Working with me

I am neurodivergent and typical office culture eventually burns me out. These are the accommodations I’ve found that help me do my best work and manage anxiety in my day to day life.

Communication preferences: My preferred method of communication is email. I try to limit meetings, phone calls and video chats to give me as much uninterrupted working time. In general, written communication is much easier and less stressful for me than verbal communication. If I do have a meeting or a call, I’d rather have it in the morning so that I’m not anticipating it all day. I can have a hard time with executive function when it comes to phone calls and video calls, but I am very quick to respond to nonverbal communications like email or project management tools like Trello or Asana.

Working from home: I can focus best when I’m in my own space, able to wear what I’m comfortable in, and not feeling like I’m being watched or have to look busy. If I spend the day in an office I’m often spending the day masking and that’s just work on top of work. Part of my particular flavor of neurodivergence also includes ARFID and being in my own space makes eating a lot easier for me.

Types of projects: I am not interested in working with big tech (especially Amazon—I feel like I’ve tried to do good from the inside and my energy can be way better spent elsewhere). I am also not interested in any projects related to using AI. I am extremely skeptical that the majority of use cases are worth the environmental impact, and as an artist I don’t like anything that blatantly rips off people’s creations and exists on not paying people for their work.