What We’ve Said

What we’ve said about Workplace accommodations

5 points from 3 episodes, newest first

Also searched as reasonable accommodations, ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act

In short

Qualifying as disabled under the ADA is easy, because the law is about protecting people from mistreatment and discrimination. The psychiatrist's job is to treat the patient, not just to grant accommodations: anything requested as an accommodation could be a treatment target, and signing for something like permanent avoidance can work against recovery.

What it is

  1. It is very easy to have a qualifying disability under the ADA, because the law is really about people being mistreated or discriminated against.

    “it's very, very easy to have qualifying, quote, disability under ADA because it's really more about being mistreated or discriminated against”
    1:01:09Disability Claims 101 for Psychiatrists: Programs, Pitfalls, and Practical StepsDec 2025

  2. Part of what bothers people about calling something a disorder or disability is that the person then deserves accommodations, and their behavior gets read in a different light than someone without a disability.

    “And I think a thing that bothers people is if we call something a disorder or a disability, then inherently that person deserves accommodations. And another thing is that we naturally will interpret the behavior of someone with a disability in a different light than someone who doesn't have a disability”
    11:13ADHD... Diagnosis, What is ADHD? Is ADHD real? Do I have ADHD? Is ADHD biological?Sep 2024

How we approach requests

  1. Your job is not just to give accommodations. Your job is to treat the patient, and anything someone asks to be accommodated could also be a treatment target.

    “OK, your job is not to just give accommodations. Your job is to treat the patient. Anything that an accommodation can be asked for could potentially be a treatment target too”
    1:02:21Disability Claims 101 for Psychiatrists: Programs, Pitfalls, and Practical StepsDec 2025

Pitfalls and myths

  1. A huge part of treating anxiety and trauma is avoiding avoidance. Signing paperwork that lets a patient avoid what they fear promotes the avoidance.

    “a huge part of that is avoiding avoidance. And by signing that paperwork, you're promoting the avoidance”
    1:03:58Disability Claims 101 for Psychiatrists: Programs, Pitfalls, and Practical StepsDec 2025

Pearls

  1. Some workplaces have tried management styles, rule sets and environments built for people with autistic traits, and it is no surprise that the best-known examples are a software company and an accounting firm.

    “There have been attempts in some workplaces to institute management styles, rule sets, and also environments that are more conducive to people with autistic traits. However, it should not surprise you to learn that two major companies that have done this include Microsoft and Ernest & Young”
    48:31Autism Diagnosis Explained: DSM-5 Criteria, Autistic Traits & the Difficult DifferentialSep 2026

From these episodes

Every point above is something said on the Psychofarm podcast, with the words as spoken and a link to the moment in the episode. It is education, not medical advice, and an episode reflects what we thought when we recorded it.

Educational content only. Everything here is what was said on the Psychofarm podcast, for clinicians. It is not medical advice and not a substitute for clinical judgment, current labeling or guidelines. An episode reflects what we thought when we recorded it, so check anything before you rely on it.