Neurodiversity – a follow up to the session on 17 October 2022
On 17 October we ran a session with Dr Emma Mahoney from HelloSelf on neurodiversity (ND). The recording and slides are here. The session included time for reflections and this is a summary off the key points that emerged.
General themes and ideas discussed
• The need for more information about putting in place a specific ND policy – not all companies have one at present
• Intersectionality and ND (a framework for understanding how a person’s social and political identity combines to create discrimination and privilege with particular reference to the ND community)
• Barriers in recruitment
• Stereotypes
• Understanding that many people may benefit from adjustments to working environment and conditions but will not have a diagnosis
• The need to consider processes and systems as well as supportive conversations to make ND issues open, discussed and the norm
• Vocabulary, terminology and language training is needed for all staff not just management
• As with so many things ND is a spectrum and ND may be a real benefit in certain roles and functions (and may be recruited for consciously or unconsciously)
Specific suggestions and issues raised
• Recruitment:
o Working on ensuring a good fit between the person/their skills and the specific needs of the role e.g. business vs technical. Likely that adjustments will be more achievable if the fit is good
o Multi-faceted recruitment process - not relying on one aspect e.g testing or interview
o Can be hard for an ND person to make the “right impression” at interview stage - e.g. eye contact and small talk for autistic people
o Incorporate ND into unconscious bias training for recruitment
• On boarding:
o Good support at onboarding stage but can be more difficult to ensure consistent support in day-to-day working life
o Needs to take account of the different ways in which people process information – vary format of presentation of info
• Training:
o Supporting access to training
o Making use of tech to provide alternative training methods
• Adjustments:
o Recognising that many adjustments will be useful for a wide range of people
o Sometimes adjustments are requested that are very difficult to accommodate e.g. needing all work to be checked. This reinforces the importance of reasonableness when considering adjustments
o Being able to work in spaces where there is less distraction to interrupt focus
o Being able to work from home (the return to the office did not suit everyone)
• Other:
o Consideration of ND in the design of new offices to ensure accessibility for a range of people. E.g. communal/open plan doesn’t suit everyone. Can be noisy, overwhelming, and distracting.
For law firms it is worth checking out Neurodiversity in Law (Home - Neurodiversity in Law) – they have good resources and also very good speakers with their own experiences and insights.