hollsk

Totally agree with this. It's usually the second or third thing that I say in an interview after "hello", so I can get them to arrange where everyone sits in a favourable way. If they're dicks about it then you're not going to want to work with them. It is scary, though - nobody wants to feel like somebody hates them because of a disability that can't be helped, so I get why it's a preoccupation, and most of us will have had the same worry.

Regarding standups, I agree that they're a PITA. Talk to your scrum master about it if you have one - it's their job to facilitate communication. My past scrum masters have used the Wooden Spoon method (you only get to talk if you're holding the spoon) or they've stood beside me and taken brief notes for me throughout. We also experimented with doing our standups over Slack, which was FANTASTIC.

>Telephone communication is also a big problem. No matter how often I tell people about my disability or how quickly I respond to e-mails/chats, they will still insist on calling me for "urgent" things. My theory is that because I'm largely functional in person, they still subconsciously expect me to be able to use a phone normally.

Yeah, I'm with you on this. People forget! We also get so good at lip-reading and making the right faces at the right moments that people think it's not as bad as it is. FWIW I did start just ignoring the phone, and then when the peevish emails come in saying "I'm trying to phone you!" I remind them that I'm deaf, and they're gonna have to outline the problem in writing.

I said this in the article, and it bears saying again: adjustments can always be made. If somebody needs to get hold of me quickly, they can ping me on Slack. They can send me a message on Google Hangouts. They can Skype me! There's lots of options. They go for the phone because that's what they're used to, but it's totally possible to train people out of this. It's not just for your comfort, it's to make it possible for you to do your job effectively.

I've had to be kinda pushy about this sometimes, but I don't regret sticking to my guns. I used to just roll over and it made everything more difficult and unpleasant as a result.

Edit: just saw your post below about big businesses refusing to allow IM. That would make things... awkward. Here in the UK employers are required by law to make "reasonable adjustments" for disabled employees ("reasonable" meaning reasonable to the employee and to the employer), and a big company would struggle to get away with that over here. I think it's called "reasonable accommodations" in the US? My first port of call would definitely be to go and see HR and wave the relevant legislation under their noses, if it exists in Japan.

Hey, article writer here. I feel shitty that I made you feel shitty. I'm sorry to have been insensitive.

I'd also like to say that I am absolutely against raising of noise levels because that sucks for coding and also life in general. I'm deaf, but not completely deaf, and I also have a condition called "recruitment" which is a form of noise sensitivity that you can read about here: http://www.hyperacusis.net/hyperacusis/hyperacusis+or+recrui... Recruitment makes noisy office environments an absolute nightmare for me and I've been known to take my damn laptop and go the hell home and work there if the noise levels ramp up.

Sociability in programmers takes many forms, and I don't think it's a coincidence that sites like HN and stackoverflow are so popular with devs - that's a way of very sociable without actually having to speak to people in meatspace. Programming has probably more of its fair share of introverts and non-neurotypical peeps, partly because of the requirement for peace and quiet while you're working out hard problems. I think it's also partly because as a group we're more accepting of others' needs and differences. Mack Collier did a great post on this, and it's this sort of concept I was thinking about when I wrote that part of the article: http://mackcollier.com/why-introverts-love-social-media/

So once again, sorry for making you feel shitty. In future I'll be on guard against coming out with things like that. Keep being awesome!