Knowing what you need to allow you to process the workplace in a way that feels safe, manageable and which allows you to work to your strengths, and being supported in law to advocate for your needs, should make asking for your needs to be met a fairly straightforward process. And yet, it’s often not quite that easy. 

Firstly, you might feel uncomfortable sharing that you are neurodivergent and you’re under no obligation to do so. Many of us have grown up with stigma around neurodivergence, or were singled out at an early age for our perceived differences, no matter what name they were given. Not everybody feels confident about sharing they are autistic, or have ADHD or another neurodivergent condition and nobody should ever feel pushed into doing so. If you don’t want to share, however, you can still ask for help around particular issues you might face. For instance, you could say that it’s very difficult for you to concentrate when everyone is talking and the radio is on in the background and ask whether you could wear earphones whilst you’re completing your admin. Or you could say that it’s difficult for you to keep track of what’s being said in meetings and ask for more extensive minutes to be circulated. You won’t be protected by law in the same way that someone else might be under disability laws, but you have a right to ask for certain conditions to be met and it may be that changes are put into place. 

If you have shared that you are a neurodivergent individual, your workplace has a legal right to support you in reasonable accommodations or adjustments. 

Reasonable is an important word to take note of. Some positions may have hired you to undertake certain roles which, over time, you’ve discovered are very difficult and anxiety-provoking. Whilst you might ask for adjustments, if they’re not considered reasonable they may not be granted. Some examples might include asking to be excluded from extra-curricular activities in a position, such as teaching, where this is an integral part of the job. Or it could be that requesting flexi-working is not considered a reasonable adjustment where people are required to work face-to-face with clients. 

Some factors to consider when asking for reasonable adjustments include the fact that you don’t need to have been officially diagnosed with a condition to do so, although check current information regarding the law in your own country. 

I’ve provided a list of adjustments that can make a huge difference, and which neurodivergent people often find helpful, which is a good starting point to identify the kind of adjustments that you would find helpful. It might be that you have identified an adjustment which isn’t on the list, or that only a handful of them apply to you, which is completely fine. This is about tailoring your adjustments to your needs. In the first instance, you could work on this by yourself or with support from HR or a manager at work, or from more informal support from a friend or family member. Preparing workplace reports is also something that I, and other organisations, do, if you feel you need more support.

Once you have drawn up a list of accommodations that you would find helpful, you should arrange a meeting with your manager, explaining initially how you are affected in the workplace due to being neurodivergent. At this point, it may be helpful to contact HR, if you have an HR department, and you might also want to refer to the legal responsibilities of the organisation you work for. It’s also helpful to be clear about the types of adjustments you are asking for and how and why they affect your ability to work, along with potential solutions. In the earliest stages, this can be discussed and negotiated, but it’s a good idea to draw up a list of recommendations that are specific enough to give a good indication of your needs. For instance, instead of saying that you find that meetings make you very anxious, you could say that you become anxious because you are not sure when or how to speak up during meetings and would prefer to be able to share your thoughts in writing before hand, or being asked for your opinion. This highlights a specific issue and a potential solution, that gives both of you something to work towards. 

Depending on your workplace, how your request for accommodations is received, the size of the organisation and whether you are involved with the HR department, there may be several stages to go through to reach a point of resolution. Often, simple accommodations are easily put in place and make a huge difference. A record should be kept of any accommodations you have asked for and what the outcome is regarding your request. 

If your requests are not met, you will have to have further meetings to discuss how you go forwards. At this point, it might be that further discussion can lead to a resolution and in some cases it might be that you need further support, including trade union representation or legal support. In some cases, you will have a strong case and it’s important to remember your legal rights and seek support in exercising those rights. It doesn’t automatically guarantee that your request for accommodations will be met, as a lot will depend on whether your requests are considered reasonable or not within a legal context, but it will ensure that you have advocated for your needs and will receive the level of support you are entitled to. 

Remember, advocating your needs is about more than a legal entitlement. It reflects your recognition that you deserve to have your needs met and you have a right to express those needs. For people who have often been silenced their entire lives, this opportunity to ask for your needs to be recognised not only feels empowering but enables you to change your working situation in a way that will continue to open up more opportunities.

You'll find several documents at the end of this lesson including a template (which you can adjust as you need) for an initial email to send to your line manager requesting a meeting to discuss accommodations. Another document highlights the stages involved in identifying the accommodations you might need and putting a plan into place to ensure your needs are communicated effectively. You'll also find a document with a list of potential accommodations. Some of them will be relevant for you, and others won't be. There might also be some accommodations that are not on the list. I've provided this in word format so that it's easy to cut and paste those that are relevant into your own document.