I've been working for a commercial cleaning company for close to two years. A couple months ago I got raise, and my boss wanted me to start working with an autistic man, because he was overwhelmed with the sites he was cleaning. Well, there is a really big building we clean in Wednesdays and Fridays. There is a lot of vacuuming. He insists on doing the vacuuming, and for me to do the bathrooms. I'm fine with that. The problem is that ever since he started vacuuming, (I've been cleaning this place by myself for lose to two years) we've gotten complaints saying we need to vacuum better. So o started really checking his work, and telling him to go back and vacuum things he missed. He often gets a little irritated, but last night was bad. I noticed missed some dirt on the ground. He didn't even have to unplug the vacuum to get to it. He would just need to walk like 20 feet so I ask him nicely to walk over and vacuum it. He picks the vacuum up, and slams it on the ground. I just stare at him, and then he does it again second later. I start walking over to him. He starts apologizing profusely and says he didn't mean it. I think he thought I was gonna hit him or something. I calmly say "just calm down. Take a 30 second break. We can't be breaking the vacuum". After that things were back to normal. Did I handle that properly?
Did I handle my autistic co workers outburst Correctly at all?
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As an autistic, plus, someone with training and several years experience as a disability support worker, I can say yes, you handled it perfectly. You might in future suggest he takes 5 minutes outside to calm down when he starts to get upset. That sounds like a melt down. Maybe say something when he’s calmed down, like; ‘I know you’re doing your best with your work and you’re doing great. However, I just noticed a few specks of dirt on the floors.. here and there;’ and show him calmly where. ‘If you could please just clean these little spots up for me, because the boss will be upset with us if we don’t do this, (give a reason); to his satisfaction.’
Perfectly.
You did a good job