Nuerodiverse colleague

[moana35]

I am having a few problems with a colleague at work. She is neurodiverse so adjustments have had to be made but these adjustments are meaning that myself and my colleagues are doing alot more than we did before she was employed.

She is very black and white about time so she will not be at her desk until her digital smart watch says the start time on her contract and again she leaves at the exact time she is supposed to finish even if in the middle of something. Lunch is an hour but due to needing to re compress for the afternoon she needs to take 75 minutes as she needs to go for a walk and eat. She has to sit in front of a window which means all our places in the office have been changed.

From Monday we are not allowed to drink coffee at our desks anymore only tea as the smell makes her gag.

Aside from this she is a very good worker and gets her work done to a good standard but it is impacting on the morale of the team. She is also exempt from training mornings if they are "small room " based as she can't sit in a room with a big group of people. She will be allowed to do her training online.

Management say as she declared her nuerodiversity at interview these adjustments have to be made for her I get reasonable adjustments and I have an autistic son but are these adjustments reasonable to the rest of the team.

If we took 15 mins extra for lunch or asked our colleague to not drink coffee I am sure we would be spoken to by management,

Has anyone else come across this in the workplace.

Being vegan is a choice. Trust me, being neurodivergent is not.

Haha, talk about exaggeration.

ND are perfectly capable of taking the piss, the same as the rest of the population.

”yawn” I think is what’s an appropriate response according to a pp.

i’m actually shocked and saddened by this. So a person with a disability is shoved out of your way to make your life easier?

If she gags/ vomits at the smell of coffee then office life is going to be extremely tricky and anxiety provoking.

The managers have a responsibility to her and frankly what they have done is likely to make her a target and not well thought through

FYI I have RWPA due to not one but two disabilities and they do not impact my colleagues.

Can you explain what you mean by this?

Well, firstly I think if it's something you NEED then you should mention it at interview. It doesn't make sense that you wouldn't if it's a genuine need. Just like this woman has mentioned she can't cope with the smell of it because it's a genuine thing for her.

If they told you when they employed you that you could drink coffee at your desk (or subsequently allowed you to do it then changed the rules), of course they have a legal obligation to make an adjustment for that.

That's what they've done for this woman, yet her need is silly and she should suck it up, but you wouldn't be able to because you NEED coffee to work? Why is yours ok but hers isn't?

Anyway, no one else in the office is ND therefore don't need RA, so again your point is invalid.

I think it’s unreasonable re tea and coffee, but also think that some of the other adjustments are unreasonable as they impact on other employees. Whilst I understand that we should make some adjustments there is a limit , if people can’t do the job and can’t make those expectations, then they shouldn’t be employed. For example we don’t have anybody who is blind driving HGV lorries.

Well said @stichguru. The OP should focus on addressing her increased workload with management.

Indeed, it's a great response. Best post on the thread.

The post at. 2109 of ‘yawn’.

How old is she?

God this reminds me why I left office work and staff management. Grown adults acting like children wailing "it's not fair!!!!". Maybe just deal with any real issues direct with management and otherwise just try and be a bit more mature about reasonable adjustments for people with huge difficulties. If every neurodivergent person quit the workplace no doubt you'd complain about your taxes going up to support them.

The main thing I've learned from this thread (apart from how ableist many people are) is just how many people seem to be utterly reliant on stimulants/caffeine to be able to function through a basic day in the office. Who knew!

This thread has really shocked me . Never realised how addicted people are to drinking coffee whilst working!! In the real world people drink / snack on their break !
Coffee has a really pungent smell and I really understand why anyone dislikes having the smell whilst trying to concentrate!
PS I love coffee but understand why other people cannot stand the smell!

How do ND always claim they understand what it might be like to live as a NT person? It actually pisses me off. How exactly do you know that it has a minimal impact on every single other person? NT are not all the same also. My issue is I can't deal with perceived injustices or a change in habits, so taking away my coffee makes me irrationally angry. Id be stewing all day long.

I have ADHD! Perhaps I didn't word it properly because, you know, I'm impulsive.

You know fine well the OP hasn't said either her or her 2 other colleagues have any sort of neuro diversity, so absolutely no need for them to rely on stimulants other than they want to which was my point. You are continually defending able bodied people to the detriment of disabled people. It's like internalised misogyny in women.

Yes, I got that. I'm neurodivergent, not stupid. I'm asking why "yawn". Are you sleepy?

Yes I think everyone's taxes should go up substantially to support these people not to work. I mean we already have the highest number of workless people in the UK so let's drive it up massively by stopping reasonable adjustments for those who want to work but face difficulties. In fact maybe we should stop benefits and open workhouses!

Well that is pretty ableist of you surely.

Fuck. So one person needs an adjustment because they can't stand coffee and another ADHD person needs coffee 😂

Ask the original yawner.

Me stating that I've learned something is ableist?

You'll need to explain that I'm afraid.

Utter madness. A work team is a delicate social contract of giving and taking and creating an environment for effective work output. Showing up as a new employee and expecting others to give up their little pleasures- a window, a moment to stretch, a coffee - because you are so special will absolutely destroy morale. Non–neurodivergent people are human too. They too are capable of great pain and discomfort. Everyone’s needs need to be taken into account! Prioritizing one person’s needs and dismissing the discomfort of everyone else (or worse, accusing everyone else of being ableist bigots) is bound to destroy social cohesion. I can’t imagine anyone working effectively in a space that feels so unfair.

So much of this thread reminds me of the trans discourse ten or more years ago, where the needs of a small minority were made front and center. Everyone else wasn’t entitled to needs. Everyone else was being a brat. Selfish, unempathetic, willingly destroying this special class. “Just bathrooms” and all that. Unbelievable. Reasonable adjustment should be reasonable, and that means honoring that the needs of other employees (of seniority!) matter too.

Oh, so you don't understand it yourself and were just parrotting someone to get in on the hate posting. Cool.