I'm an autistic, verbal woman. Here are some ideas based on what I need to have at work to be able to work properly and from what I read in literature to be useful but have never tried myself.

What I use:

• noise-cancelling headphones are more than a nice to have, it's vital to me. Getting the company to invest in good sets for every employee is a bet on their future well-being, especially if we're talking open office here.

• consider allowing people to do staggered hours. I start 2 hours earlier than everyone in the morning and this is when I get my best job done. Trust me, if I could come in even earlier, I would.

• don't take it personally if an autistic coworker declines an invitation to a work social gathering. For instance, it's not that I don't want to socialize with coworkers, I just can't stand the crowded places where it usually takes place, the choice of the activity usually being kept secret until last minute, and the places where to eat with which I can't accommodate my restrictive diet due to sensory overload. Many autistic people can't stand small talk either. Don't take it personally if they won't join you by the water cooler. Maybe try to think about calmer events that wouldn't be very different from their usual work context, but even with that, it's possible they would decline. If it's vital for them to join, try to explain them calmly why and work together to find a way to meet in the middle. Autistic people don't refuse to socialize to get people mad. In my experience, there's always a possibility to meet halfway.

• I take short breaks every hour. I understand how it might be perceived as inefficiency or laziness, but I need those to lever down the sensory overload a bit. My boss never complained about it and I do my job on time. Without those, I wouldn't.

What some of my autistic friends use or other ideas that I read to be useful in autism literature resources:

• consider allowing part-time contracts. One of my friends was exhausted by the 40-hour contract their engineering job requires in their country, so they told their manager about it and got to work 10 hours less per week. I've never seen them happier and they're even much more productive than before.

• neuroatypicity (and more generally, disability) awareness days sound like a good idea in order to get their non-autistic coworkers to know about how they function and why they might seem a bit off or weird sometimes. Most of the time, discrimination comes from a place of ignorance.

Thank you for trying to make your office a better place for your autistic coworkers. I didn't always work in a friendly environment like what you're trying to offer. One last important point: it seems indeed a good idea not to reserve those facilities to neurodiverse people, as it might annoy your neurotypical coworkers. Plus, offering everyone some new ways to relax might set a quieter, better environment for everyone to socialize and communicate more efficiently.

I'm an autistic, verbal woman. Here are some ideas based on what I need to have at work to be able to work properly and from what I read in literature and found to be useful but have never tried myself.

What I use:

• noise-cancelling headphones are more than a nice to have, it's vital to me. Getting the company to invest in good sets for every employee is a bet on their future well-being, especially if we're talking open office here.

• consider allowing people to do staggered hours. I start 2 hours earlier than everyone in the morning and this is when I get my best job done. Trust me, if I could come in even earlier, I would.

• don't take it personally if an autistic coworker declines an invitation to a work social gathering. For instance, it's not that I don't want to socialize with coworkers, I just can't stand the crowded places where it usually takes place, the choice of the activity usually being kept secret until last minute, and the places where to eat with which I can't accommodate my restrictive diet due to sensory overload. Many autistic people can't stand small talk either. Don't take it personally if they won't join you by the water cooler. Maybe try to think about calmer events that wouldn't be very different from their usual work context, but even with that, it's possible they would decline. If it's crucial for you to have them to join, try to explain them why and work together to find a way to meet in the middle. Autistic people don't refuse to socialize to get people mad. There's always a possibility to meet halfway that could satisfy both parts.

• I take short breaks every hour. I understand how it might be perceived as inefficiency or laziness, but I need those to lever down the sensory overload a bit. My boss never complained about it and I do my job on time. Without those, I wouldn't.

What some of my autistic friends use or other ideas that I read to be useful in autism literature resources:

• consider allowing part-time contracts. One of my friends was exhausted by the 40-hour contract their engineering job requires in their country, so they told their manager about it and got to work 10 hours less per week. I've never seen them happier and they're even much more productive than before.

• neuroatypicity (and more generally, disability) awareness days sound like a good idea in order to get their non-autistic coworkers to know about how they function and why they might seem a bit off or weird sometimes. Most of the time, discrimination comes from a place of ignorance.

Thank you for trying to make your office a better place for your autistic coworkers. I didn't always work in a friendly environment like what you're trying to offer. One last important point: it seems indeed a good idea not to reserve those facilities to neurodiverse people, as it might annoy your neurotypical coworkers. Plus, offering everyone some new ways to relax might set a quieter, better environment for everyone to socialize and communicate more efficiently.