This is a five-part series on the benefits of recognising and supporting neurodistinct talent in your organisation.
Glenys is a Specialist Nurse working with the elderly. This is what she has to say:
Last year I obtained some support through Access to Work. What prompted it was a diagnosis of autism.
I found this very hard to accept. I’m a deep thinker and I just couldn’t get all of the pieces of the jigsaw to fit together. I had read, for example, that people who are autistic are always very literal and can’t think in metaphors!
Recently I was asked to give some input to a working group. Six months ago, I would have run away from that.
Today, armed with a better understanding of how my brain works, I can do this. But I have learned that for me, preparation and getting things right is important e.g.
Clarity
I needed to understand what “give some input” means. I’ve always been able to think of lots of good questions, but voicing them was a different matter. For example, when my manager requested a ‘chat’, if I felt able to ask why, I would invariably be told “Oh, you know, just for a catch-up.” Now, I’ll challenge that so that we know why we are meeting, what we are covering and how we will know we have achieved the outcome we want.
I discovered the group wanted to know how my condition affects me, how the support was benefiting me and what further improvements I’d suggest. Also, how long I had to present and that they weren’t expecting slides and visuals. That’s another thing I’d been confused about – not everyone who is autistic avoids eye contact – for me gestures and eye contact help bring alive the conversation.
‘At a glance’ headlines and bullet points
Impact
- I know I approach situations differently to most of my colleagues.
- I need more detail, and more evidence that something works, in order to do a good job.
- It can take me longer to learn new processes or get up to speed with new situations.
- Sometimes I have detected a level of frustration from colleagues who were keen to ‘just get on with it’.
- There were few people with whom could share my concerns and this felt isolating.
- Over time I developed a sense of injustice that my point of view was ignored. Beneath the surface I was quite angry, and, whilst the situation was unfair and needed to be addressed, I suspect there were times when I didn’t seem interested in their point of view either!
- Because initially I didn’t understand ‘me’, I didn’t know that bright light and noise were causing sensory overload. Sometimes I would feel so overwhelmed that I would have to leave the room which just exacerbated my self-esteem and left my colleagues scratching their heads as to why.
- Despite the fact that I was good at my job, many times I would dismiss promotion opportunities out of hand and watch on as colleagues less experienced than me stepped up the career ladder.
- Even though I am passionate about keeping up to date with the latest science on brain health in the elderly, I’d turn down training for qualifications, worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up.
- Even sharing my diagnosis of autism was a challenge to start with. I can see now that people were trying to be kind, but I found out that my manager didn’t offer me a new project because she thought I wouldn’t want ‘anything new to slow me down even more’. A team email that was shared with me (mistakenly) said “Bless her, she is autistic, let’s be kind and not expect too much.”
What helped
- The opportunity to offload and tease out what was really happening – the evidence rather than my interpretation of it.
- Logically re-evaluating the role of my strengths e.g. it takes me longer to prepare for meeting a new patient, but doing that means my working diagnoses are accurate first time round and I spot previously unnoticed critical medication errors. I had wanted to start tackling ‘asking fewer annoying questions’ but now see it would have involved a lot of effort and little reward.
- Changing the environment to help me process information and thoughts faster:
- using noise-cancelling headphones
- working from home when I need to concentrate for extended periods
- ensuring I am clear on what’s coming up and developing time-saving templates
- The team ‘neurodiversity awareness training’ – a colleague specifically asked for my perspective, saying she had noticed that I ask questions which “we don’t want to hear but need to address.”
I feel more hopeful, and next time a promotion opportunity comes up I’m going to be more ‘forensic’ as I work out whether or not I can do it.
What could be better
- Consider ‘job carving’ (matching duties to an individual’s strengths and abilities).
- Review how we manage meetings – I have learned that when the purpose is not clear, you won’t get the right people to attend.
- Providing neurodiversity awareness training to everyone.
What can we learn from Glenys' story?
When you understand more about neurodiversity, it is easier to spot hidden talent.
As described in a previous post, neurodiversity simply describes the range of differences in individual brain function and behavioural traits: it is a natural variation in the human population. There is a lot of overlap between conditions (which include, Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Tourette’s Syndrome and others).
No two people with one condition are completely alike – Glenys is a good example.
It can be difficult to tell if someone is neurodistinct, and neurodistinct employees don’t always disclose their conditions for fear of discrimination
When neurodistinct employees are supported to use their strengths effectively, people tend to look at ways of working from a newer, fresher perspective, and the whole team benefits: Glenys’ call for meeting clarity is helping the whole organisation.
Prioritise attention on what people can do.
Strengths-based approaches to skills development can be powerful in increasing motivation and performance: Glenys flair for spotting patterns and inconsistencies is invaluable from a patient care perspective.
Cultures which are primarily about ‘fixing problems’ tend to cause feelings of insufficiency and which stifle motivation and creativity. For Glenys, focusing on asking fewer questions would have been far less effective and she may never have had the confidence to look at promotion or find new ways to use her strengths.
Create the right conditions for neurodistinct skills to emerge.
Making changes need not be dramatic or expensive. Consider, for example, the following:
- How clear are instructions? Sometimes it takes someone like Glenys to shine a spotlight on clarity.
- How are sensory preferences (noise, lighting) catered for?
- How are people to supported to identify and communicate how they work at their best? In Glenys’ team it became easier to talk about autism and to see it as something that requires different conditions in which to thrive, rather than a disability to protect.
- How could an external, impartial resource, such as a coach, help support this process?
Clare McNamara
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