Accommodations for Autistic Adults: Part 1

One of the questions I get asked frequently is about how to figure out what accommodations you need as an autistic adult. As always, the answer depends on you and your specific nervous system, but here are some general guidelines for figuring out what works best for you.  

And while we often think of accommodations as a work thing, they’re beneficial in all areas of life. Be sure to consider your needs in all areas of life: work, relationships, volunteering, school, family, hobbies, and any others. Since this is such a broad area, this post will be broken into three parts- stay tuned next week for part 2!

Social needs

What works best for you from a social standpoint? While it’s true that many autistic adults need less social interaction than neurotypicals, some of us can benefit from having others around. Think about what is helpful for you in different situations.

Questions to ask yourself

• Do I do better when completely alone? For many of us, we need time to be completely alone, with no other humans, to complete tasks. It can be frustrating when you are distracted and/or interrupted by other people. This can be different in different situations too; sometimes having another person present can make difficult or overwhelming tasks easier. 

• Do I do better when I have someone to body double or parallel play with me?

  Body doubling is when two (or more) people are engaged in a task separately, yet at the same time. This tends to come up in work or school situations, where two people will sit on Facetime (or any other video platform) together, working on their own independent tasks. Parallel play is similar- two (or more) people are in the same space together, but each engaged in their own activity. Reading a book while your friend is in the same room working on a puzzle would be parallel play. Having another person around, yet not interacting with you can signal to your brain that it’s time to work (or study, or do whatever else it is that you’re working on) and can help to keep you on task without getting distracted. 

• Do I need to have someone available (present or not) to answer questions if they come up? Or would I rather save them for later?

  This tends to be a question more for work and school situations. Some people need direct feedback as things come up, while others need time to think and process and save time for questions and feedback. What works best for you?

Communication needs

While this can seem similar to social needs, there are some distinct differences to consider. 

• Do I prefer synchronous or asynchronous communication?

  Some people like to get in the “flow” of a conversation, while others prefer time to think before responding. What works best for you?

• Written or spoken communication?

  Either of these can be synchronous or asynchronous, but do you have a preference or need for a certain communication format? 

• How to deal with different communication styles?

  It can be tricky when one person’s communication needs differ from yours. How can you engage in a way that works for the both of you? Can you talk-to-text, allowing you to speak your thoughts out loud but allowing the other person to read your words? Would it help to set times for immediate back and forth communication while also having time to think between responses? Consider everyone’s needs when making communication plans. 

Stimming needs

This can be tricky to meet, and may require different accommodations depending on the setting. While we all should be free to stim in ways that work for us at any time, the reality is, there are times that our stims may be dysregulating to someone else, and vice versa. Here are questions to consider when figuring out accommodations for your stims.

• Have I identified stims that work for me?

  This is the first step! 

• Do I have multiple stims, so that if I’m in a situation where I can’t do one, I have options to replace it with?

  You may not be able to rub your lip while giving a talk to a group, but you can likely tap your fingers together in a rhythmic motion. You may feel embarrassed to flap your arms (yes, that’s internalized ableism, but more on that later), but you might feel comfortable twirling your ring. 

There’s likely to be some overlap between stims and sensory needs- more on that next time!

As you can see, there are tons of things to consider just in these few areas! Next time we will explore looking at accommodations for special interests and sensory systems. 

If you are in the Charlotte area, or anywhere in North or South Carolina, and looking for support as an autistic adult, click here to schedule a free consult. Looking for an assessment to determine if you’re autistic and/or ADHD? You can schedule a free consult to learn more, or head over to my scheduling page for assessments and we can get that started! I’m always happy to help!