Help me understand where you are coming from. I am an executive in a large company.  There are many moving parts and we rely on everyone to meet their deadlines to ensure our company stays successful. Hiring one person who needs extra time to complete their work - okay, we can handle that.  But how do we function properly when we have several people who require accommodations for extra time regardless of the reason why?  That extra time is costly and impacts our client satisfaction and without our clients, we cease to be a company.  I suspect that there are very few companies that can realistically afford accommodating more than a couple of these individuals.  I read your blog post and basically you miss the point - regardless of whether someone rides a skateboard and works in tech, they still have to DELIVER ON TIME often with very little flexibility. My company is not unique and I'm sorry but working on your PhD (which you are paying for) is different than being paid to do a job.