In a world where we can be anything, it increasingly feels like we as a human race are othering* those who don't fit in the normal stereotypes of life, education and work. But unless your view of people is that narrow, there really is no such thing as normal so why then do we try to create a parochial view of those in our every day communities seemingly without thought for what that othering does to people and how wasteful it is of our energy and damaging to our wellbeing.

Admittedly it's been a tough few years and in all times of heightened stress, our survival instinct takes over our thinking brain. But sadly that thinking brain is just what we need when it comes to the exclusion of people from different communities. It would be easy to assume that as a human race we've gone backwards where inclusion is concerned, yet in many instances great advances are being made in the debate around ED&I which at least means that we are conscious of our need to think differently and end the discrimination towards minority groupings. 

Yet there are a few groups that are overlooked in ED&I discussions and it's those groups that need the most support because they often don't have the ability or platform to raise their own needs. In this blog we explore one group in particular - those with a neurodiverse condition - and will, in a series of blogs on the subject, give more insights into the work that can be done to improve their experiences at work.

In the education system, more and more children are being diagnosed with a neurodiverse condition such as dyslexia, ADHD and autism and we could argue that the system is quick to label as its convenient to create labels for those who aren't following a conventional view of achievements. But even if this is true, as a workplace we're not ready to cope with this influx of individuals who are labelled thus, especially where we're already seeing startling figures of under representation: according to data only 16% of autistic adults*, 1.9million adults with ADHD and 1 in ten people with dyslexia are in work and these are only three of a large range of neurodiverse conditions that we know of.

So first, what is neurodiversity.  A term coined by Judy Singer - a sociologist - in her thesis of the late 90's, which was then made public by Harvey Blume a writer she was in correspondence with at the time, it sums up perfectly the differences of those who are not neuro typical. These conditions are wide ranging from Autism, ADHD, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Epilepsy, ADD and Tourettes and present in a variety of ways.  What is common with them all is the huge misinformation available and therefore easy assumption they are impossible to manage.

Who's the anti social party pooper?

Do you ever hear someone refer to a colleague who might be quiet, as a "bit odd" or "socially inept"?  Or perhaps you've worked with someone who has the attention span of a sparrow in midlife.  Or maybe you've worked with someone you consider to be really dizzy and forgetful. These are common signs of neurodiversity and although they may be associated to neurotypical people they are certainly high on the list of symptoms for someone with autism or ADHD or dyslexia and familiar to them.

People in the neurodiverse range are used to terms like, odd, quiet, scatty, talkative, hyperactive, no memory and much more.  So imagine how hard these individuals have to work to fit in and be accepted in a neurotypical world. Its not hard to see how utterly exhausting it must be and yet we bandy these terms around readily perhaps not considering the affect they have and especially how othering they are.  People with these conditions are known to "mask" - some more than others - and this masking can mean that whilst they attempt to fit in and navigate a world that's alien to them they require far more down time to recharge.  For many the impact of day to day interactions can be challenging, none more so when they are overwhelmed by the sounds, expectations to deliver and understanding the non verbal cues. Can you envisage a world where you find the smallest of background noises to be as all consuming as a dripping tap when you're trying to sleep at night?

Mythical legends that still linger on...

Until recently, research into these conditions was sporadic and lead to huge misinformation or disinformation circling.  Dyslexic people were, only 30 years ago, referred to as stupid when in fact this is far from the truth. Equally, it was believed for a long time that only boys and therefore men could have autism or ADHD. It was only when it was understood that the initial test was drawn up to try to diagnose boys with commonly occurring symptoms that it was recognised that the tests weren't in themselves inclusive.

Girls and women are known to be better at masking their conditions and appearing to be "high functioning" but this in itself is a myth. If someone has autism they have autism full stop. They don't have a condition in a low functioning or high functioning manner, they just have the condition and equally until very recently we referred to some people as having Asperger's, but this term is now replaced with Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD. 

Research shows that many of these neurodivergent thinkers are amongst the most intelligent, creative thinkers who see problems and solutions that neurotypical people often miss.

So what can you do?

In a world that moves fast, where information is only a search engine result away, it's hard to know what to do right.  So here are our top tips:

• Don't make assumptions, ask people with these conditions what they need.
• Communicate the non verbal - from who makes the hot drinks to how long you talk about the weekend/football or any other general chit chat topic.
• Offer deadlines and support to meet them.
• Be flexible - can they work from home, or in a quiet area of the office.
• When it comes to group activities that aren't just about work - can you form a book club or other activities that aren't about the pub on a Thursday after work.
• Explain who will be in a meeting or interview.
• If plans change, try to give notice don't just spring stuff on them.

In our next blog we'll explore safe recruitment for neurodivergent people but if you'd like more information about managing these individuals then get in touch for our toolkit or training at info@freshseed.co.uk

*"othering" is a term used in equity, diversity and inclusion research and training, that means excluding someone/a group from a community for being seemingly different.

*Autistica

*ADHD UK