Toolkit Letter to ask for accommodations or adjustments

Letter to ask for accommodations or adjustments

Ask for what helps you in clear words, without starting from a blank page.

Any condition

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How to use it

On About you, say where you are asking: work, school or college, or another place. Pick the word your organization uses, and add your name. Say as much or as little as you like about why.
On The changes, tick what would help you. The list changes with the place you chose. Add requests of your own.
On Your letter, read the letter and change any words. Then copy it, download it as a text file, or print it.
Send it to the right person, such as your manager, human resources, a teacher, or a disability or student support office. Keep a copy and note the date you sent it.

Good to know

The letter is built from your choices and plain templates. The tool does not know your rights, your organization's rules, or what you are entitled to.
Laws and rules differ by country, region and organization. This tool helps you ask clearly. It is not legal advice. For your rights, contact a disability rights organization, a union, a legal aid service, or your school's disability or student support office.
The changes in the list are ideas that people ask for. Tick only what is true for you. A diagnosis does not tell you which changes you need, so start from your own needs.
You choose how much to say about why. In some places an employer or a school can ask for supporting information.
An organization may agree to what you ask, agree to part of it, or offer a different way to meet the same need. The letter says you are happy to talk about it.
If you edit the letter by hand, the tool stops rebuilding it when you change the other steps, so your edits are never lost. You can rebuild it from your choices at any time.

Where this comes from

In the United Kingdom, the government says employers must make reasonable adjustments so that workers with disabilities or health conditions are not substantially disadvantaged: GOV.UK: Reasonable adjustments for disabled workers
Acas, the UK Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, describes reasonable adjustments as changes an employer makes to remove or reduce a disadvantage related to someone's disability. Several of the ideas in the list follow its examples, such as extra reading time in an interview, changed breaks, different ways of training, and help with prioritizing tasks: Acas: Reasonable adjustments
In the United States, the Job Accommodation Network says employees can use plain language, do not have to mention the Americans with Disabilities Act or use the phrase reasonable accommodation, and do not have to ask in writing, although writing can help create a record. It also says you can limit what you disclose at first, though your employer may ask for more documentation: Job Accommodation Network: requesting an accommodation
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