Been there done that. It so happens that I cannot think unless I have the space to pace around a bit in silence. Talking while thinking disrupts the thinking pr

Been there done that. It so happens that I cannot think unless I have the space to pace around a bit in silence. Talking while thinking disrupts the thinking process, or more accurately, it constraints the thinking to shallow levels. The first time I got cornered into an interview I was too shy to bring these two points up during the interview. I have not interviewed very often but the last time I interviewed with 3~4 companies I was upfront about it. I just pushed the laptop away and said look this might appear weird but I will pace around this room pretending you are not there and give you checkpoints of my thoughts at places where I think interruptions are less disruptive. The reaction was always a mildly surprised, "Oh OK!" Sometimes the interviewer would still like to peek into my thoughts when I am not prepared for such interruptions but I would very politely shush them up with a hand gesture and give them the latest thought dump shortly afterwards. Worked out for me. Another difficulty I have is because of my diminished hearing I instinctively lip read, or rather augment auditory information with visual cues. The problem: doesnt work for phone screens. One company was gracious enough to offer to fly me in for the screen as well. I declined, saying I am fine as long as the interviewer is cognizant of the problem and tolerant towards repeating the problem description if needed.