At Work
You're shredding documents at a recycling facility. You always have a pile of paper to shred by the end of the day. You always get yours done, but a co-worker keeps putting some of her paper on your pile, and then takes extra long lunch breaks.
you can confront the person saying it's unfair to do all the extra work
you can talk to your boss about doing the extra work
You are studying for a big test in the library. A group of students walk in laughing loudly and playing music. You're distracted and not understanding anything you are reading.
You can walk over to the group and nicely ask them to quiet down
you can move to a different area of the library
you can talk to the librarian about the loud group
A man on the street hands you a flyer and asks you, "Are you interested in a business opportunity? You can make $150,000 a year working from home. Don't walk away from this opportunity!"
you can say "no thank you!" and walk away since it is probably a scam
you can can take the flyer and walk away without saying anything
Jared was late to soccer practice because he had to pick his little brother up from school and walk him home. The coach is angry that Jared is late. Jared doesn't want to miss out on playing time.
Explain to the coach why he was late and if he can arrive late on the days that he has to pick up his brother
You’ve now worked at a few different job sites. One is janitorial work at an office building. You like it, and you can do the job well. Another job is sorting clothes at the thrift store. You can do this job, but it doesn’t match your interests. You get your schedule for next month and you have been placed at the thrift store every day.
you can say “I see that I’m placed at the thrift store all next month. I don’t think that’s a good fit for me. I’d like to be doing janitorial work at the office if possible”
You just got a pair of glasses to help you see far away. However, you are still getting used to them and feel you need to sit in the front of the classroom. One day you came to school and your teacher had switched your seat to the back of classroom.
you can talk to your teacher after class and ask nicely to sit in the front of the classroom so you can see better
you can tap nicely on the persons shoulder and say "can i get out please?" while motioning to the door
An adult knows about your disability and always “talks down” to you. You would like to be treated and respected like any other high schooler.
you can explain your strengths to the person and explain that you deserve to be treated like everyone else. My disability doesn't define me.
You have been working at a pretty simple job for a while now and you have gotten good at it from doing it over and over again. You ask your supervisor, Jeffrey, if you can wear headphones to listen to music while you work and he says yes, as long as you keep up the good work. The next week, an assistant supervisor comes in and says,“Take your headphones off.”
you can say “I was told it was ok as long as I kept up the good work.” “I cleared it with Jeffrey first.” “Don’t worry, I’m not distracted by music. It actually helps me work better.”
The lunch lady gave you raisins as a snack and became annoyed when you told her you were allergic. She proceeded to help the next person in line while ignoring your comment.
You can talk to another lunch lady or person who works in the cafeteria to make sure you get a full lunch.
The train stops and the announcement says, "Everyone must exit the train. This train is now out of service" but you don't hear the rest of the announcement. This isn't your stop. You still need to get home.
You can find a subway employee and tell him/her that you are trying to get to the "blank" station. Always ask for help!!
You find yourself with some free time. Even though you have a paper due in five days, you are torn between watching TV and writing the paper.
You can decide not to watch TV and write the paper instead.
You can allocate 30 mins of watching TV then writing the paper
You know your organizational skills best
You realized you didn't get a paycheck in the mail last week and this week. You know you clocked in correctly and worked 5 days both weeks.
Your stomach is hurting but the teacher is ignoring your raised hand in class. Your teacher tells everyone to complete an assignment quietly and returns to his/her desk.
You can walk up to the teacher calmly and ask for a pass to see the nurse. You can say that you will finish the assignment at home and turn it in tomorrow
The T is very crowded but you have a seat. The man next to you is asleep. At first he is leaning over towards the window, but as the ride goes on, he stretches out more and more in his sleep, until he is taking up some of your seat too. Even if you scoot over a little bit, his legs are touching yours and it is making you uncomfortable.
you can say "excuse me! can you move over?"
if he doesn't respond you can likely tap him
Rhonda has a disability in learning. She is employed at the small grocery store on the corner and is responsible for working the checkout counter. Once in a while, the electronic 68 Lesson 9 • Accepting Myself checkout system shuts down, and Rhonda must check out customers manually. She says to herself, “I am very slow at making change for the customers. They must think I am dumb.” How would you respond to your friend saying that?
Give her positive talk! You can say: “I can ask the customers to be patient with me because the checkout system is broken, and it may take me a little more time than usual to check them out.”
“I think the customers will understand. Most people understand that when a job has to be done manually, it takes more time than it would with the help of a machine.”
You break an item at work and you are afraid that your boss will fire you.
You can tell your boss and explain it was a mistake. It is always better to be honest than to lie about the situation.
Jenna is working on a group project in biology. The other members of her group are goofing off and not doing the work. She doesn't want to tattle on them, but she doesn't want to get a bad grade, either.
You talk to your peers to explain that you feel like the work is unfair and ask for them to do their part.
if they don't change their behavior you can nicely tell the teacher that you aren't working well with the group and explain the parts that you did individually
You put money on your T card and the screen reads that you have $15.00 on it. You swipe to go through the gate but it won't let you through. The gate screen says that you have $0.00.
Find a T agent at the station and explain to them your problem.
You are ordering food at a Burger King and they got your order wrong. You don't like onions and pickles on your burger.