Some of the comments below mention Access to Work – you can find more information about this on the Government website: www.gov.uk/access-to-work
1. I work with children and if I want to hear an individual child speak, I raise a hand in the air, as a pre-agreed signal for silence.
2. I found that Access to Work is very useful and has enabled me to stay in my job. I can now have a notetaker at business meetings and I have a textphone to use in the office.
3. I have found using communication support useful in meetings – Access to Work helps to pay for it.
4. One person said that they had found it helpful to re-arrange the direction their desk faces so that they could see people coming into the office.
5. I used to have a desk that was positioned so I had my back to the door and it was impractical to move it – I jumped every time someone came up behind me. I fixed a small make-up mirror to my monitor and it solved the problem – no more jumping out of my skin!
6. I work in an open-plan office and found it difficult to hear on the phone with all the background noise. My manager got me a tall-ish screen to put round my desk and it helps a lot – it also doubles as a notice board!