#workplaceaccommodations
If you need helping me to be beneficial to people who have the privilege of not needing that help, then it's not me you want to help.

#ActuallyAutistic #autism #DEI #WorkplaceAccommodations #neurodiversity
January 28, 2025 at 9:05 AM
There's no way I'm prepping the next mini-series already. And definitely no way I'm hoping to kick it off today...
October 6, 2025 at 4:11 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Noise-cancelling headphones. Whether it's talking on phones, printers printing, or just the coffee machine going, the office can be a loud place. In a factory or outdoor setting, it may be significantly worse. ANC headphones may improve focus and reduce overwhelm.
October 10, 2025 at 12:57 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Dimmed lighting. For many autistics, light can be overstimulating and make it difficult to concentrate. Naturally, health-and-safety concerns come up, but when possible, a workspace that permits for reduced lighting can make a huge improvement.
October 6, 2025 at 5:18 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Natural lighting. Spaces with natural lighting give the opportunity for light without electrical humming, and improved angle of light (perhaps coming from behind instead of overhead). Pair it with curtains, and the level of light can be dimmed as needed.
October 7, 2025 at 7:36 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Online meetings. For many of us, meeting in person can be quite difficult - Wardrobe selection, stimming, eye-contact, having to stay seated: Managing the "normal" things takes us away from providing the valuable input we have. Online meetings may be more effective.
November 14, 2025 at 1:37 PM
It's time for our next mini-series, this one being all about #ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations. This series will cover a variety of ways that employers and employees can improve the autistic experience (and honestly, probably the neurotypical experience) in the workplace. 1/2
October 6, 2025 at 5:16 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Rocking and spinning chairs. Chairs that rock and spin give us an easy way to get the energy out and engage in autistic stimming without necessarily being obvious about it. It may seem like a small thing, but a fixed chair is often a problematic chair.
October 21, 2025 at 12:31 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Shifted hours. Where possible, having hours that are partially or completely offset from main hours may make a huge difference. A few hours before sunrise to read emails, or a couple hours after home-time to prep reports may give healthy focus time to be efficient.
October 16, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Do you work in #Alberta? Join us to learn about your rights at work, the protections available to you under the Alberta #HumanRights Act and what you can do if you've experienced discrimination at work. Book your spot now: ow.ly/Pebp50V5KpK

#WorkersRights #Discrimination #WorkplaceAccommodations
February 24, 2025 at 10:30 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Individual offices. Having your own space means controlling your own light, shutting the door to reduce sounds, having fewer distractions from others, and giving an opportunity for focus time (Door shut = Focus on; Door open = Come in).
October 8, 2025 at 2:07 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Meeting attendance. Do we need to be there? Do the other people invited need to be there? Minimizing the number of the people in a meeting doesn't just let others get back to work, it lets us have a smaller crowd to work within.
November 18, 2025 at 1:53 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Scent-free space. Smells can bother anyone, but an autistic person might be overwhelmed and unable to focus because of it. Reducing scents in the office, or moving to a reduced scent space, could be the different between focus and upset.
October 26, 2025 at 6:15 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Flexible time. Like anyone, autistics have things to attend to. We may have a high number of appointments, whether to treat a co-occurring condition, receive therapy, etc. Granting flexibility means decreased stress and improved health. And that means better work.
October 24, 2025 at 11:48 AM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: No lunch meetings. We need alone time to recharge and to handle personal things. Lunch meetings don't just take away from that, they also force us into high-stimulation environments with chewing sounds and food smells. Meetings before/after lunch should be the norm.
November 20, 2025 at 1:13 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Dress code accommodations. Permitting comfortable clothes may be a huge improvement. A shirt that doesn't touch the neck or keeping shoes off at the desk may be the difference between an effective worker and an anxious one. Sensory related to clothes is *huge*.
October 23, 2025 at 12:17 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Additional sick days. Many autistic people also have co-occurring conditions that leave them with chronic and/or unexpected pain. When these times appear, we may need the extra time to recover or prepare ourselves, whether it be a few days, or just an hour late.
November 1, 2025 at 1:16 AM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Custom keyboard and mouse. Whether it's ergonomics, or just how clicky of a sound they make, having the right fit of a keyboard and mouse can be very important. Giving us the flexibility to choose the peripherals we work with for hours a day every day is important.
November 6, 2025 at 1:45 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Choice selection. We all need freedom to choose: Sometimes we need open-endedness ("Go for your break sometime in the next hour"), and sometimes we need limited options ("Do you want restaurant A or B?"). Giving freedom while not over-complicating is very important.
October 29, 2025 at 8:41 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Work from home. WFH is criticized for people defocusing away from the office, but that's the point. In the office, we take a minute to recover but are surrounded by overstimulation. At home, we defocus and actually recover, ready to come back and deliver results.
October 15, 2025 at 10:51 AM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Corner seating. When individual offices aren't possible, being seated in a corner with privacy walls can make a huge difference. Having these corner or wall spaces may not be as significant as a one-person office, but they often settle as a happy middle-ground.
October 9, 2025 at 8:20 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Permitting questions. Autistic people often have a need to know the "why", "who", etc of a task. When we ask, we're probably not questioning authority: We're trying to figure out how to best solve it. Giving our best means understanding where it's coming from.
October 28, 2025 at 10:42 PM
#ASD #WorkplaceAccommodations: Self-scheduling. When we have the opportunity to schedule our own time, it means we can get high-focus tasks done when we have the energy, and get low-focus tasks when we don't. Mandating when tasks are done needlessly means our excellence may misalign in timing.
October 26, 2025 at 11:51 AM