Why so much hostility toward reasonable adjustments for autistic/ADHD students/workers?

[KeenTaupeDog]

I keep seeing backlash whenever someone with autism/ADHD asks for reasonable adjustments. Things like:
• being accused of cheating or getting “special treatment”
• people assuming you're lying or gaming the system
• resentment for accommodations that simply level the playing field

Why do so many people react this way?
Is it ignorance about what these conditions actually mean?
Envy?
Fear that fairness is “zero-sum”?
Or something deeper around stigma toward invisible disabilities?

Would be interested in honest perspectives — especially from those who’ve witnessed or experienced this dynamic.

If you dont think adhders etc. should be employed if they cant stay in work due to their adhd, then are you happy with them sitting at home and claiming benefits? Or dying of hunger?

Not looking to fight — just trying to understand where this reaction comes from.
Am a apsergers sufferer and people at uni accused me of cheating when they found out i had remote exams

But you don't get adjustments just because you have a diagnosis. I've had to fight for so many basic adjustments. Even after a meeting with the head of a train company I'm still having to complain about the lack of adjustments including one that affects my safety

I do agree with this.

I have a number of disabilities and some jobs just wouldn’t work for me however many adjustments I have. It’s just one of those things.

In my honest opinion its because these people dont think disabled people should be helped. They prefer us out of sight, out of mind and not taking money away from 'normal' people.

I sound bitter? Hell yeah. Close to 30 years experience over 3 counties, many schools and countless people oozing resentment makes you bitter.

I posted earlier on about the prospective barrister, who was so anxious.She couldn't look anybody in the eye or at their face. I said she couldn't really be a barrister without the ability to do this and she was very angry.

I don't think we've done people any favors in making endless adjustments at school for these issues, when they get into the working world, a lot of doors will be closed.

I don't want a doctor who's so nervous and anxious they can't look at me.

I don't want a lawyer who's so nervous and anxious.They can't look at me. What sort of lawyer would they be if they're too meek to even look at somebody and they re supposed to be fighting my case?

Similarly, those who demand private rooms to make phone calls or can't use the phone. You cannot be a lawyer if you re unable to assert yourself in person and on the phone. Because it will impact your client.

I'm sick and tired of the amount of people that think they can enter these professions without being able to do the most basic things in terms of relating to people.

I agree with this, and would also add that such a high percentage of people now need 'reasonable adjustments' and as a manager it's so blooming hard to balance all of this, plus those who self-diagnose ....

If you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland then the drugs are free if you have a formal ADHD diagnosis.

In England it's heavily subsidised but you will have to pay a cheap subscription fee.

Its funny reading these repsoness because I remember when I worked in sales in my mid twenties, I was one of 3 women on the whole floor of about 30 sales reps. I became pregnant and needed time off for appointments. The resentment started immediately from male coworkers. "Why does she get time off?"

When I was sick and couldn't come in, or falling asleep at my desk, I was pulled aside and given warnings about my work performance. I reminded my boss that as a pregnant woman, I need a bit of slack as I'm exhausted and doing my best. No such luck! Then when I came back after maternity, I had been demoted to another team and lost my chance to become a supervisor, then when my kid was ill and I had to leave work early sometimes, male coworkers again kicking off saying I should now work in admin and not be allowed preferential treatment because it was my choice to get "knocked up".

This is all just history repeating itself. People are nasty bastards.

I don’t take drugs for my ADHD but I know a lot of people who are paying £££ for ADHD drugs despite a formal diagnosis. It’s not always subsidised.

I think a lot of people have made the point that adjustments do impact on other colleagues most of the time.

It's incredibly difficult as a manager - occupational health assessments in my experience just come out with whatever the person asked for with absolutely no thought into what works for the job. Basically mysteriously every assessment recommends WFH and all the boring/hard bits of the job removed.. which is fine but someone has to do them

Also - and I say this as someone who is AuADHD - one of the issues is that people with these conditions can often not have great people skills so can come off, and the OP is a good example of this, as very all about me. I have people on my team who will just wander off and take their recommended by occupational health extra break when an urgent deadline is coming up and not even acknowledge the impact that is having on their colleagues

I think it's both sides.

The NT sees things that they would find helpful or things that put on them and resent it.

But on the other side there can be an attitude of "I can't possibly be asked to do something I don't want to" and "someone else can't mind doing it as much as I can".

I have ND DC and I can see how at times they become more disabled by the restriction they put on themselves. With encouragement often they can do what they think they couldn't - which ultimately helps their self esteem.

Isn’t the issue what ‘reasonable’ means.

If you can make adjustments and the person can contribute 100% as much work as someone else on the same salary, that is fantastic.

But if, even after adjustments, they are contributing 50% as much of the work, they should be paid 50% as much. And, if that falls below a living wage, they need to claim benefits.

Workplaces aren’t charities and shouldn’t be expected to subsidise people who can’t do the whole job.

But many reasonable adjustments for autism are to start earlier than everyone else. To come in before all the noise and crowds, which allows the sensory side of things to build up gradually instead of being such a massive overload in one go.

We have some people on flexi at work.

They are in by 7:30 ant gone by 3:30.

No, one is contacting us at that hour.In the morning, because most people havent yet started work. So there's little to do. Things really kick off in the late afternoon.By which time those who started early have gone... And everyone else is picking up the slack to get everything.Done before the end of the day.So those on flexi come in very early in the morning and everything is done again. They probably have about two hours.Where there's almost no work to do.

except, in real life, lots of people don't want to make this adjustment for themselves. I have a friend who is going through this with an employee currently. This person doesn't want to have to use public transport in rush hour as she finds it difficult. Which is fine - their workplace is very happy to make reasonable adjustments.

She works from home 3 days a week (more than the average which is 2 days a week). On her two days in the office, the suggested adjustment is that she either comes in later and leaves later or comes in earlier and leaves earlier. She wants to come in later and leave earlier, for the same pay because she needs to look after her children. which is also fine, but then that's not an adjustment due to a disability and should come with a correspondng drop in pay.

ETA: this is why some disability adjustments go down badly. because SOME people don't want to be reasonable. And the result is that th emany people who need reasonable adjustments and ARE reasonable about it, might well suffer prejudice as a result.

Of course it’s not - if an adjustment isn’t necessary then management should not approve it.

Let’s stop blaming disabled people and start looking at the society they’re forced to conform to, hey?

My feeling is that if someone holds a certain qualification, that should mean they passed it by the same standards as everyone else. Not that they could do it when given a scribe/reader/extra time.

Otherwise, what's the pont of qualifications?

but the person who got extra time never would have finished the paper wiht it

Most places that I have worked in do reasonable adjustments based on need, not disability/diagnosis so anyone can ask for them e.g. someone I work with has adhd but doesn’t need any adjustments, another person has young children so needs to come in a bit later because of the nursery drop off times. If it is managed well, it works well and doesn’t cause resentment. The general feeling is that so long as you can do the job, they are happy to make adjustments. Obviously, if it is the wrong job then it will never work regardless of accommodations made.

It’s an over diagnosis problem. These days every other person claims that they, or their child, have one of these disorders. If such a high percentage of these population have these disorders, then there comes a point they cease to be disorders, and are just ‘normal’. Therefore, people expect them to get on with it like everyone else has to.

this is a management issue then. I've worked in and with many organisations who have this issue because of time zones. And the culture shifts to adapt for it. In this case, expected response times should be slightly longer - ie if queries are coming in at 4pm, they should be able to be held to be dealt with by the early starters the next day.

As you clearly have no idea what you’re talking about, it’s probably best that you just stop before you make yourself look even more ridiculous.

Many moons ago, I broke a bone in the run-up to my exams, and could not write for a period of time.

I took those exams with scribes (the docked marks for one of their handwriting only emerged later!)

Should I have failed those exams, because someone else wrote for me?

Ah, so you don’t believe disabled people deserve help, support and adjustments?

Yes, but people on here are saying that this issue is fine ifthose people are autistic.

Why would it be permissible for autistic people to come in two hours earlier?Where there isn't any work to do? Then to leave two hours earlier.When things are really busy?

The thing is adjustments only go so far.They have a massive impact on the rest of the team.

I have noticed that autistic people do have a very self centered me attitude. A lot of the time, which is why they're asking for these adjustments in the first place. They don't seem to be bothered that.It will have an impact on their colleagues.They seem to have the mindset, but just because this other person isn't autistic, it won't have much of an impact on them. It absolutely will in the long term.

The whole mindset is, I am autistic.I must have the adjustments.I ask for and it won't bother other people.As much as pick up my slack because they re not autistic, they can cope with it, is unacceptable.

We should look at the word 'reasonable' ...

What constitutes a 'reasonable' adjustment and what constitutes unreasonable?

I guess that 'reasonable' means: the job will still get done by that person to the standard they've been contracted to do it.

Unreasonable though? Well, could unreasonable mean the adjustments are impacting negatively on others?
Are the adjustments something the whole work force would benefit from but the employer doesn't bother to implement because there're not being forced to.

Being forced by law (and rightly so) to tick the box for making reasonable adjustments for one person can open a can of worms wrt the rest of the work force for sure.

It doesn't mean anyone hates the person receiving adjustments.