Neurodiversity in the Workplace

I have been asked to leave a team due to the appearance of apathy not just once, not just twice, but three different times. Each time my response was, “What did I say?”

I was almost thirty before I discovered I had ADHD and was neurodivergent. I began to figure it out by polling my friends and co-workers about their perceptions of me. They thought I was aloof, uninterested, and lacking emotion. Looking back I can see how they might think that. I’ve gotten up and left meetings because I lost interest, and only realized it when I was back at my desk. When I’m listening and trying to process data in my own way, I can alternate between doodling and a blank stare. Or both. Combined with the Irish tendency to keep emotions bottled up until eventual death, it makes sense.

Then I discovered it wasn’t just me. A lot of people in my work niche are neurodivergent. It’s not a bad thing by any means, it’s just a different thing. We come up with coping strategies, but they aren’t foolproof. If I really am bored with a project at work, I pretend to be super gung-ho so it won’t show. It never occurred to be I should do that for the projects I’m actually engaged in. But people see neurodivergent people differently because they usually have no idea they’re neurodivergent. Autism, ADHD, and several other “disorders” fall into neurodiversity, and some are very hard for outsiders to detect.

And they aren’t really disorders unless you try to shoehorn them into the wrong shaped slots. Neurodiverse folks can come up with amazing innovations if allowed to work in a way that is comfortable for them, but will often be unhappy and unproductive if forced to function under traditional constraints. For example, I’m fine with Zoom calls, but I can’t focus with my camera on. I don’t like seeing myself, and I worry I might get complacent and start making faces. But some companies feel that if your camera isn’t on, you aren’t paying attention.

Shoot, I can obviously ignore someone with a camera on. So don’t worry about that.

My point, which has almost completely made it’s way out of the building, is that it takes all types of people to make a world work. The workplace needs to make sure that when it’s setting accommodations for a diverse workforce, that equity includes the neurodiverse.

You can learn a little more about neurodiversity from this article, or a lot more at EARN.

If you like what I wrote, considering buying me a cup of coffee.