![](https://i0.wp.com/enna.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/brooke-cagle-JBwcenOuRCg-unsplash.jpg?resize=845%2C400&ssl=1)
Navigating Workplace Challenges with Dyspraxia: Enna’s Tips and Solutions (Lived Experience)
If you’re reading this, you are probably familiar with the common symptoms associated with Dyspraxia – difficulties with motor skills, distortion of spatial awareness, sensory sensitivities, and challenges with your sense of direction. It can be disheartening if your Neurodiversity is causing challenges at work, but you’re in the right place.
Below are 5 tips to overcome workplace challenges related to Dyspraxia (written by our Marketing Manager, Daniella – with lived experience of Dyspraxia).
A note from the author:
If you’re anything like me, you get lost easily. You may be feeling a tad lost right now, which is how you’ve ended up reading this blog in the first place. Navigating the world of work with Dyspraxia has (for me) looked like this – Getting lost and showing up late to meetings (even when I have left early), knocking over drinks on the desk and damaging equipment, dropping or smashing things in the kitchen, and fumbling my words after missing social cues during a meeting.
It is important to remember that whilst these symptoms can be challenging, you should not come here or any other advice-giving places with the idea that you can be ‘fixed’. You do not need to be fixed, because you are not broken. You can, however, put systems in place that make navigating the workplace (and life) a little easier.
Whether you’re here for yourself or you’d like to learn how to support a friend, loved one, or colleague, keep reading to learn Enna’s workplace solutions: to Dyspraxia challenges in the workplace.
The Challenge: Time Keeping & Sense of Direction
Enna’s Workplace Solutions:
Solution 1: Have an honest conversation with your line manager about how Dyspraxia affects your daily tasks. Explain how it impacts your sense of direction and planning so adjustments, like written directions, can be made.
Solution 2: Request extra time for projects/travel to reduce pressure. Knowing that others understand your need for extra time helps to reduce the internalised shame that often follows these challenges, reducing the levels of stress, guilt and anxiety you may feel in the moment when things go awry.
Solution 3: Opt for working from home or hybrid working to minimise planning and maximise productivity.
The Challenge: Motor Skills (Dropping or Breaking Things, Difficulty Reading or Writing)
Enna’s Workplace Solutions:
Solution 1: Regular exercise improves movement control. Activities like weightlifting, Tai Chi, swimming, or yoga can be beneficial. Find something that suits your lifestyle and mobility levels. If you are living with a physical disability, explore options online or in your local area, as many exercises can be adapted to suit those with different abilities.
Solution 2: Use technology to assist with writing and typing. Explore speech-to-text software to get your thoughts out. Use AI tools to organise your speech-to-text notes, improve grammar, and create clear reports. Research prompt engineering, and create tailored prompts to suit your needs. Not only can these prompts be saved and used again in future projects, but you’ve also learnt a new skill that can be added to your CV!
The Challenge: Navigating Social Interactions
Enna’s Workplace Solutions:
Solution 1: Request written and visual information, including clear agendas and step-by-step instructions. Identify and communicate your needs using resources like our working styles guide.
Solution 2: Ask questions! Being afraid to ask questions leaves room for assumptions and misinterpretation – the biggest culprits for communication breakdowns. If you’re unsure what someone needs or expects from you, ask! Summarise key points at the end of conversations to ensure clarity and show that you value others’ input.
Solution 3: Embrace ‘imperfection’. To make mistakes or fumble our words is human. Learning to laugh at your social blunders (instead of internalising shame) is incredibly powerful. It makes us more relatable as humans, and let’s face it, the world is crying out for a little more authenticity.
The Challenge: Sensory Sensitivities
Enna’s Workplace Solutions:
For all sensory challenges, communicate with your line manager, and learn your rights when requesting adjustments. The most impactful adjustment is permission to work from home (or hybrid working) as this allows you more control over your environment. If this is not possible, below are some suggestions for each sensory challenge.
Sound: Invest in noise-cancelling headphones or request a quiet workspace.
Light: Use sunglasses or blue light glasses in the office, or invest in an adjustable desk lamp if working from home.
Scents: Request to work in different areas if strong air fresheners are used. Discuss options like moving the air freshener or changing your seating location.
Touch: Use fidget tools or take short walks. Flexible working allows breaks to manage excess energy. Discuss with your line manager the possibility of ergonomic furniture.
Final Takeaways
These tips are designed, tried, and tested to help you navigate workplace challenges more effectively, but most importantly they are designed to help you build confidence. By incorporating regular exercise, learning to communicate your needs, having open and honest conversations, and being kinder to yourself, you can feel more comfortable in yourself and your surroundings.
It’s common for neurodivergent individuals to struggle with confidence, both in the workplace and the wider world. Once we learn what works for us, we can begin to break free from the shame or guilt associated with the things that make us different and start advocating for ourselves. If you only take one thing away from this post, let it be this: By advocating for yourself, you advocate for others.
Our advice and training is written by experts with decades of lived experiences of Neurodiversity. Enna takes pride in providing education and support that can be applied in a real-world context. We never give advice that hasn’t been tried and tested first by our in-house team. Although we are lived experts, we are still learning new things about ourselves and our neurodiversity every day.
Do you have different processes for managing your neurodiversity at work that you would like to share with us? We would love to hear from you! Complete our survey, reach out to us at hello@enna.org.uk or connect with us on socials @enna.global
Want more advice like this delivered directly to your inbox? Register for our mailing list