‘He’s on the spectrum; she has OCD, he has ADHD, I think she has learning difficulties’ it’s amazing how many people I have spoken to over the years who have felt comfortable in diagnosing colleagues, friends even themselves as having degrees and types of neuroatypical conditions. (Neuroatypical is an umbrella term for anyone who could be on the; Autism Spectrum, have bipolar disorder, be on the schizophrenia spectrum, have ADHD or some other non-neurotypical condition.) It is commonly referred to as a ‘spectrum’ because while all people share common difficulties, their condition will affect them as individuals in many different ways. For example, not everyone with autism has learning disabilities nor do they need specialist support, although some do.
When considering and discussing autism and spectrum behaviours within business, it is normally the differences and challenges that are the focused on and not the unique contributions that a neuroatypical workforce could add to a company’s skill set. The cognitive gift of some individuals, for example, means they can concentrate on tasks without losing focus, and what creative organisations wouldn’t benefit from having a workforce that includes some individuals that have a unique way of thinking about the world?
I have worked in and around HR and OD for almost 20 years, and if I am honest, I think the fear of building a neurodiverse workforce, comes from the lack of faith in the management population and staffing group’s ability to integrate and manage neuroatypical people. One of the biggest challenges for the organisations who support autistic clients is that of getting them into gainful employment.
I have a friend that works in horticulture, and in her world, there are a lot of plant pots, all which come in a staggering variety of shapes, sizes and colours. When used the pots need to be sterilised and stored so that the plant’s growth cycle can be enabled. A degree of her workforce comes from the voluntary sector, and she is glad to have them. One of these volunteers takes care of the cleaning and storage of the plant pots How she has them organised and stored is a thing of beauty and will be a joy forever.
The volunteer never tires of organising and reorganising the collection as new shapes and colours are introduced, and the tidiness/organisation of the storage area is always commented upon by visitors and other horticulturalists. When they see the pots all lined up in order, clean and shining, they say how they would love to steal her away to work with their team or in their gardens and yet I suspect had she to apply to work at an organisation, without them knowing about her special talents, her communication skills and stress indicators mean that she would probably not get past the interview process.
I think that recruiters and organisations need to challenge their own perceptions and interview processes to ensure that they are not disadvantaging or excluding those who are not neurotypical. Organisations would benefit too from looking at their culture and how they manage spectrum behaviours because whether they are aware of it or not, they have some within their workforce right now! (See my blog on here does ADHD go when it grows up)
There are resources and training available from autism support organisations. Guideline published on the National Autistic Society’s website http://www.autism.org.uk/managing give some strategies for managing a neuroatypical workforce, they also provide management training. Organisations like Scottish Autism are always looking to place some of their service users in suitable employment and will work with organisations to make that happen, so if you are looking to add some colour and flare to your workforce, these are great starting points. https://www.scottishautism.org/about-autism
April 2nd is Autism awareness day. It is great to have a day dedicated to raising awareness but sad that it’s needed.
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