Take part: tips on talking to employers about reasonable adjustments

It's areally important topic. Thank you! In my case I'm not diagnosed,  so it's a bit tricky. But the fact is that I used to have my reasonable adjustments at work even before suspecting autism. It was a call center,  open floor big office and of course a lot going on. I couldn't get my only place, but our team had one area so I usually sat at the same place or somewhere close. My issue was background noise and the one-ear only headset provided by the company. I couldn't do calls with it. So I asked the management if it's fine that I use my own headphones. They had special rubber cover for additional isolation. They asked only to test, if they work and then they had no issues with it. I also needed additional breaks from the screen. That one was more problematic sometimes. But I also had it sometimes.  I remember one manager suggested that I go to doctor eith it. I had strengths such as ability to explain everything precisely to the customer in a way that they really had no more questions,  solving complex problems,  catching frauds thank to my attention to detail. I think, the company could do a bit more for me by moving me to a specialised team where these tasks require more of my skills. But I also noticed, managers used to assign me more of such complex "tickets" and I was happy also because they put me on a status without incoming calls. I used to have a high anxiety because of the calls, I had no idea who will call, when, what they wanna know or what u have to do for them. That job required fast decision making. So the best adjustment I made for myself was changing job.

Now im working in a warehouse of a hardware store. I have my adjustments- I'm allowed to use my earbuds. Whenever my manager gives me instructions,  I ask him to give me a moment and repeat, so I can write it down. Otherwise I just communicate, what is my issue and what is my need. I also explained,  that I appear anti social,  not because I hate people,  but because I'm slower to process a conversation.  So this made my manager look also in my direction when there is a chat, although I don't speak or very rarely. This way I feel included. I also inform my colleagues,  that they need to repeat for me what they say, not always,  but quite often, because I'm slower. Especially if I'm busy doing something,  it takes me more time to shift my attention from my task to the colleague  

I'm not the only one with some condition in our company, there are more people with various conditions and disabilities,  both mental and physical. But whenever someone asks why I react this way to noise, I just say I have a neurological disorder, I'm sensitive etc. And there are no more questions. 

Structure and clear expectations should be, in my opinion,  in every company, not just as adjustment for a certain group. I also told my colleagues It's hard for me to understand jokes and anything ambiguous.  My manager is very clear with me, he got used to it - give me instructions,  tasks, short feedback and not talk to me too much. My current job let's me use my skills and I'm praised for my work. Although I work below my qualifications for the lowest wage, I know what would be the price of a more ambitious position.  Additionally I have to say- the more ambitious positions are unavailable for me, because I somehow appear unattractive,  not self confident etc. So many recruiters probably doubt that I would be able to complete more complex tasks.

It's areally important topic. Thank you! In my case I'm not diagnosed,  so it's a bit tricky. But the fact is that I used to have my reasonable adjustments at work even before suspecting autism. It was a call center,  open floor big office and of course a lot going on. I couldn't get my only place, but our team had one area so I usually sat at the same place or somewhere close. My issue was background noise and the one-ear only headset provided by the company. I couldn't do calls with it. So I asked the management if it's fine that I use my own headphones. They had special rubber cover for additional isolation. They asked only to test, if they work and then they had no issues with it. I also needed additional breaks from the screen. That one was more problematic sometimes. But I also had it sometimes.  I remember one manager suggested that I go to doctor eith it. I had strengths such as ability to explain everything precisely to the customer in a way that they really had no more questions,  solving complex problems,  catching frauds thank to my attention to detail. I think, the company could do a bit more for me by moving me to a specialised team where these tasks require more of my skills. But I also noticed, managers used to assign me more of such complex "tickets" and I was happy also because they put me on a status without incoming calls. I used to have a high anxiety because of the calls, I had no idea who will call, when, what they wanna know or what u have to do for them. That job required fast decision making. So the best adjustment I made for myself was changing job.

Now im working in a warehouse of a hardware store. I have my adjustments- I'm allowed to use my earbuds. Whenever my manager gives me instructions,  I ask him to give me a moment and repeat, so I can write it down. Otherwise I just communicate, what is my issue and what is my need. I also explained,  that I appear anti social,  not because I hate people,  but because I'm slower to process a conversation.  So this made my manager look also in my direction when there is a chat, although I don't speak or very rarely. This way I feel included. I also inform my colleagues,  that they need to repeat for me what they say, not always,  but quite often, because I'm slower. Especially if I'm busy doing something,  it takes me more time to shift my attention from my task to the colleague  

I'm not the only one with some condition in our company, there are more people with various conditions and disabilities,  both mental and physical. But whenever someone asks why I react this way to noise, I just say I have a neurological disorder, I'm sensitive etc. And there are no more questions. 

Structure and clear expectations should be, in my opinion,  in every company, not just as adjustment for a certain group. I also told my colleagues It's hard for me to understand jokes and anything ambiguous.  My manager is very clear with me, he got used to it - give me instructions,  tasks, short feedback and not talk to me too much. My current job let's me use my skills and I'm praised for my work. Although I work below my qualifications for the lowest wage, I know what would be the price of a more ambitious position.  Additionally I have to say- the more ambitious positions are unavailable for me, because I somehow appear unattractive,  not self confident etc. So many recruiters probably doubt that I would be able to complete more complex tasks.