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would this make you angry?

tintal

I work at a university and recently registered myself with the disability support office.

I have requested a quiet place to work because it's open plan and people around me make too much noise, which makes me stressed. 

My supervisor has spoken to 'relevant people' and they said they can offer me a seat in the student office (no better), or in a completely different building.

Do they really expect me to go and work in another building? Where I'm completely separate from my team / laboratory? Why can't they provide a quiet space to work in the institute where I work? Aren't they obliged to provide that? 

Various people here have already mistreated me, leading to isolation. It just seems really ignorant. 

Parents

  • I hate open plan Soooo much!

    as far as desk goes its tricky, depends on what they (and you)decide is a reasonable adjustment. Id suggest having a look round the institute yourself to see if you can find somewhere you could have your desk then ask for it. Itd be much less easy for them to refuse that. If the whole place is open plan though it may be trickier.

    What about the other building? Is it far and have you seen it. If its really nice and not too far maybe it would be OK. You wouldnt get disturbed by your colleagues at any rate. If though its miles away or you need to regularly trek between lab and desk, clearly thats no good.

    what else has been going on? Keep a record. Most unis have bullying and harrassment procedures and its not on if thats happening to you.

Reply

  • I hate open plan Soooo much!

    as far as desk goes its tricky, depends on what they (and you)decide is a reasonable adjustment. Id suggest having a look round the institute yourself to see if you can find somewhere you could have your desk then ask for it. Itd be much less easy for them to refuse that. If the whole place is open plan though it may be trickier.

    What about the other building? Is it far and have you seen it. If its really nice and not too far maybe it would be OK. You wouldnt get disturbed by your colleagues at any rate. If though its miles away or you need to regularly trek between lab and desk, clearly thats no good.

    what else has been going on? Keep a record. Most unis have bullying and harrassment procedures and its not on if thats happening to you.

Children
  • in reply to Zomted

    There has been subtle bullying, i.e. exclusion, i.e. they don't want to include me in their social activities - coffee morning, lunch, pub quiz etc, and also at a work level - I am not kept up to date with what's going on in the lab, or invited to participate in practical work, despite my repeated offers to help out with lab work etc. As a result, I'm being prevented from learning techniques necessary to facilitate my PhD.

    I regret not recording any of these instances (e.g. ignoring me to my face, making social plans when I am in the same space), much of it has been flat out humiliating, but to be honest I've been so overwhelmed by trying to keep on top of my PhD work that I simply don't feel I've had the time. If my diagnosis had come before I joined the group, I think I could have used my new knowledge about ASD to protect myself from such events, but unfortunately it is too late now.  

    It's difficult to know how much of it is caused by my perceived aloofness. I think generally over time they've created negative assumptions about who I am as a person. I don't want to tell them that I'm autistic, as I don't trust them or understand fully what the consequences would be on my career. I feel my best bet is to muddle on by myself, and try and at least improve the quality of my working environment (e.g. by reducing noise etc). But it's hard doing a PhD without any moral support. Especially as I've been going through a serious depression since I've been here.