Reply To: Work Distractions

[Patte Rosebank]

Now, after the last performance review, the company wants to review my accommodations to see what else has to be done to improve my work performance.

@ADDled, that sounds to me like a good thing!  If they’re meeting with you to discuss what else needs to be done, it means they’re still willing to help you.

Be sure to prepare properly, using the “issue/causes/possible solutions” approach I told you about.  That way, you’ll show your employer that you’re willing to help them to help you.

It may be premature to file any formal complaints against your employer, especially when it appears they’re still willing to help you.

I’d call the Ministry of Labour, now, but just to discuss your situation and get some advice.

I’d also call the Human Rights Commission, now, but just to discuss your situation and get some advice.

Take note of when you called and who you spoke with, as well as what they told you.

Familiarize yourself with what the Ministry & the Commission have told you, but do not even mention to your employer that you have contacted them.

As long as your employer continues to show some willingness to help you, you should keep showing a willingness to help them to help you.

Most neuro-typicals don’t know just how hyper-sensitive the senses of an ADHD person are.  So, they can’t understand why sounds that most people wouldn’t really notice, can seem like fingernails on a blackboard to you.  You’ll have to explain this to them, calmly, so that they’ll understand that you’re not being difficult; you really are having such a visceral reaction to those sounds, that you cannot stand it.

Perhaps your employer could move you to a cubicle in a corner, where there isn’t a lot of traffic.

Or, maybe they could transfer you to another department, which is a better fit for your working methods & skills.

Or, perhaps they could partner you with another employee, who is strong in the organizational & administrative tasks that you have trouble with, and isn’t as strong in the tasks that you are strong in.

Audio-recording devices are fairly inexpensive now.  Is your employer objecting to the cost, or do they consider being recorded to be an invasion of privacy?

As long as everyone knows they’re being recorded, but the recorder isn’t too intrusive, and everyone is clear that this is being done not as a “gotcha”, but because, without that device, you simply won’t be able to remember what was said in the meeting.  (Just as, for example, a blind person would need a special device in order to use a computer, because they can’t simply can’t see the screen.)

I know it’s really hard to stay open to the possibilities here, especially when you feel like your employer is out to get you.

But just stay informed, and keep showing you’re willing to help them to help you, by “doing your homework”, so you’re well-prepared every time you meet with them.

If you ask for a specific accommodation, and they say they can’t give it to you, ask them WHY they THINK they can’t.  Listen to each reason, and be prepared with a way that they actually CAN.  (This is where “doing your homework” comes in.)

And remember, you are NOT helpless, and you are NOT doomed!

 

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