Employing people with a variety of, and often rare, strengths enable companies to achieve greater success than barring them from employment based solely on their ‘deficits’ or ‘disorders’. Autism spectrum disorders, dyslexia, and ADHD are some of the types of neurodiversity an individual might possess. In neurodiversity, there is no one “right” way of thinking, learning, and behaving. Each person experiences and interacts with the world around them in different ways. According to the CIPD report, only 10% of organisations factor neurodiversity into their HR policies yet up to 20% of the population are neurodivergent – that’s a whole lot of talent not being considered.
In honor of Neurodiversity Celebration Week, Creative Director Noomi Yates addresses some questions about neurodiversity and the workplace.
In what way does being neurodivergent impact your role as a Creative Director and how do you manage it?
It helps because I can focus on tasks, which means that I will become obsessed with whatever project I’m working on and that means that I’m able to aim for ambitious things and know that I’ll get there. I have an enormous passion for what I do, which is linked to hyperfocus, and I believe clients can tell that I’m genuinely really excited about working with them on a project and that feeling is infectious. It gives me motivation to continue to learn the mysterious and exciting things about parts of the world that maybe other people may miss.
People are becoming more and more aware of the fact that brains processing information that work in different ways are not necessarily a disadvantage. We tend to be very black and white thinkers, and we tend to be people who have a very strong sense of social justice. For example, Greta Thunberg is a neurodivergent, and she is an excellent example of that.
Don’t be afraid to explain to your employer that you are a neurodivergent person. Hopefully you have an employer that is open to learning a little bit about what that means and how they can work with you to get the best out of your skills and talents. That’s why I need to advocate for this, because I genuinely think that a lot of businesses are missing out on harnessing the skills and talents of an interesting and exciting workforce because they just don’t all go for the 9 to 5 clocking in and out.
What are the common misconceptions around this topic?
There are so many misconceptions about it, but I think a lot of you are divergent people who do not consider themselves to have a disability and that viewing a neurodivergent presence in those terms can be a little bit offensive. I think that the terms neurodiverse and neurotypical are a little bit unhelpful because it puts people into two boxes, as everything exists on a spectrum. I was reading this morning that they reckon one in five people are in some way neurodivergent, which is a huge part of the population that are just discovering these things about themselves.
If I am in a café or meeting where I can hear myself, I find it really challenging to concentrate. It was sometimes challenging to advocate for myself at an earlier stage in my career when I never really knew what was going on in my life and why I needed to be in a room on my own. Fortunately, I’ve always had supportive employees who have been willing to enable the staff and setting I needed to be in to maximise my productivity.
One of the other main misconceptions is thinking that everyone who is on the spectrum is the same. I’ve never met two people who were alike, every single human being is unique and individual although there might be similarities in the traits.
How can the workplace remove the barriers around neurodiversity?
Personally, I think workplaces need to understand that looking at neurodiversity as a barrier is the wrong way to view it. Embracing and making a neuro-inclusive workspace is a way to, not only increase your staff’s mental wellbeing but also it has enormous potential for positively impacting business as well, because people will have the freedom to be themselves and work in the most efficient way for them. So, if an organisation were to look at neurodiversity as a benefit to their organization rather than a challenge that they need to overcome, then it’s just like reframing which is the most important thing.
How can businesses support neurodiverse talent?
Businesses can support your diverse talent by, first of all, recognising that your diversity has enormous potential for benefiting the business. Without making your workplace inclusive of neurodivergent people, you run the risk of missing out on all the benefits that neurodiversity offers you, such as out of the box thinking, the ability to work in a focused and strategic way and excellent problem-solving skills.
I think communication is key, fostering an environment where employees feel safe to disclose their neurodiversity in the understanding that they can advocate for their own needs, such as having flexible working hours, remote working options, providing tools like speech to text readers and noise canceling headphones and understanding that everyone is different.
And finally, do you have any tips, suggestions or useful resources?
- Natural speech to text plugin reader for chrome which helps me process long emails or documents which are often very relevant.
- Motion which is an AI software which helps with prioritizing the workload.
- Giving yourself off screen time to having physical tools, like practical sticky notes or a notebook that you color code and doodling that helps you kind of take the information that in a different way.
- I tend to use audio and video rather than reading an instruction manual or a long article.
- Self-advocacy, so if you have been hyper focusing for weeks and near burn out, tell people and ask for time out.
Sometimes being a neurodivergent person can be really challenging, and we are living in a society where things are not set up in a way to support people who are different. Therefore, I think it’s very important for neurodivergent people to be kind to themselves and to understand that there’s nothing wrong with them. Just because it is different it does not mean it is bad. If we keep pushing, one day there will be a more inclusive space where we can be appreciated for who we are.
Further resources:
Neurodiversity Week resource hub
Square Hole: Neurodiversity in the creative industries
Becky Lomas