Adjustments

Noise Sensitivity

Do you have any issues with noise sensitivity (this could apply to any condition which involves the brain, including fibro and hearing loss/tinnitus as well as neurodiversity). Will ear defenders help with that or any other support, i.e working in a quieter area

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Provide a quiet space to work or access to noise-cancelling headphones or white-noise headphones

• Offer more frequent, shorter breaks

• Organise work around medication if applicable

• Changing the layout of a work area

• Adjusting the layout of a meeting room and using good lighting to help the person with hearing loss see everybody clearly - this is important for lipreading

• Position an employee with hearing loss in a work area that has good acoustics and where they can see the rest of the room

• Using the phone by providing appropriate equipment

• Physical environment - create a good listening environment

• Meetings and training sessions - speak one at a time

• Recruitment and interviews - arrange communication support

• Changing the times when events happen

• Changing the places where services are to be delivered

• Arranging for an advocate to support you

• Allowing more time for a face-to-face interview

• Offering clear written information

Temperature 

Do you have issues with temperature sensitivity (could apply to menopause, fibro, MS loads of conditions) - review current uniform, heater, fans, cool rooms

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Offer more frequent, shorter breaks

• Organise work around medication if applicable

• Changing the layout of a work area

Light Sensitivity

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Changing the lighting above someone’s desk or workstation

• Offer more frequent, shorter breaks

• Organise work around medication if applicable

• Changing the layout of a work area

• Changing the working environment (altering lighting levels)

• Change how items and spaces are organised

Spacial 

Do you have any issues with physical touch - again applies to lots of conditions so things like shaking hands with someone etc is a no go. This is more of making others aware and how we do this to ensure people are not touched.

Are you able to work in an open plan area (relates to noise and distraction) - this applies to many conditions. 

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Organise work around medication if applicable

• Changing the layout of a work area

Time Management/Prioritisation and Planning

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Offer more frequent, shorter breaks

• Organise work around medication if applicable

• Allow extra time for meeting or presentation preparation

• Enable note-taking or record meetings

• Offer support in planning tasks

• Give support in breaking long assignments up into shorter tasks

• Assistance with detailed paperwork

• Providing information in a preferred way, notes, visual, etc

Memory

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Offer more frequent, shorter breaks

• Organise work around medication if applicable

• Enable note-taking or record meetings

• Offer support in planning tasks

• Give support in breaking long assignments up into shorter tasks

• Assistance with detailed paperwork

• Providing information in a preferred way, notes, visual, etc

Reading and Writing

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Organise work around medication if applicable

• Allow extra time for meeting or presentation preparation

• Offer support in planning tasks

• Give support in breaking long assignments up into shorter tasks

• Assistance with detailed paperwork

• Providing information in a preferred way, notes, visual, etc

ADHD

Symptoms are unique to the individual, but can include one of, or a combination of many symptoms, including: 

• Impulsiveness

• Disorganisation and problems prioritising

• Poor time management skills

• Problems focusing on a task

• Trouble multitasking

• Excessive activity or restlessness

• Poor planning

• Low frustration tolerance

General Adjustments

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Provide a quiet space to work or access to noise-cancelling headphones or white-noise headphones

• Changing the lighting above someone’s desk or workstation

• Offer more frequent, shorter breaks

• Organise work around medication if applicable

• Allow extra time for meeting or presentation preparation

• Enable note-taking or record meetings

• Offer support in planning tasks

• Give support in breaking long assignments up into shorter tasks

• Assistance with detailed paperwork

General Software/Hardware Adjustments

• Noise-cancelling headphones

Autism

Symptoms are unique to the individual, but can include one of, or a combination of many symptoms, including: 

• Finding it hard to understand what others are thinking or feeling

• Getting very anxious about social situations

• Finding it hard to make friends or preferring to be on your own

• Seeming blunt, rude or not interested in others without meaning to

• Finding it hard to say how you feel

General Adjustments

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Use of a quiet, secluded part of the workplace

• Changing the lighting above someone's desk or workstation.

• Changing the layout of a work area

General Software/Hardware Adjustments

• Noise-cancelling headphones

• A screen filter for a laptop or desktop PC monitor

• Time management apps

• Project management apps

• Instant messaging and text-to-speech apps

• Noise-cancelling headphones

Dyslexia

Symptoms are unique to the individual, but can include one of, or a combination of many symptoms, including: 

• Confusing visually similar words such as cat and cot

• Spelling erratically

• Find it hard to scan or skim text

• Read/write slowly

• Need to re-read paragraphs to understand them

• Find it hard to listen and maintain focus

• Find it hard to concentrate if there are distractions

General Adjustments

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Give verbal rather than written instructions/clarify or simplify written directions

• Highlight salient points in documents

• Provide information on pastel coloured paper

• Allow plenty of time for tasks which require reading

• Present a small amount of work at a time

• Block out extraneous stimuli

• Highlight essential information

• Provide additional practice activities

• Provide a glossary in content areas

General Software/Hardware Adjustments

• Supply screen reading software and scanner

• Provide a Reading Pen for unfamiliar words

• Screen magnifier

• Coloured overlays

• Noise-cancelling headphones

Dyspraxia

Symptoms are unique to the individual, but can include one of, or a combination of many symptoms, including: 

• Abnormal posture

• Balance and movement issues, or gait abnormalities

• Poor hand-eye coordination

• Fatigue

• Trouble learning new skills

• Organisation and planning problems

• Difficulty writing or using a keyboard

General Adjustments

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Visual demonstrations alongside verbal instructions

• Arrange for employees to come in early or to stay late, to reduce distraction

• Have a partition around their desk, own room or allow them to wear earphones to reduce distractions

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Job coaching could be considered when an individual starts a new job or experiences a job change

• Avoid giving complex multiple instructions and check they are understood

• Regular breaks to allow the concentration of effort to be targeted correctly

• A mentor or buddy may be helpful

General Software/Hardware Adjustments

• Noise-cancelling headphones

Dyscalculia

Symptoms are unique to the individual, but can include one of, or a combination of many symptoms, including: 

• Difficulty counting backwards 

• A high level of mathematics anxiety 

• Weak mental arithmetic skills 

• Trouble handling money or finances 

• Difficulty understanding graphs or charts 

• Poor time management 

• Struggling to use Excel/Google Sheets

General Adjustments

• Explore what coping strategies are already used by the employee

• Provide a calculator – If the employee is required to multiply, add or subtract as part of their role and struggles to do this in their head then you can provide them with a calculator to support the employee with this

• When presenting numerical data, keep the message clear and remove unnecessary figures from the document 

• Use visual charts and diagrams to interpret the data such as pie charts, bar graphs etc 

• Explain what the numbers that you have communicated mean for the department/ organisation 

• Avoid asking for the employee to record important figures in meetings there and then – ask the employee to provide the feedback from the meeting in written format so that any errors can be rectified. 

• Encourage individuals to take ‘rough paper’ into meetings to note down any numbers or maths problems 

• Display a clear table with conversions of measures/formulas which are relevant to the role, which is easily accessible for the employee 

• Provide time management tools 

General Software/Hardware Adjustments

• Noise-cancelling headphones

Hearing Loss

Symptoms are unique to the individual, but can include one of, or a combination of many symptoms, including:

• Difficulty hearing other people clearly and misunderstanding what they say, especially in noisy places

• Asking people to repeat themselves

• Listening to music or watching TV with the volume higher than other people need

• Difficulty hearing on the phone

• Finding it hard to keep up with a conversation

General Adjustments

• Adjusting the layout of a meeting room and using good lighting to help the person with hearing loss see everybody clearly - this is important for lipreading

• Position an employee with hearing loss in a work area that has good acoustics and where they can see the rest of the room

• Using the phone by providing appropriate equipment

• Physical environment - create a good listening environment

• Meetings and training sessions - speak one at a time

• Recruitment and interviews - arrange communication support

• Changing the times when events happen

• Changing the places where services are to be delivered

• Arranging for an advocate to support you

• Allowing more time for a face-to-face interview

• Offering clear written information

General Software/Hardware Adjustments

• Noise-cancelling headphones

Sight Loss

Symptoms are unique to the individual, but can include one of, or a combination of many symptoms, including:

• Inability to distinguish certain shades of colour

• Loss of side vision

• Objects appear crooked or distorted

• Poor night vision

• Progressive expansion of shadow or curtain over visual field

• Seeing nonexistent things, or hallucinating

• Sensitivity to light

• Shimmering spots or stars

General Adjustments

• Changing the working environment (altering lighting levels)

• Change how items and spaces are organised

General Software/Hardware Adjustments

• Providing equipment (such as a video magnifier, screen magnification, a screen reader)

• Noise-cancelling headphones

• Providing software (such as ZoomText/JAWS/Supernova)

  • The mouse pointer -On Windows and Mac OS X, it is possible to change the colour and size of the mouse pointer (arrow) and the shape of the mouse pointer. A wider range of sizes and colours and high-visibility effects can be achieved with specialist software, but increasing the size is free and built in.

  • Microsoft Office features - The Microsoft Office suite of programmes has inbuilt features that may help aid visibility. You can increase the size of the buttons in the toolbars and, in Word, you can make the document window white text on a blue background regardless of Windows’ colour scheme.

  • Built-in magnification and screen-reading - Windows and Mac OS X have built in magnification and screen-reading capabilities. In Windows they are called “Windows magnifier” and “narrator”. In Mac OS X, they are “Zoom” and “VoiceOver”. Activating these features enables text to be enlarged very considerably, meaning you do not see the whole screen at any time. The view-window follows as you move the mouse or the text cursor as you type, or have text or controls spoken out.

  • Finding the text cursor - Many people find it difficult to locate the blinking vertical bar that indicates where you are typing. You can increase the size and change the appearance of the cursor in Windows XP and above, although its size only increases in MS Word and a few other programmes. A program called Mouse&Caret Buddy can help you find your mouse cursor and text caret by showing pictures next to them.

  • Configuring your web browser - All new computers come with internet browsing software already installed. Many websites are visually complex and confusing, with multiple columns and text in a strange combination of colours. All of the most common browsers can force the text to be of the size and colour that you prefer, and the background and foreground colours of the page can be whatever combination you wish.