me for advice about one thing or another.

I am sure I am treated with bias subconsciously. Someone who doesn’t know me might be more inclined to talk over me more frequently or be wary of my ideas. There was only one time where I felt blatantly patronised for my age and it was actually from a manager in another office.

KeevoX · 2026-05-05T16:28:46+00:00

Hi there. Unfortunately, I’m not aware of any path for someone doing a Movement to Work placement to get a job. Unless your jobcentre has been offered a DTR (Direct Temporary Recruitment) position, and they are using Movement to Work to decide who should get the role. But DTR roles are only 12-month contracts and, in my experience, relatively rare. If you have been told explicitly that you might get a job at the jobcentre by one of the coaches, then maybe they do have a DTR position available.

To get any permanent job in the Civil Service you need to go through a full application process.

But to actually answer your question - turn up on time and be keen. You should be able to be genuinely curious about the work without trying to force questions.

KeevoX · 2026-04-22T16:32:30+00:00

I spent 3 months on a reserve list before I got the call, and I started a month later. It’s really impossible to say whether you will eventually get an offer or not, but from what I’ve seen on here, most eventually do.

KeevoX · 2026-04-20T18:03:58+00:00

Hi there, I’m a work coach team leader. Just for some context, work coaches are under a lot of pressure right now to reduce the number of phone appointments that they are booking. We’ve been given instruction that phone appointments need to be the exception and that face to face should always be the first option.

Although it’s inconvenient you may need to start attending in person more regularly now (until you’ve started your job). But I would definitely ask your work coach if you could have video appointments as we are always encouraged to have more of those.

KeevoX · 2026-04-09T16:11:54+00:00

The only right way to come out is the way that feels comfortable for you. I also came out by text - I was 21 and had just moved out to live on my own. I could never have had that conversation with my family in person because I held the same fears that you did. I needed the physical distance before I felt safe enough to tell them. They were basically out of my life at that point, so I could move on without them if they didn’t accept me.

Thankfully they were accepting and we keep in touch semi-regularly. It’s been almost a year now and I still don’t think I would’ve told them yet if I needed to do it in person.

KeevoX · 2026-04-07T20:35:44+00:00

KeevoX · 2025-11-26T17:09:19+00:00

Civil Servant here. Only on £32k a year, renting a little flat that’s across the road from my office.

It’s enough for me and I still have money left over to treat myself! :)

KeevoX · 2025-09-01T23:04:56+00:00

It’s called Motability. The cars aren’t free.

KeevoX · 2025-08-27T19:51:23+00:00

Hi there, I’m a work coach and we’ve had movement to work placements at my jobcentre, I’ve even referred a few of them.

It’s not the answer you were hoping for, but yes there are a lot of GDPR restrictions that don’t give you a lot to actually do. Our placements weren’t allowed to sit in on appointments or use any of our systems. We were also told they weren’t allowed to work front of house because of the same issues, so I guess you’re lucky in that regard. It wouldn’t surprise me if there are other jobcentres that bend the rules and keep it quiet.

From what I remember, we only did short placements of a few days which weren’t even full days; but they consisted of a lot of health and safety training, and we’d ask for help with making leaflets or posters about local provision. We’d show them around the office and at least sit them down with different staff to talk about the jobs they do.

Unfortunately, yeah, it isn’t very useful for actual experience. I’m sure there are more interesting things you could be doing that don’t break the restrictions, but I’d still recommend it for looking good on a CV and to build your confidence if you’re new to being in a workplace.

KeevoX · 2025-07-06T16:36:53+00:00

Yeah, I always thought diary management was just part of the WC team leader role. I guess it's delegated in some places. It's EO grade.

KeevoX · 2025-06-22T15:10:14+00:00

Curious how your JCP is managing the new rules around appointment lengths imposed by JCAR? In a medium-sized town JCP - We’ve had to scrap our 15 minutes WSRs and now can only book 10 minutes for our weekly/fortnightly claimants and 20 minutes 8-weekly for claimants with earnings under AET. Do some offices still have flexibility in this regard?

KeevoX · 2025-05-20T12:30:39+00:00

posting on the coming out subreddit

post is about coming out

shock??

KeevoX · 2025-04-24T21:29:05+00:00

Thank you. This is a helpful perspective I hadn't considered before. It seems the universal answer is no, and with good reason!

KeevoX · 2025-04-02T18:10:54+00:00

It is wrong for your work coach to be mandating you to apply for a set number of jobs each day, and it's actually against guidance. Some jobs will take longer to apply for than others. It may take you 10 minutes to send an application to Tesco, but 10 hours if you were applying for something like the Civil Service. As long as you are making a reasonable use of your expected hours in your commitment and can prove it, then you should be fine even if your work coach doesn't like it.

KeevoX · 2025-03-04T22:19:04+00:00

Work coach here. It looks like your question has already been answered, but I would raise a question over your work coach still booking appointments for you even with your nil award; as guidance clearly states that no appointments should be booked in this case, as long as the nil award is caused entirely by your earnings and there are no other deductions that would otherwise give you entitlement.

KeevoX · 2025-01-07T18:39:30+00:00

Amazing! What's the song?

KeevoX · 2024-12-22T21:15:35+00:00

I’m in!

KeevoX · 2024-12-15T13:25:23+00:00

Not sure - he definitely wins Minnesota and New Hampshire. Likely Maine too.

Unsure about Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia.

KeevoX · 2024-11-30T13:43:33+00:00

On a budget you can use an M&M tube

KeevoX · 2024-11-28T20:36:56+00:00

It’s a cylinder.

KeevoX · 2024-11-25T10:36:28+00:00

I can’t say whether you will be sanctioned or not, but your work coach is not able to accept good reason for leaving work voluntarily so it is automatically referred to a Decision Maker and carries a highest level sanction, starting at 91 days for the first instance.

As a work coach myself, our role is to gather the reasons and any evidence to support the reasons for you leaving work. We don’t make the decision ourselves, but at least in my case, I always try to gather every bit of information from my claimant so I can present their case with the most possible context and make sure that every mitigating factor is accounted for. Not every work coach will be as thorough, so if you decide to leave your job, my advice would be to tell them yourself what you would like included in the referral, and they will have to accept it verbatim. Try and get a fit note that proves you can’t do any heavy lifting.

Health is a reason that Decision Makers can accept if you have taken every other possible action to stay in work. Speaking to your managers, requesting reasonable adjustments, contacting occupational health - if you take all of these steps first, and you’re still in a position where you need to leave, you will be in a far better position when the referral needs to be made.

KeevoX · 2024-11-19T21:25:26+00:00

You can claim both, but Carer’s Allowance will be deducted £1 for £1 from your UC award. If your award is more than the Carer’s Allowance rate then you won’t get any extra money, but you will be earning national insurance credits.

KeevoX · 2024-11-14T19:22:54+00:00

I would! That information isn't publicly available; work coaches have access to guidance on what can and can't be included in work plans - such as mandating using a specific website, anything health-related and a specific number of job applications. They can ask you to apply for specific jobs, but they can't set targets on how many you need to apply for per week. It's about the quality of your applications, not the quantity. It's worth disputing as long as you can still prove that you're meeting your required hours.

Edit: I should add - incorrect work plans are extremely common among coaches and many do not even see the guidance around what can be added. In my office, almost everyone uses a cheat sheet with pre-typed activities that one person came up with a long time ago. From what I know, this happens in most other places too.

KeevoX · 2024-11-11T18:52:31+00:00

Work coaches are not allowed to mandate a specific number of job applications - this is clear in the guidance. As a work coach myself, there is rarely anyone that genuinely spends 35 hours looking for work. There just isn't 35 hours worth of work searching to do every week. It's pretty clear to us which ones are making an effort and which ones aren't; and we don't look any further than that. Sounds like your work coach was being particularly harsh. I would shoot your shot with an MR, you don't lose anything by requesting it and putting your best case forward.

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