'Reasonable' Workplace Adjustments

I'm happy you got a positive response. Finding the social side hard, doesn't necessarily mean we can't do it, but can be very draining to do it. And that's the stuff that makes us far more tired than most. Even if we do 'friendly face', it's important to get a break from it :-)

ok. that's very good. good joob btw. It sounded like people interviewing you had no idea you existed, and it got me furious.

I don't struggle to socialise in small groups as well 

Customers recognise me too, I moved from ALDI to LIDL and they find me at LIDL and they're suprised often.

I only get in trouble with new managers that expect people will bow to them

Mariusz (sorry might not have understood your comment entirely)

in this particular scenario yes - everyone in my department (all 5 of them!) Know me well and I'd estimate 90% of the staff in the entire company know of me because of my job role. 

A few clients must remember me as they gave positive feedback to others about me. The majority won't though which is fine with me I don't want to have anything to do with them most of the time!

Once I explained that I don't struggle to socialise in our very small department of people I've known for years but do with large groups or people I don't know they got it. 

just one more thing everyone misses everytime

ProbablyTheWay said:

They were surprised as I apparently am very friendly

ProbablyTheWay said:

surprised them i.e how social I am in the office where I know everyone

where is their contribution?

It was expected from you to know everyone and socialize correctly, but what about them? Did they know you exist even?

This sounds really positive! Very pleased to hear you're happy with how the conversation went and the adjustments you've agreed - well done! Thank you for letting us know

FenchurchDawn

Thank you both for your input with this. Thought I'd give an update as I just had the meeting an hour ago!

All my adjustments were discussed and mostly agreed. The only areas of compromise were the sound cancelling headphones which I agreed are a bit extreme and there aren't many occasions I feel I need that level of isolation. So have agreed to use normal ear buds so I can block out general chatter but will be able to hear if someone needs me.

I will also answer the phone if I'm the only one there or everyone is busy which is fair. Same for answering the door to clients. They were surprised as I apparently am very friendly and welcoming which was nice to hear. I'm also allowed to take short breaks when I need them and only have to tell someone if I'm away from my desk for an extended period of time.

My biggest worry was around the moving of desks but thankfully they are looking at getting another member of staff so would require a reshuffle anyway. SO in a few weeks I will be in the corner facing the room again which makes me very happy.

Overall they were very supportive of the diagnosis and what it means to me and really just wanted to understand it and how it affects me. As I have been there nearly 8 years some things surprised them i.e how social I am in the office where I know everyone but outside of it I'm not. 

Thanks for your reply Dawn!

There was definitely a feeling of guilt when I submitted the report. As I had been coping for so long but my wife and therapist echoed your point that just because I have survived all these years doesn't mean it should continue. Some feelings of selfishness too - surely everyone hates X or Y about their job why should I be exempt from it? When in reality not everyone does hate X or Y. Life outside my bubble!

Sorry for the delay - didn't realise you don't get a notification when someone replies!

My impression from articles published in the last few years (but I don't think any mentioned covid's impact on reasonable adjustments, which is quite relevant, I reckon - we've just had a period where adjustments had to be made for many people to work from home, in a variety of family situations, etc.) is that researchers are generally very positive about disclosure of autism in the workplace, and particularly quantitative data supports this. I do question the validity of some of these findings, as they don't control for the fact that many autistic people who disclose will  be capable of and confident in the quite complex communication skills demanded by disclosure, or feel confident disclosing due to their relationships with colleagues and managers. You could be self-selectingly part of this group, of course.

One article (Romualdez?, Walker and Remington, 2021) is quite good in noting contributors to successful disclosures, i.e. managers' understanding of autism, their willingness and capacity for adaptations, and the level of inclusivity in the organisational culture.

Qualitative studies of course revealed more reservations, noting that some autistic people found disclosure detrimental in some way (for example, one study finds that managers may have reservations about giving autistic people jobs involving communication, while autistic employees may still want those jobs). I think this would indicate that very good communication about what autism means and does not mean for you is warranted.

My reading did allay some of my fears, and helped me to feel more confident disclosing to people who should have some idea what autism can mean. If you feel confident in your job role and how they feel about your work, that's a really positive base to go off (both in terms of the outcome for you, and maybe breaking those stereotypes!).

1-1 reviews sounds really good - maybe also ask that the reviews include feedback on how the adjustments are going and whether you need anything else? 

Sorry, need to dash to work now, but will keep an eye out in case you want to reply (apparently I'll get a notification if you @ me, which could help!). 

Sounds totally reasonable and will cost them nothing.

I do get what you mean though. I'm 57 now and diagnosed last year. I had a diagnosis of dyslexia at 19, when it was only just really being recognised and no one really knew how to accomodate it. I've NEVER had a reasonable adjustment for an exam and just got on with it...

In hind sight, had I known I was both autistic and dyslexic years ago, a lot in this life could have been easier. 

In the end, just because you have been hitherto coping without help or the few tweaks that make a difference, doesn't mean you have to go on doing it. Those little accommodations for you can be the difference between doing well and hitting burn out. It doesn't help your employer much to let you hit burn out.

Thank you! I think I've seen (but not properly read) those pages from my own nervous googling of what adjustments are and what was actually sensible or... Reasonable!

Yes please do share your impressions it would be great to see what you've come up alongside my own thoughts on it. 

One thing I saw on the links that i forgot to list was regular 1 to 1 reviews so I understand how I'm doing in my role. I think after 7 years of employing me they probably have some idea of how I work or don't in some cases. I feel relatively safe in that they are happy with my performance and should want to help me to help themselves. 

My main issues I think stem from the culture in the workplace, it's a very "traditional" place and the older managers are certainly set in their ways. I don't think they are intentionally dismissive of neuro diversity, it's just not come up for them much. But I am keen to at least make people aware of it and maybe break some stereotypes they might have!

These sound reasonable, and you're right that you're absolutely legally entitled to these adjustments if they can be reasonably accommodated within your job role. If they allow you to work better, it's in everybody's interests to allow you them. Nevertheless, I can completely relate to being nervous about disclosing. I've done some reading of studies on how disclosure in the workplace goes, as I was very nervous about disclosing myself - very happy to share my impressions from what I've read if that would be interesting. 

You might be interested in the NDSA information here: https://ndsa.uk/content/reasonable-adjustments/, and here: https://ndsa.uk/content/employment/. Have a think about whether other adjustments would be helpful on top of what you've listed. I think you can sometimes get Brain in Hand via Access to Work, for example. Or if lights are too bright, or office clothes can be uncomfortable, or you could do with a quiet place for your breaks - all those things are worth considering if they'd make things easier for you.

Best of luck! Let us know how it goes :)

IF MANAGEMENT AGREED THEN YOU'RE L;UCKY

you will only have to probably repeat that all over to each and every colleague yourself :P