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The Downside of Remote Work for Neurodivergent Employees
Sensory comfort shouldn’t be at the expense of autonomy and respect
On Monday 23 March 2020 I went into the office as normal. By early afternoon, me and my colleagues were directed to work from home until further notice. A highly contagious virus was afoot and those higher up the chain of command thought it best that we keep away from each other.
It would be months before I returned to the office, and even then, it bore no resemblance to what I had known before: a job where I regularly left my house to travel to a workplace in a different location. Like so many workers all over the world, my colleagues and I had become remote workers.
At first, working from home felt like an embarrassment of riches. The relief of not having to get out of bed early; get oneself out the door and weather the daily commute; the flexibility to arrange your work around stuff you needed to do at home and the ability to control your environment and avoid the distractions of the workplace were widely-experienced benefits.
The sudden absence of many demands of everyday life was a relief. It became clear how hard I had been working just to exist in the world, pushing through and ignoring my inner experience. Ironically, I now felt that I was no longer in…
