An accommodation is agreed once and then treated as settled. Meanwhile the role changes, the software is replaced, the team reorganises, the manager leaves, the condition shifts.
For a separate commercial perspective on cognitive offloading, see the explanation; it should be evaluated independently against accessibility, privacy, and employment-law requirements.
Primary federal ADA information is available at ADA.gov.
Nobody notices until it stops working, and by then it has usually been not working for a while.
Why they stop fitting
The role changed. New duties, more travel, a different pace. The arrangement was designed for a job that no longer exists.
A system was replaced. New HR platform, new scheduling tool, new collaboration software — and the assistive technology that worked with the old one does not work with the new one. This is one of the most common causes and one of the least anticipated. See Section 508 and digital accessibility.
The manager changed. The single most frequent trigger. An arrangement that lived in one manager's understanding is questioned, forgotten, or quietly withdrawn under the next. If it was never written down, it effectively did not exist.
The team or workspace changed. An office move, a desk reallocation, a shift to hot-desking. Physical accommodations are the first casualty of a floor plan change and are rarely part of the planning.
The condition changed. Better, worse, or different. What helped two years ago may be irrelevant now.
Policy changed. A return-to-office mandate, a new attendance system, a change to leave rules. Blanket policies applied without individual assessment are exactly where accommodations get overwritten. See remote work as an accommodation.
Signs it has stopped working
Before it becomes obvious:
- You are working around the accommodation rather than with it
- Tasks that used to be manageable are taking longer
- You are using more leave, or more of your own time
- You have stopped mentioning something because raising it feels like a fresh fight
- A new tool or process is being avoided rather than used
- Performance conversations have started where there were none
That fifth one is worth attention. The point at which someone stops raising things is the point at which the arrangement has failed, and it is invisible from outside.
Revisiting it: for employees
You do not start over. This is a review of an existing accommodation, not a new request from zero, and it should be framed that way.
"The arrangement we agreed in 2024 has stopped working since the move to the new system. I'd like to review it."
Be specific about what changed — the system, the role, the schedule — and what effect it has had.
Bring a proposal. A modified version of the existing arrangement is easier to agree than a new one.
Do it early. Reviewing something while it is partly working is a conversation. Reviewing it after it has fully failed, during a difficult period, is a crisis.
Put it in writing. Reference the original arrangement, its date, and what has changed.
Keep your records. If the arrangement was documented, produce it. If it was not, this is the moment to get the revised version written down properly.
Revisiting it: for employers
Set a review date when you agree an accommodation, and keep it. Twice a year is reasonable.
The prompt is what matters. An employee asked "is this still working?" will answer honestly. An employee who has to raise it unprompted for the fourth time frequently stops.
Trigger a review on change, not only on the calendar:
- Role or duties change
- Manager changes
- System or software replacement
- Office move or workspace change
- Policy change affecting hours, location, or attendance
- Return from an extended absence
Build it into project planning. A system migration should include an accessibility check for existing accommodations, before deployment rather than after complaints.
Document accommodations centrally, appropriately confidential, so they survive a manager leaving. When a manager changes, the arrangement transfers with the role — and the new manager is told it is settled, not that it is open for renegotiation.
A review is not a re-justification. Asking someone to prove again that they need an accommodation they have had for three years is not a review; it is a challenge, and it is read as one.
If it is being withdrawn rather than reviewed
Sometimes a review turns out to be a removal.
Ask for the reason in writing. An accommodation that was reasonable does not become unreasonable because a manager changed.
Ask what alternative is offered. Withdrawal with no alternative is a failure of the interactive process.
Note the timing. If it followed a complaint, a request, or a period of absence, that is worth recording.
Get advice if it is not resolved. The deadlines for filing a charge are short, and getting advice does not commit you to anything. See what to do if an accommodation is refused.
The habit that prevents most of it
One question, twice a year, from a manager to anyone with an accommodation in place:
"Is this still working, and has anything changed that we should look at?"
It takes a minute. It catches the system migration, the role drift, and the arrangement that quietly stopped mattering — before any of them becomes a performance conversation or a resignation.