What Reasonable Adjustments at work have you found successful?

[ReasonableRita]

I’d love to hear from others what reasonable adjustments they’ve requested at work if they’re autistic / AuDHD / ADHD?

I’m AuDHD and starting a new job soon. In my last job I started really well, but after a year I began to get really burnt out and overwhelmed and began procrastinating badly - I felt I’d lost control of my workload a bit tbh, but kept it well concealed (which was a whole extra challenge 😬).

For my new role, I really want to think through what reasonable adjustments would make an actual difference, but I genuinely don’t know what would. In an ideal world, the option to have duvet days from time to time to decompress and avoid overwhelm would be a real tonic, but that’s hardly something I can ask for!! It’s full time, and I know that working only 4 days a week max would make a difference but right now I have to work full time.

I’d love to know what RAs have helped others!!

You have the right to request flexible working which includes reduced hours, flexible start and finishes times and working from home from day 1 of a job.

I know it can feel a bit galling requesting these things but you can legally request them.

You can also request extended triggers for absence before they go down the capability route, as you may need more time off due to disability, including needing days off to just recover.

You can request sensory aids and disability support equipment and no hot desking.

You can request an occupational health assessment for them to recommend reasonable adjustments which might include additional paid or unpaid breaks.

You can request adjustments to uniform policies.

You can request specific communication preferences.

You can request no overhead lighting or permission to wear hats and sunglasses indoors.

You can request no camera on teams calls.

You can request your employer purchases note taking software, there is plenty available and negates the need for specific note takers.

You can request a referral or make your own referral for access to work which can fund equipment and software including software to make your own job easier like specific note taking software that takes notes for you or fills in fields for you while you talk if your job is talking based so you don't have to switch tasks so frequently.

You can request no last minute meetings.

I can't say that reasonable adjustments have worked for me, but that's because I've had a string of employers who have made me jump through hoops to explain why the adjustments I'm asking are reasonable even if they're inconvenient for them to implement, or cost them money and time. By the end of the battle, I'm so worn down from stress and not having my needs met that I end up on long term sick or quit.

Thanks @Jimmyneutronsforeheadand sorry you’ve had such an awful time. That sounds really tough 😕

That's a really useful list of things. I need to tease out what works for me. I’ve never hot desked before but I think I will in my new job, and I hate the idea that my ‘seat’ at work is unpredictable. I’ll see how it goes but that might be a key one.

Thought I’d give this a little bump, although I realise that this corner of Mumsnet is pretty quiet.

I wondered, instead of my question above, what would be peoples’s IDEAL reasonable adjustments, even if they haven’t actually experienced them?

mine would be working 3 days a week on full pay! 😂

Something I've realised recently is that I struggle with cognitive overload, which affects my executive function. (I'm probably explaining that wrong!)

I just want to get in and get on with my job, but (on a normal day) I can't if someone's sitting at my desk who shouldn't be, dumped boxes on my desk, someone trying to have a deep conversation as soon as I turn up etc. Which means I have to sort out stuff that isn't in my job description or deal with drama, before I start my actual work. The lack of predictability and extra steps adds to my cognitive load.

What brought this ephinay was my work laptop breaking, which meant I had no access to my internet favourites, OneDrive shortcuts, OneNote templates, saved logins, etc, which worked as a scaffold for my poor executive function and made my day run smoothly. Without it, I had a meltdown. So I had a bit of a think and remembered other things I struggled with too and worked it out.

So basically, look at things that will reduce your cognitive load, such as your digital set-up or reducing decision-making. For example, anything dumped on my desk now gets chucked - no more umming and arring - it's the bin or the shredder. Working from home helps with this too, as you don't have to deal with a lot of the office drama and also you don't have to worry about what to wear, the commute etc.

Cognitive overload often happens with task switching.

When I worked in a call centre, for years I was fine, it was basically, get in, take a call, fix a problem, write your notes, get on to the next call.

Then they started adding these arbitrary stupid random flow chart things and adding it to your KPIs with an automatic tracker that made sure you started and finished it on the call before the customer hung up.

So not only did I have to take the call, listen to the customer, fix their issues, do my notes, but I also had to keep flicking between pages to do this stupid flow chart based on what customers had been saying.

I could never get it all done on the call, as well as a minimum of 30 seconds after the call before the next caller came through.

When I raised it with my boss they said "well everybody else is managing, we can't change it, it's mandatory etc." when I'd been doing this job for years before they brought in this really shitty new system.

In the end, I left because it was actually then taking me about 30 minutes between calls because of the exhaustion and paralysis it caused me between tasks.

I had been through access to work and they offered a voucher to my employer to cover the cost of some software that would basically take my notes for me based on what the conversation was, so I could just stick to the stupid flow chart and fixing problems, but they never cashed the voucher in.

I am the same at home, especially when cleaning. I need like 6 hours completely uninterrupted to clean fully. If I start, and then DS asks for a drink, or some food, or needs the channel changing, or needs me to come downstairs, or needs me to go upstairs, I just can't get back to what I'm doing.

I agree, WFH full time helps with the additional burdens that working in the office places. Employers will state it's good for collaboration, and try and pull a fast one, but you've got to stand firm and say that it won't work for you because of poor executive functioning.

For me it's been software- I hate paper so using One Note and Planner, Power BI.
I now don't know how anyone manages without a task based to do list system. I grew up with analogue and remember learning to touch type around 18. Then I had non - office jobs until my early 30s, didn't really have my own system.

If you ask 5 people how they organise their tasks and to dos you get 5 different answers. Someone will be pen and paper, someone has a diary, someone has Trello, someone has a spreadsheet.

Sit stand desk and noise cancelling headphones also helped. I find it hard asking a manager to adapt but I've said to them don't spring things on me- let me at least have a days notice.