Lived Experience Forum

[Kermit]

Hi,

Wondering if anyone has tips for self advocacy for reinforcing agreed reasonable adjustments for mental health/neurological conditions at work?

I have reasonable adjustments at work for autism and bipolar disorder and have been in a new role for a week. Going through applying for the adjustments took a month and the adjustments were only signed by management after I escalated the situation to Human Resources (and were then signed off in a day) so I'm not really sure whether the adjustments are really taken seriously.

One basic adjustment is a 10 minute break between meetings. My manager set up a 30 minute meeting immediately before a 1 and a half hour meeting on Monday.  Part of me considered agreeing to consecutive meetings to not rock the boat, then I emailed and spoke to him requesting the break between meetings so I could concentrate and participate fully (and also stated because that was agreed in the adjustments) and he agreed but I found it hard to gauge his reaction.

I'm also due for a meeting with my manager to discuss my adjustments and am pretty sure I'll have to set that meeting up too, otherwise my gut feeling is it won't happen.

I know it's very early days and find it hard to tell if this "reminding" him of what he's agreed and signed off on is something I'm going to have to keep doing. Also, if I have the energy to keep reminding him of my adjustments, how I do it respectfully and without getting visibly frustrated? Any ideas?

[fluffylight]

Hi @Kermit 😊 :smiling_face_with_smiling_eyes

Firstly, congrats on bringing your authentic self to work and asking for your needs to be met!

I'm sorry to hear that it took some time for your adjustments to be put in place. Adjustments at workplaces are so important and I'm sorry if this isn't taken seriously. 

If you are up for doing some self-advocacy - I've found this to be very useful https://www.ourcommunity.com.au/files/MadWorkplaces-ForConsumers.pdf

I've found writing my needs out and taking it into the meetings help solidify it - or putting it in an email always helps, that way I don't need to witness any visible fustration 😬 :grimacing_face 

Good luck with navigating through this!

flufflylight x

[tyme]

Good on your advocating for you needs @Kermit . It sounds like making reasonable adjustments is a very new thing where you work, so it may time a bit of time to 'train' them. In other words, remind them. However, it sounds like it is important for all in terms of moving forward.

I see this a lot, and hence I like to look at it like a whole new 'culture shift'. Culture shifts take time. In the past, esp in schools, you were just expected to do everything like everyone else. Yet over time, there's been a push for inclusion which causes people to rethink how they support with workers. it seems that the uptake is slow, and only happens when there's a need for it.

So it sounds like your work in this space will open the door for others.

Yet I also recognise how frustrating and tedious it can feel sometimes. Do you think the job is worth the effort? If so, just keep plodding along. 

We're here to support you.

[Kermit]

Hi @fluffylight  and @tyme ,

Thanks for the advocacy information @fluffylight and the posts from both of you.

I agree with writing stuff down and the culture comments. As a staff member I feel where reasonable adjustment implementation is uncommon, there is a risk when staff member's tries to educate their manager as to the manager's obligations it can be seen as telling the manager how to do their job. Due to the power difference this can come across badly. 

Part of me also feels that there needs to be accountability though. The adjustments are framed not just in terms of my health but also helping me do my job effectively.  My accountability feelings are that it's not good enough for managers to state they look after their staff members' health in their performance reviews and yet sign off to agree on specific tailored actions for individuals and not follow through.

I guess one options is  I can have a go at "reminding" my manager about the agreed adjustments for a start and if becomes clear the agreed written actions are going to be ignored, work out what to do next.

My manager's manager was the one who contributed most to the delay in approving the adjustments initially so I've already written them off.

[Kermit]

Hi @fluffylight and @tyme,

Next instalment - After talking with my medical team, I decided not to push making sure every adjustment occurred according to proper process and try to influence things informally ie say I need a toilet break for a break during meetings.

However, this isn't working so I'll need to reassess. Yesterday, three and a half hours of meetings beyond scheduled time with no clearly outlined breaks (there were some impromptu ones) led to the last hour of the day being useless. I went out and had something to eat, then locked myself in a meeting room for a mini-tearful meltdown and then spent the rest of the hour doing breathing exercises while looking out a window to prevent a panic attack.

I don't know whether to just hope the number/duration of meetings decreases as the work continues or have another conversation with the manager where I feel incompetent because I can't keep up with other team members.