12/05/2026
Super interesting reading.
Musings of an autist … Cycle of burnout for autists employed in public services.
Autistic people are often drawn to public service because we care deeply.
Education. The NHS. Social care. Advocacy. Safeguarding. Community work.
These are areas where justice, fairness, detail, truth and care are supposed to matter. For many autistic staff, that is exactly why we enter them.
But then something painful happens.
An autistic person’s strong drive for justice and care comes into contact with institutional indifference.
Not always individual cruelty. Not always bad people. Often something colder: systems that are overwhelmed, defensive, hierarchical, underfunded and resistant to being challenged.
Autistic staff notice the contradictions.
We notice when a child is being failed.
We notice when a patient is being dismissed.
We notice when a disabled adult is treated as a burden.
We notice when policies say one thing and practice does another.
We notice when “person-centred” care is spoken about, but not enacted.
And because many of us have a very strong ethical compass, we do not find it easy to look away.
That is where the damage begins.
Public services often say they value neurodiversity, but the working conditions tell another story: sensory overload, unclear expectations, constant change, social politics, inaccessible meetings, poor adjustments, punitive sickness policies and managers who mistake distress for attitude.
So autistic staff mask. Overprepare. Overwork. Try to be useful. Try to be safe. Try to be believed.
Eventually, many burn out.
And when autistic staff burn out, the loss is not just personal. It is institutional.
Services lose people who bring pattern recognition, honesty, loyalty, specialist knowledge, moral courage and deep care. The people being served lose advocates who often saw what others missed.
This is not simply a workplace wellbeing issue.
It is a quality of service issue.
It is a safeguarding issue.
It is a retention issue.
It is a justice issue.
If public services want autistic people to work in them, they must stop expecting us to survive systems that contradict the very values we came to uphold.
