Sensory difficulties in an office environment

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Hello,

Long time listener, first time caller. I am an adult father of four boys, mid-30's, intelligent professional career type fella. I never knew about or considered Asperger's in myself until about 5 years ago when two of my kids (first and third) were diagnosed by a neurologist. My eldest is "just a little", my third one is full-blown. I haven't sought a professional diagnosis for myself for ASD, but the more I learn and recall about myself, the more and more closely it aligns to the point where there is no doubt in my mind that I've got some degree of ASD, maybe just to the high side of Aspie.

So many questions, but the one that currently bothers me the most is functioning well in a noisy office environment. I am in management, yet I don't have a private office of my own currently and I find it more and more difficult to remain focused with the noise that comes with cubicle-land. It's mostly auditory, and stuff that others probably filter out. Right now I can hear five different simultaneous conversations, a phone ringing, someone typing, the doors to the elevator lobby automatically locking and unlocking, and on and on. There are other sensory things too, like smells around lunchtime, temperature, or someone walking past and feeling the floor vibrate a little (unsettling here in earthquake-prone Los Angeles), but the auditory stimulation is the worst and makes it extremely difficult to concentrate, especially in the afternoon when my brain gets a little more tired. I usually use sound isolating earbuds but as a manager, you can't always be plugged in to your music when folks are trying to get ahold of you.

Is there anyone here who has experienced similar difficulties? What remedies have you tried that worked? I know there are sound conditioners like the Marpac Dohm-DS that I've seen used in doctor's offices, but I don't know how well they work or what they really do. Any suggestions? I feel the lack of ability to concentrate is starting to degrade my performance and hinder my advancement potential. Thanks, and much appreciated!

I will start off saying a smart phone saved me in this way. I have good earbud like things that I use to listen to music and my work phone number is routed to my cell phone, so I can receive calls on it, and not miss them due to listening to music. This is also important as I have trouble hearing on the phone and need my headset to hear what is said during phone calls.

Yep...a great way to adapt to an adverse situation.

That's what we Aspies have to do, sometimes.

What if you follow the general practice of getting to the office 10 minutes early where you can at least begin work with fewer interruptions, and then leaving pretty much strictly on time with only rare exceptions?

Now, as a manager, you can't really follow the practice of getting there early, leaving early. But you can get there early, leave on time. And that may help to make the whole day less chaotic.

I struggle with this a bit. There are a few things I do:
- I have a pair of Jaybirds Bluebuds X in-ear bluetooth headphones. They are honestly the best in-ear bluetooth headphones on the market right now and they block out nearly everything - so much so that if someone is approaching me from behind or talking to me, I don't notice until they tap me on my shoulder, knock on my desk or wave in my face.
- I have a workplace adjustment in place that formalises the fact that I need a fair bit of space and no fluorescent lighting within my direct line of sight. I am still in a "pod" with 7 other people, but I am positioned so I am down the end of the pod facing the window with some distance between myself and the others and away from the walkway. Because I am facing the window, my desk is lit by natural sunlight and the fluorescent lighting is behind me and doesn't impact on my sensory issues or epilepsy.
- If I am having a bad day or have a lot to get done, I can go hotdesk from somewhere else in the building like what we call a quiet room, or the hotdesking floor upstairs. The hotdesking floor is quite silent as there's few people who use it and those who do tend to be quite respectful of the people around them. Being away from people I know allows me to work uninterrupted and in peace and quiet
- I can work from home a day a week or so if necessary and I have my own work laptop to allow me to do this. I opt not to do this though because it severely breaks my routine which is often worse than dealing with sensory overload. Also, I utilise many specialised applications that are unfortunately not a part of the MOE on my wfh laptop and I can't get on my personal PC.

There are other things but these are the main ones.

I am conquering another struggle at the moment with some construction happening on the block next door to our building. They are currently demolishing a large building bit by bit and they are doing this in an "environmentally friendly" way by salvaging bits of the building and reusing them. Nice for the environment maybe but not nice for my sanity, because it means they are slowly jackhammering away all day every day rather than just taking it down by explosives/demolition ball quickly (or however it is done). I haven't had my Jaybirds on me the last few days and have been using my backup earphones and they are just not cutting it. I will be bringing my Jaybirds in tomorrow though to see how I go with that.

The white noise machine sounds like a good idea if it doesn't bother your other colleagues.

I'm struggling with this situation also. I returned from leave to find my desk had been moved from it's corner of safety to smack bang in the middle of the room, under a fluorescent light.
I'm now in direct line-of-sight of both doors. I feel like I'm sitting in a fish bowl.
Five weeks later I'm still having meltdowns because I can't cope.
I feel like I don't belong there anymore.
It's difficult.

I have started the process but it seems amazingly difficult
1) I'm an adult
2) there's no specialist services available in my area
3) it's very expensive
4) it's difficult for me to communicate verbally and I get frustrated because I can't say what I want to say
5) it's exhausting
Not sure about the process where you are, but to get services here you need to go through mental health. I'm sure they think I'm just a 'crazy'. Maybe I am. I feel like I'm going crazy.
I have a new respect for all the diagnosed adult Aspies out there. Well done, peoples! If you can make it through, I'm sure I can too. Eventually.

Even without a diagnosis you can ask and say you are more productive in quieter locations. If they have promoted you to management they do think highly of you and your work.

Scripting and practicing may also lesson the difficulties with verbal communication.