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With diagnoses of neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD, as well as anxiety and depression, on the rise, many colleges are seeing increases in students requesting accommodations such as deadline extensions or early prep materials. But what happens when these students enter the workforce?
Sara Lewenstein, a labor and employment attorney at Nilan Johnson Lewis, said even before the pandemic, she had started to see an uptick in workplace disability claims related to mental health. But she cautions that students won’t find some of the accommodations that they’re used to once they enter workplaces.
For example, at certain universities, those with accommodations may have a professor warn them that they will be called upon to speak in class. It’s rare that a boss would give such a heads-up before a corporate meeting, Lewenstein said.
“There’s talk about students getting extra time on tests or extra time to turn in assignments; I have a hard time seeing how that would be a reasonable accommodation,” she said. “If you have deadlines in your job, you have deadlines.”
Some companies—especially in the tech sector—are making significant changes to accommodate neurodivergent employees. Susanne Bruyère, a professor of disability studies at Cornell University, points to Microsoft, SAP, Ernst & Young, and JPMorgan Chase as companies that have made significant changes to their hiring processes to accommodate people with autism, for example.
These companies have allowed for shorter interview times and breaks in between interviews, she said. Some allow interviewees to see the questions in advance, or offer walk-throughs of the office before an interview to reduce anxiety, Bruyère said.
With skilled workers in high demand in some industries, companies should make clear to employees that they value this kind of diversity, she says. If employees with sensory or other issues want noise canceling headphones, a flexible schedule, or the option to work from home, they should get them, Bruyère said, as long as the requests are within reason. And leadership should be open about their own mental health struggles, and be proactive in vocalizing the resources and accommodations companies offer.
“If we normalize accommodations, people will feel more comfortable,” she said. “It’s not, ‘We also accommodate’ or ‘We also are willing to accept.’ It’s more ‘We think talent is talent.’”
In an ideal world, she added, neurodivergent employees “won’t have to ask at all.”
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