To what extent should you make accommodations for "time blindness"?

[ChedderGorgeous]

If a worker says they have "time blindness", what extent, if any, should you make accommodations for them in the workplace ? For example should they always have a 15 minute grace period for meetings and any agenda items involving them be moved to later in the meeting as a matter of course? Should you not be able to schedule meetings with them which are time critical ? My feeling is that if someone has "time blindness" then they should make changes in their day to day management to accommodate this in order to work as per their contract, rather like someone who gets the train, might get the train before , to ensure they get to work even if there are rail delays . AIBU ?

Well I googled and it does, in fact, seem to be a thing. Surely other mechanisms could help though? Set an alarm? Somebody 'collects; them on the way to the meeting, somebody calls them from the meeting if it's on Teams etc? Just accepting they're going to be really late isn't viable and draws unwanted attention to the person?

Please do not ask this here, people on MN do not understand time blindness and are extremely ableist at the concept. If you have occupational health or HR I would ask for support from them.
Things that can help are
Asking the colleague what do they find helpful
15 mins grace period for start of shift
Regular check ins if it's a project role
Smaller deadlines to meet
Help to understand prioritisation
Allowing them to use calenders/alarms of phones to timeblock

My teenage stepdaughter has diagnosed ADHD and Dyscalculia. the latter means she can't really get the concept of time. She can't 'feel' that 13:30 is halfway between 13:00 and 14:00.

She has a measured very low IQ - (79, and that was adjusted for the ADHD.)

The result of this combination is that she struggles to use the tools and methods people who struggle with time usually would.

She's bright, outgoing, charming (well, not so much at home but she is after all a teenager...) and it's heartbreaking because I feel she has a lot to offer but I doubt society will be tolerant enough to give her the opportunity.

And yes, we do miss nice/important things, too. My boss generally overlooks the days when I arrive at work 5 minutes late, because she sees me on most days carrying on working despite 3 reminder alarms when it's time to leave at the end of the day. .

They should be able to manage it. Let’s face it not often do people genuinely miss important to them stuff. Such as flights, their wedding a much waited for doctors appointment because they make a plan.

Set alarms and reminders. My whole day is ran with such and I made it my mindset that I need to in fact be early to not be late.

You’ve missed the bit where the employee hasn’t disclosed any condition then?

If they KNOW they have an issue with "time blindness", it's on them to put in place procedures to ensure they get to their work commitments on time. This is not rocket science. Use alarms on your phone, calendar reminders on your computer, get a digital timer for your desk set to go off with 5 mins to go before your meeting or call or whatever...ALL things I have done to ensure I don't miss work stuff, and without feeling the need to let any of my clients know I have done them.

I'd be struggling not to respond with "Why do you think YOUR time blindness is my problem? Figure it the fuck out like a grown, responsible, capable person." (Except I'd only ever say that in my head, but imagining saying it would give me some relief from the frustration!)

Support for anyone with a disability (doesn't matter if you agree it is a disability or not) is to see what is reasonable to adjust to. Being 15 minutes for every meeting is not workable. You are paying everyone else to twiddle their thumbs for 15 minutes and will run out of time to discuss what the meeting was called for.

What needs brainstorming is what will get them there on time, such as to do list software, different types of reminder, working back with what actions are needed eg for a meeting in Y building it takes 3 minutes to walk from desk, so they need to be standing up with pen in hand at the 5 minutes mark. Put the onus on them to come up with solutions, as an imposed solution won't necessarily work for them.

My meetings start on time with an agenda in place.

If you're late you aren't admitted to the meeting.

I've failed several probations for non attendance and I'll be failing more more next week for continued lateness and failure to attend meetings.

I don't give a shit if the reason 'time blindness', not my problem and not the problem of the other attendees who make an effort to arrive prepared.

Erm what now? Isn't it just that they can't be arsed being on time?

This is a very real thing for people with ADHD and other ND conditions.

For all those who are suggesting that adjustments are only made for those with diagnosed conditions, have you ever looked into how long it takes to get diagnosed as a ND adult? And that's before you've considered that people may not even realise that their 'quirks' might indicate a diagnosable condition.

All good ideas, but again - the person hasn't actually disclosed a medical condition such as ADHD, so why would a manager be making these adjustments?

I have ADHD and would go into waiting mode, which means I would struggle to do anything else for fear of losing track of time and/or forgetting.

I would suggest that if they have time blindness in order to help themselves with this they buy a watch.

It will give them a concrete and continuous tool to assist them.

Another diagnosed adhd here, I suffer with this quite badly but its managed with setting quiet alarms (my phone and watch vibrate) when needing to do tasks or warnings to finish tasks. Time blindness is not something that can be adjusted for by anyone else but the person who suffers with it.

That's not true. Time blindness is a cognitive symptom of ADHD. It's the struggle with time estimation, hyperfocus, lack of attention, and distractions.

I cope with it by setting a billion and one alarms, timers, and taking ADHD medication.

My employers are understanding but wouldn't be happy if I didn't even try to keep track of time.

The ignorance on this thread is ridiculous!! No wonder people try to hide their disabilities!

‘If you don't have a diagnosis, you still need medical evidence to show your impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to do day-to-day activities.’

From:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/discrimination-at-work/discrimination-at-work/checking-if-its-discrimination/check-if-youre-disabled-under-the-equality-act-work/

I wouldn’t make any allowances. If it ends up with a diagnosis then that’s different

I had once a boss who I'm fairly certain had time blindness. We used to go and get him on our way to meetings, or you'd remind him if he was going somewhere after a meeting with you.

When he was promoted he had his own secretary who arranged his calendar and reminded him, and most meetings would be in his office, so people would go to him.

For trips abroad, his wife would take him to the airport, and he'd always have a folder with all his travel times and information written out.

He was really excellent at his job, but definitely struggled to be in the right place at the right time. I suspect nowadays he might have an investigation into whether he had ADHD.

I wouldn't think 15 mins late to every meeting was a good way of dealing with it.

Some really nasty responses to this, as I am starting to expect on MN.

As someone with several relatives with ADHD i have seen how they struggle. I've seen the extreme stress about getting somewhere on time, how hard it can be. But it is achievable.

First step is an actual diagnosis of course, to discuss any other accommodations necessary.

But honestly no, i don't think you can allow for meetings to get moved around. You can be kind about them arriving late for meetings just with you, and accommodate them arriving 5 mins late, say. Without getting a huge bollocking - this is harder for them than it is for the rest of us. And you can be realistic and put their contributions later in the agenda if isn't a bit deal.

Do you manage them? Because you could sit down with them and talk about strategies to help them manage this.

It's nice of you to be considering how you can help them.

I had a manager who would do this. Fifteen minutes 'late' for everything, including external interviews, as a power move. Double points if he kept female staff waiting.

You don't need a diagnosis to be given support for wellbeing. I didn't have a diagnosis for several years after I had reviews and reasonable adjustments in place. You also aren't obligated to give entire information on your disability although imo that does more harm than good.
Giving reasonable adjustments for time blindness is the same as giving reasonable adjustments for only having one leg. They just help to make you equal to everyone and that's what mn doesn't seem to understand.
For some reason in this country lateness equals laziness and being rude so the idea that someone could have this as a disability is dismissed and mocked.

Reasonable adjustments have to be reasonable. If it means the whole rest of the department is affected, then it is not reasonable. Never heard of time blindness, but no, sounds like bs.

I refer you to my post above about requiring medical evidence in order to ask for reasonable adjustments. That’s from the CAB, not just some random on MN.

I don't know if time blindness is an actual thing as such but I do have absolutely zero sense of time, zero and I am amazed by those that do, who can tell me what time it is without looking at a watch.

However, it is 2024 and we have the kind of tech that means you should be able to compensate for this. I have a mobile phone and a smart watch. I use it to remind me about appointments, meetings, calls, deadlines and so on. I use three calendars around my house and I use the one on my phone with alerts as well that also buzz on my smart watch. You can even just ask (i.e. speak to the voice assistant within) most of these smart watches to set a reminder for you!

If I have to travel to an appointment I plan the day before what transport I will use, build in extra time for upsets then work backwards giving myself enough time to get ready and leave for the meeting, again building in extra time for an emergency. If you end up early then great as you can go and get a cup of tea!

I know all this is extra effort and that some people might not have to do all this but I don't see any other alternative. Although the idea of letting people be late by 15 minutes doesn't seem unreasonable it probably does set a precedent that potentially leads to a total break down in how things operate and if unfair on people who can turn up on time.

I think the best support would be to offer training to help people with this issue plan better and make use of the tech they probably already have.