Disability Leave: The Request I Wish Me & Many Others Need! šā¤ļøššš
Hello world! Welcome back to another blog. Today I will be taking about something which I think needs to be taken into consideration massively for disabled people, regardless if theyāre visible to not visible. That is the idea of disability leave.
What Is Disability Leave?
Disability leave is taking time off if a disability someone has stops them from doing day to day work. Some can manage it but some may need more time to recuperate, and for autistic people, a leave like this would be a perfect thing for the workplace. As whilst each autistic person is different, some may need more time off than others!Ā
How It Started:
On 25th May 2026 I got a email about a petition from an activist called Amy about signing a petition to encourage disabled leave. This got me thinking, and after reading the story, I knew there were moments during my āproper jobā where I know it wasnāt a sickness thing, but more of something that disabled me from doing my tasks at hand. I signed the petition knowing that something like this was important.Ā
Moments I Knew I Needed Disability Leave:
Throughout my āproper jobā donāt get me wrong there have been moments where they were sympathetic, but there were also moments where I had to leave or wished I had days off for because of my disability but knew they wouldnāt take on board. Here are two of those scenarios where I wished they would consider:
Sensory Overload During Busy Periods:Ā This one definitely felt as though I needed to have disability leave for, particularly for periods like Christmas. Not only do I get twice the amount of people coming in for their Christmas shopping, but because Iām also collecting home deliveries and putting out stock it makes the sensation ten times more overwhelming. It also causes me to make tiny errors both in my workplace (where I did drop some products accidentally) and at home (where IĀ missed an ingredient whilst making a Halloween themed cake) because of that overstimulation/sensory overload.Ā This can therefore disable me from doing my work, so I feel in future for busy periods whether itās Easter, Summer, Halloween or Christmas, looking at disability leave for people like myself would be something to consider for current and future employees (should they need it).Ā
Extreme exhaustion/Burnout-Ā There were moments in my life where because I was on the verge of burnout, my mobility slowed down and therefore I wasnāt able to get on with some of the tasks like facing up products. This often got mistaken for me being slow, when really I was overstimulated and burnt out, and I knew that if I continued, I would've crash, therefore disabling me from doing my work. And because most of my shifts have early morning starts, it just increases the risk of burnout. And after watching a documentary where a young school girl left mainstream because of an autistic burnout, it made meĀ want to tell people that if it happens weāre not ālazyā or "overdramatic" or "childish", but itās just because people like meĀ have brains that donāt adapt to neurotypical surroundings!Ā
Getting Up Late/Routine Going Out of The Window-Ā This may seem something minor, but as an autistic person, having a routine before I go to work (e.g. getting up an hour early to have a snack and a drink before I leave the house) is important to me. But there were a few occasions where I overslept my alarm and couldnāt get my routine in tact. This therefore disabled me from doing my work, and at one point I had to go home because of it. Yes there have been moments where I slept past my alarm, didn't have my routine and got through my shorter days/days where I had longer breaks, but I knew I had to mask my overwhelm, knowing that they would still class it as a sick leave and not disability leave. So for autistic people like me, if there was a situation like that again, disability leave should be put in place.Ā
Why Is Disability Leave Important?
Disability leave is important as like when someone gets sick, we canāt focus on the task at hand. And like with sick leave, we need a chance to rest, reset so that when we come back to our āproper jobā, we come back stronger and more productive. For example, the image at the end of this paragraph shows a representation of what happens when I'm on the verge of a sensory overload/burnout at the end of a busy day. So for disabled people, particularly autistic people like myself or for anyone who has a disability thatās not visible, itās important to state what happens when we canāt do the work so that workplaces will know if we do take a day off, they can know if itās clear sick leave or disabled leave.Ā
And that is it for my blog on disability leave. Let me know if you agree with this and why having disability leave should impact you in a positive way. Please also see a link to a video I did for neurodiversity week back in 2024 where youāll see the reality of trying to fit in a neurotypical world!
Video to show reality:Ā https://vm.tiktok.com/ZN8eQ485W/
Please see a video format of my thoughts of Disability Leave as well for those who prefer an audio explanation.
See you soon for another blog. Until next timeā¦
This is The Autistic Actress signing off :)Ā
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