What makes a workplace ASD friendly?

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Companies like Specialisterne and Aspiritech have founded themselves as ASD friendly workplaces and have taken steps to make sure that the environment, work, management, etc is suitable for those on the Spectrum (higher end).

I am curious though what makes a place ASD friendly should someone want to change after the fact? For instance is Tolerance of those with Autism enough or does if have to be welcoming? Do you require agendas for meetings? These are just examples and I hope that others have some ideas.

work from home...

An example of an ASD unfriendly work place.

Quiet surroundings, small staff group, disability-friendly management & staff, not having to sell things or deal with grievances, interaction with general public minimal, having repetitive or absorbing tasks.

With my volunteer job I've found it is perfect for Aspies (if you like animals!) because no one makes fun of you or treats you badly/differently from the other volunteers. I think the best bit is that they make allowances for my occasional 'odd' behaviour (including my tics) and they often stick up for me if someone is rude to me. Usually this is the public who are rude to me and they are quite rude to the paid workers as well Usually when we say 'NO you can't adopt that hamster!' or 'NO you can't pet the bunnies!' I work in an animal rescue shelter not a frikkin petting zoo!

Here are some things that I find stressful in a workplace:

1. schedules altered at short notice.
2. large groups of people (more than 4 or 5).
3. other people moving my tools/equipment to different places.
4. vague language, vague specifications, vague expectations of performance.
5. evil flickering fluorescent lights.
6. customer service (i.e. unfamiliar people and new social relationships).
7. multiple supervisors issuing conflicting instructions.
8. having to stop an activity before it is finished.
9. politicking, gossip, leverage, backstabbing etc etc.


Here are some things which lower stress at work:

1. having time to finish an activity or project.
2. clear plans with details discussed before the plan is executed.
3. non-interference from others, during work time.
4. intelligent supervisors who are actively interested in the project.
5. work environment which is free of irritants.
6. stable co-workers; social harmony with little politicking.

This is my ideal but I've already lost all hope of this ever happening.

1.) Pleasent ambient lighting
2.) Quiet environment or allowed to listen to headphones or at least not have co-workers that are constantly complaining because of how sh*t management is.
3.) Constant work shift that does not change
4.) Clear and detailed written instructions for what is required
5.) Minimal emotional contact with people required
6.) Allowed to focus on other things or surf the net during downtime
7.)A supervisor that wont have you fired for being 1 minute late because of people moving your equipment

agreed

A workplace needs an understanding of AS/ASD behaviour.
For example to know that meltdowns are not childish tantrums that are used against a person, how to give criticism in a way that doesn't feel like an attack, giving people with ASD freedom to do their work alone or choose their own level of interaction with others.

A workplace should also learn to take advantage of ASD traits.
Like with any employees, some will be better than others at certain tasks, it makes sense not only in being ASD friendly but it makes business sense to get ASD people into roles they work well in, rather than forcing them to do something unsuitable to their talents.

A workplace that rewards achievement and recognises effort.
I don't think people on the spectrum can deal with 'playing the game' not only does it prevent people with ASD from getting ahead because they simply can't kiss-arse like NT's can, but it makes for a very unpleasant workplace. If a person makes an effort with extra work it should be praised not seen as more ammunition to use against them, and achievement should be praised with this playing a part on deciding who gets what job and promotions.

Example - One job I worked in I consistently scored 95%+ in quality and I did three times the work of anyone else, I was one of a few members of staff who knew system codes required to solve problems with the largest system we used (I saved the company millions), I was management trained and trained other staff. New management came in and people who had been there just months, who had poor work quality to the point of costing millions and could barely manage basics of the job were promoted...because they kissed-arse. I left the job not only due to lack of promotion, but also constructive dismissal when one manager decided being aspie and not kissing his arse meant I was a 'mental ret*d' and monitoring my every move meant my extra work just meant more areas for him to try to trip me up.

Management should be clear and professional.
Clear not just in giving clear instructions, but also clear in their own role, no giving mixed messages by trying to be pally-pally with staff one day just to have to discipline them the next or favouring some staff members over others. No changing the rules or what is supposed to be done, just very clear instructions on what is expected and also what would be adventurous for those who get through their workload and want to do a little more or do a little work from the next day to make things easier for themselves.

Flexitime!
Or at least flexibility about shifts/hours working and what has to be done during that time.

Nice work environments.
When things get too much it pays to have a room set aside that's nice, quite, dark, a safe place to go to take as long as needed to calm down - if it takes a few hours, fine, allow time to be made-up elsewhere. Equally have nice social areas too, where if they want to join-in with other employees they can, nice break rooms to sit and interact with others. Generally a nice work place with appropriate lighting and air conditioning, real work area assessment to see if anything can be done to make the work space more ASD friendly.

Less telephone and face-to-face.
Allow this to be optional, more online and email communication - I think people on the spectrum work better online or talking via email, it's less stressful and allows better communication on many levels.

Agreed, many things can be done from home (ie. filling in data), but may not be possible or permissible because of security reasons. IMO the most important thing would be for the ASD person to know that he is able to go to someone who understands the reason of ie. why he leaves work early. Another option would be to have one or more rooms where the person can meltdown safely wihout interruption.


The effective workflow that many ASD'ers can be profitable if the company can harness their talents right, however it's also up to the ASD person to extend his comfort zone to encompass other work that he may be contracted to do. It may be hard for many, but life is a lesson in itself that one should not refuse to learn...



In some places, management rewards their staff with with gifts. ie. my dad gives christmas and easter gifts to his staff, mostly about a bottle of wine or similar to reward them for their work. No-one is left out.
Kiss-assing on the other hand is a nearly unsolveable conondrum, as the ass-kisser in question may compromise other peoples work and may even get others fired (good people nontheless). However discouraging achievement is a product of fear, the others may think you're some weirdo that's trying to snatch their promotion. However praising achievent too much can also have adverse side-effects, workers burning themselves out for one.



Had you been in a Danish worker union, you could have sued his ass to hell and back again... The manager in question surely has a God complex, given power he expects his staff to worship him or face the consequences. No person like that should be given a leading role, but they're hard to spot. For any manager reading this: driving a corporation is about keeping the people who are efficient working while weeding out the lazy and inefficient workers. Being a manager is NOT about playing God, but, well power corrupts...



Those are THE most logical tenets of running a company with happy workers. However ASD'ers must also know that their bosses will be under the same pressure (ie. incompetent a-holes from HQ), and it stesses them just as much, trust me on that one


Flexitime is one of the most underrated innovations ever, however it rarely can work properly in smaller companies, especially if there's one or two persons that has the qualifications for a task that needs to be done.


While we do have fairly strict work environment laws here in Denmark, there are still things that can be done better, as mentioned, the lighting in many places is excessive (there is profit in saving on the power bill ), but generally it's a must to keep a nice atmosphere, and in creative places (game companies etc.) it's also a must to use decoration etc. that inspires the workers in general. As for ASD people, it may be hard for the company to offer space that doesn't clash with any sensory problems.

so: tl:dr of it all:

1. the company could offer a safe place where ASD staff may meltdown in a safe and calming environment.
2. Making use of ASD staff in the workplace will also require some flexibility on the ASD persons part, not all can do it, but many can. It's a good way to extend skills into other areas and to observe the workflow
3. In some cases it can pay off to slow down a bit, use extra time to help co-workers. Beware, however that others may fear you taking a possible promotion off their hands. If you are not looking for promotion, make it clear to ease their fear
4. Beware of bosses with a God-complex, they run everyone into the ground teeth first, not only ASD people. To get out of the worst of their wrath, do a bit of ass-kissing, ie. deliver work in person with a smile on your face and throw him/her a compliment or smalltalk (know it's hard for many) about an idea you may have and get his/her opinion on it. Helping them with a task is also good
5. remember that your boss may also get hazy info from his higher-uppers, so it may not be you manager's fault, it's up to you to make sure you get the specifics, and make sure that someone can clarify the instructions.
6. No company can make everybody happy, and having ASD may not be a reason for special treatment from the manager's POV, however, Specialisterne and other companies along those lines are different, as much of their staff has a kind of autism, and thus, have to make sure that the envinment is ASD friendly.

further ideals:
1. give some freedom to the staff, ie. allow them to use headphones, listen to net radios etc., as long as it doesn't bother others.
2. Respect for other people's time
3. Management who respects their staff along with their competences, not their ass-kissing abilities
4. proper, efficient communication
5. flexibility with work time (i don't care if someone is late, as long as things are done on time.)
6. not being forced to think positively (i'm looking at you, teambuilding exercises
7. people who know how to do a goddamn proper job. (i'm looking at you, the many IT departments i've seen and their god-forsaken work.)

examples of #7 above:
My school: First off they're too incompetent to close off ports, so students can still play WoW and suck up everybody elses internet speed. They in fact managed to block a site once (onemorelevel.com, a harmless flash site). then they have the goddamn balls to go into a computer science class hand explain stuff in old-lady-IT-lingo (more simplified that support-line-in-India-lingo) to someone who is recieving a better education than what they have, with the addition that most of their explanations are pure lazy-ass BS. The result: nothing we said was implemented and the wifi still runs like a cheetah covered in cupious amounts of molasses.
Later on, they made a seperate network for the CS classes that ran quite okay and didn't disconnect us constantly... seriously, that wifi ran nearly as fast as the internet from home.... but noo, they wanted to "supervise" our actions on the network and we were thrown back on the-now-even-slower-than-before network where you can't even have a proper game of Worms:Amargeddon running without risk of having to log on again.
Seriously, the two CS classes here should just raid the IT dept. and fix the damn thing.

My dad's workplace: My dad is working as manager for the Danish section of a larger healthcare product company. The company was sold off to another, larger HC manufacturer, and many of their IT-related tasks have now been relegated to the IT dept. in the Swedish section. The guy who did server maintenance before was laid off and the server DBs etc. were also sent to Sweden. The thing is, now, every time a computer goes haywire, they have to call someone in from Sweden, Meaning that I also no longer can do any repair work, as the Windows admin functions have been closed off.... well... at least they got that right
Recently a batch of staff laptops were sent off to be upgraded to windows 7, but they apparently failed to correctly install the wifi and 3g drivers on all of them, since I can't do anything about it (no admin rights), they had to call in a Swedish IT idiot, get him on a plane, get him two nights @ a hotel, all while I could have done the same for a tenth of the price

I just recently self-diagnosed with ASD and this explains so much on my "quirky" behavior in the past. Prior bosses and colleagues have said 'You do a great job but try not be a mack truck", "You're on another planet again", "you were non-secular in the meeting again." Sound familiar?

Anyways, I've been fortunate to have had some very decent jobs in marketing management in spite of my "condition." I'm looking forward to networking with others with ASD on this site so i don't feel so alone. Any comments on whether disclosure is a good or bad thing to do with co-workers at your job?

Wow... Marketing was quite the challenge for me due to the interaction with sales and business. I am impressed that you were able to find good jobs in that area.

100 % agree.

i'll add .. (similar)

bad:
changing tasks often
ambiguous tasks (like "tidy up")
being expected to have things to do when you really don't ("look busy")
being expected to engage with others outside of work, or about their personal lives while at work
BEING JUDGED ON SOCIAL PERFORMANCE
supervisor who is not professional (brings personal problems to work, is not direct with you, impedes your doing your job correctly)
work environment heavy on blaming employees' attitudes instead of addressing grievances in a constructive fashion


good (actually necessary, for me):
freedom to get up and walk around whenever i get anxious or antsy.
absolute control over organization of immediate workspace
music (headphones will do) or i can't work. the ambient sounds drive me crazy .. beeping, talking, traffic, and anything else.
coworkers or supervisor recognize your strengths and give you tasks that are appropriate (highly detailed, for example)
feedback welcomed

In my experience if the people you work alongside with are understanding then it is usually fine. It is only the places I have worked where people were intolerant of me that I hated it. I think also the lights are a problem for me.

I would add a few more things:

Telephone contact is better than face to face contact because no one can see the erratic gestures I make and voices can be trained very well (also you can conveniently blame things on the line quality ).

Feedback on how you are doing. Honest and constructive feedback.

A certain acceptance of weirdness when it does not impact performance (like the fact that I wear my jacket at work because I often freeze or I sometimes stim). Even though the office is open plan, I get along surprisingly well because we do ignore each other pretty much and chat A LOT through instant messangers instead.

Bad
Bright lights
Lots of talking, phones ringing, cell phones , PC speakers beeping everytime someone hits a key wrong.
People who interupt you just to ask some non critical question...........multiple times
I always seem to get the seat under the vent and the AC makes my seat 65 degrees F in the summer when its 98 F outside and I have to wear a jacket inside, I even have to put the hood up on my hoodie. You would think a boss would ask "Hey is the vent bothering you?" but no they act like they don't notice or there's nothing anyone can do to chnage anything.
The inability of anyone to even request that the environment be altered to suit the employee
Desk is always too low, hits the tops of my legs and I have to lean over and begin to hunch to reach the keyoard, and I'm only 5'11".

People always walk up to me and stare at the PC monitor like I am in there, being all nosey about every detail of every window open. I made a screne capture of my PC with a bunch of work windows open , then use that as my background and screne saver. Funny to watch how confused they get looking at all the background stuff that isn't really there.

People talk like they are afraid someone on this floor might not hear them. Work place should be treated like a library, someone just might be trying to concentrate!

Chairs are always an issue, why do we use super nice chairs in the meeting room where we sit for 30 minutes to an hour and then have these s**t chairs we spend 40 plus hours in?

People who send an email, then call about it, then after they leave a message because I haven't answered a phone in over 15 years........then they come by to ask about the email and if I got the meassage!! !! !! !!

I could go on for pages, but I'll pause here to add the good stuff.

Quiet
Low Light, often the monitor is quite enough light.
LED monitors My headaches stop when I dont stare at flickering cheap LCDs all day.
No phones .............none.
No people, they just can't be trusted, no point and trying to have a bunch of rules about not making noise and bugging everyone else all day, just eliminate them all together.
Choose my own chair
Choose my own desk, even I have to build it myself.
No body allowed to enter my work area for any reason.
Assignments given with details, resources, and adequate time to complete task and documented due date.
One person in the company that contacts me for everything. Just one.


I have no idea what I have or what I am but frequently I feel non human, and I am definately not near the mean avergae in any way but height and apperance.