Desirable workplace interventions

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FrodoHackins
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27 Jul 2013, 4:39 pm

Before I begin, I will explain my situation. Currently, I am at an event for entrepreneurs, where we are coming up with ideas for startup companies, working intensely throughout the weekend, and presenting to a panel of judges tomorrow. One team member is me (ADHD and a possible autistic spectrum condition) and my partner has dyslexia. We are working on an idea for products and services dedicated to helping companies accommodate neurodiversity in the workplace. We are trying to gather information in order to better conceptualize the issues with accommodating neurodiversity and the types of resources that would be most helpful.

To that end, I was wondering if some of you would be willing to share some of your thoughts on the matter -- thoughts that you would be okay with us using as "market data" in our presentation, in the form of paraphrases and quotes. (No names will be attached to responses.)

Specifically...
-What are some common problems with neurotypical and non-neurotypical people working together?
-What kinds of resources (in the form of software, training, etc.) would you find most helpful in alleviating (and ideally preventing) said problems?

I look forward to your thoughts on the matter. Feel free to PM me with responses, if you prefer. For those who do respond, please let me extend to you my sincerest thanks.

(To the mods: I have no intention of promoting or advertising anything here, and I read the rules before posting this inquiry. :))



ghoti
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27 Jul 2013, 5:07 pm

A couple problems i had dealt with language differences. People like to use jargon and i use specific language to try to be clear. They think i am being too specific when they prefer the jargon and i have trouble understanding the jargon as i can misunderstand the specific meaning as a jargon can mean different things to different people. Related to that is when a supervisor or co-worker gives me vague commands and i mess up on those (as if i could intuitively fill in the substantial missing pieces) and then they get mad at me when i ask them to be more specific so there will be no misunderstanding. Then i get bashed as being a "poor communicator" for that.



FrodoHackins
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27 Jul 2013, 6:09 pm

ghoti, thank you for speaking up! :)

Both of the things you mention (the need for clear language and people's impatience with requests for clarification) are themes that are arising repeatedly in our market research. One of the things we are looking at is how to promote clear communication. So, I appreciate you providing additional confirmation of this point.



EMTkid
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27 Jul 2013, 6:21 pm

The biggest problem I have encountered is simple bigotry. "She doesn;t think like I do, therefore she thoughts are inferior." I think that if the higher-ups would actually deal with bullying or creating a hostile work environment instead of just rolling their eyes and telling the victim to stop making trouble it would go a long way. If there actually were consequences to people behaving like children, it would make things go much smoother for those who are different.

I am blessed to work in a field (EMS) where we are all just a little weird. I can't imagine working in a NT-dominated field. A lot of times I can barely survive here!



broben05
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05 Aug 2013, 10:37 am

I think the thing that gets to me most in the workplace is management of tasks, prioritizing things based on deadlines, or more often who in the corporate structure gives me the task. I'm supposed to be the system administrator and take care of infrastructure to keep the business going. But I regularly get pulled off of my tasks by the "owner" of the company, to do work on his personal network, computers, or pet projects. In reality I'm trying to supervise and expedite the transfer of our current data center to a managed virtual environment. But, if the owner asks for something it is automatically put at the front of the queue, so I don't upset the owner, which would put my job at risk, however, at the same time I'm putting my job at risk by not being able to complete the migration.


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