What do you do when you ask for an accommodation and the answer is no? And what if you never asked, because you read the room and decided it wasn’t safe?

In this conversation, Nikki and Pete take on both sides of that story, starting with a client who was denied exam accommodations twice, psychological evaluation and all, and how she found a way to keep moving toward her goal. From there: what the ADA does and doesn’t require, why requests get turned down, the survey numbers behind why most people never ask, and the way a denied request can start to feel like a verdict on who you are.

Then the part you can use tomorrow. Accommodations you can give yourself without anyone’s sign-off. Two tools Pete leans on for meetings and reading. A five-minute breathing technique with Stanford research behind it. And a listener’s addition to the garden metaphor, for anyone who’s just been told they have to grow radishes.

Nikki’s new download, My Accommodation Map, is available right here!

Links & Resources

• Job Accommodation Network (Ask JAN)
• CHADD: Asking for Workplace Accommodations
• Understood.org Neurodiversity at Work survey (2024, The Harris Poll)
• Stanford Medicine: Cyclic sighing can help breathe away anxiety
• Wispr Flow
• Speechify
• Todoist
• Support the Show on Patreon
• Dig into the podcast Shownotes Database

• (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast
• (00:51) - Become a Member at Patreon.com/TheADHDPodcast
• (02:15) - Accommodations
• (27:24) - The Reframe