What are some advantages of neurodiversity in the workplace?

The advantages of neurodiversity in the workplace are many, and the benefits support the inclusion of all types of diversity in the workplace.  Managers and employers who can create autism and other neurodivergent inclusive workplaces tend to be more flexible, adaptive to change, creative, and innovative. Neurodivergent employees process information and engage with the world atypically. This means that they will see problems and issues from a unique perspective which can influence the development of creative and holistic solutions.

Additionally, including neurodivergent employees requires managers to be more flexible about approaches to work, more adaptable to change, and focused on differentiation in communication and appreciation of the individual. The ability to create workplaces that focus on objectives to be achieved and leverage the strengths across a team will be more productive and high-performing than teams built on rigid processes and controlling workplaces. All people, not just those with autism, perform better when expectations for performance are clear, processes are transparent and organized, differences are celebrated, novel approaches are sought, and managers support differentiation in how people work. Increasing neurodiversity in your organization benefits everyone, both neurodivergent and typical employees. It promotes more equitable and accessible workplaces and bolsters collaboration, creativity, and diversity in ideas across the team.

How can employers empower their neurodivergent employees?

Employers can empower their neurodivergent employees just as they would any employee. Empowerment comes from establishing trust in a person’s capabilities and giving them the challenge and autonomy to solve problems, make decisions, and control how work is completed. A neurodivergent or autistic employee can be given as much choice and independence to complete their work as any other employee. However, building trust and confidence in your employees is a two-way street.

As an employer, you need to be clear on expectations and ensure employees have the skills, resources, and understanding of performance goals and business objectives to meet expectations. You need to promote an environment of open communication and psychological safety so employees feel they can raise issues, ask questions, and obtain additional support if required. Ensure you also have clear performance metrics and regular check-ins so you have a routine way to have employees report on their work progress.  Be sure your employees understand expectations. It is also essential to appreciate your employee's regular contributions to the team’s progress and recognize major milestones and noteworthy achievements. More importantly, talk to your employees about how much autonomy verse direction they need to do their best work. Ensure they feel that they have support when needed, and you are not micromanaging or hovering on work that doesn’t require constant oversight. Teams with leaders who are focused on the values individual employees bring to the team, provide clear guidelines and processes that everyone can understand, and provide ongoing feedback will be able to develop neurodivergent inclusive and empowered teams.

What makes a neurodivergent employee successful at work? (e.g., flexible culture?)

Adaptive leadership and flexible workplaces are crucial to supporting diversity of thought and new approaches toward work. All employees have differences in how they work best – though typical employees are more likely to adopt normative ways of working with less difficulty. While neurodivergent employees sometimes approach work differently, these differences do not mean they are less effective or productive than their neurotypical peers. In fact, research shows that autistic employees outperform their peers at work when it comes to quality and attention to detail.

Neurodivergence is a large spectrum, and individual skills and needs will vary.  For example, some people with autism need quiet, clarity in instructions, or the ability to schedule work and priorities differently. Other autistics can work in a traditional environment and manage noise and other external stimuli. It’s important to remember that neurodivergence includes ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and dyscalculia. So, to increase neurodiversity and inclusion at work and ensure these employees are successful, managers and employers need to be less formulaic and stop looking for a one size fits all approach. They need to accept differences and understand that not being typical isn’t a barrier to learning, working, or succeeding.

How can a prospective employee check if the company they’re applying for is inclusive?

There are many ways to determine if an employer is autism-inclusive, and I recommend doing your research before applying so you know how to best approach the application process. I recommend searching first on Google and reading over the company’s website. Do they discuss diversity and inclusion as a critical component of their culture; more so, is there a specific focus on disabilities and providing accommodations.  Search words should include the employer’s name and autism, disabilities, neurodiversity, and resource groups. If you find media on the company, be mindful of the year the article was dated and to whom the employee was highlighted. Look on LinkedIn to determine if they are still employed with the company.

Another way to learn about the inclusivity of an employer is to search LinkedIn by company name and terms such as autistic, autism, autist, neurodivergent, ADHD, dyslexic, etc. If you find employees aligned to the company in your search, what type of roles and levels do they currently hold. Are they in positions similar to those you seek?  You could reach out to those employees and request an informal discussion to learn about their roles and experience.  One last option would be to connect with the recruiter. You could inquire about the company’s views on diversity and what inclusion means to them. See what groups they actively recruit and support from a diversity lens.  Without leads, you can determine if disabilities, autism, and other neurodivergent are part of that lens. If the recruiter doesn’t know, another way to frame the question is to ask what type of employee resource groups or affinity groups exist at the company.  Ask if they have groups aligned to disabilities and autism or have programs specifically designed to support people with autism; you have probably found a company that strives to be autism inclusive. If they do not have any programs that sound like they include neurodivergence, this company and its manager may not be prepared to support neurodivergence on their teams.

Reasons why it’s beneficial for a person to disclose their neurodiversity to their employer? 

Once you have a sense of a corporation's views and cultures toward disability inclusion, your next steps are to determine whether to disclose your disability during the interview process, after the offer, or at all. While many autists do not like to equate autism to disabilities, when we think of disclosure, it should be aligned to the need for accommodation to ensure success on the job. Depending on the company's size, your accommodations may differ.

Knowing what your company can reasonably accommodate in advance will help you be successful. Just like in college, if you use disability accommodations, employers are set up to make changes that help the individual navigate the existing environment to meet the standardized expectations of the team.  Those accommodations may have included transcription, extra time on tests and completing work, and many other services in school. 

Employers tend to focus on physical accommodations, meaning how to modify the work environment to help people succeed, such as providing modified desk set-ups, headphones, and white noise—allowing individuals to control their physical space. However, you need to ensure your employer understands autism and how it may impact executive functioning, social interactions, and how you may approach your work. This level of accommodations is new to many employers and can vary from manager to manager.

Even companies with formal autism-inclusion programs are still learning how to best support employees- and being that autism is a vast spectrum, there is no standard approach that ensures success. This is why disclosing what you need to be successful as an employee, regardless of autism or other disability – should be the focus of conversation – tell your employer what you can do, how you work best, and what you need to be successful. Don’t focus on the differences as negatives but on how differentiation in approach enhances your work product. 

Managers want teams to succeed, but many can fall into the trap of a singular approach necessary to be prosperous and fair to employees. We had this same hurdle to overcome for students with disabilities in the classroom.  As managers learn that adaptability and variance benefit teams, not just autistic individuals, these conversations will be much easier. If your neurodivergence does not require physical accommodations (modified desk set-up, noise-canceling devices,

Reasons why it’s not beneficial for a person to disclose their neurodiversity to their employer? 

When I think about disability disclosure, I always think about whether awareness and accommodations are needed for the individual to be successful in the workplace. In an ideal world, people would accept differences, and discrimination toward people with disabilities wouldn’t exist. However, we do not live in a perfect world, and there is still much work to be done to make genuinely inclusive, accessible, and accepting workplaces. So today, I recommend disclosure with discretion.

If accommodations are not needed for you to be successful at work, I recommend disclosing with discretion until you know your manager, team, and overall corporate culture better. I believe that people should be able to bring their whole selves to work. However, many people do not share their personal issues or health conditions with their employer because they are manageable and do not impact their ability to work. As with anything in life, sharing personal information is always up to the individual and the psychological safety they feel with their employer.  Suppose your autism or neurodivergence impacts your work, how you work, or your ability to meet expectations (therefore requiring accommodations). In that case, you may need to disclose your disability to employee relations or another people support team to be granted needed support. If your neurodivergence means you need to structure your work differently, require follow-up notes after meetings, want clarity on objectives, or that you present differently (such as lack of eye contact, idiosyncratic speech, stimming, or non-speaking communication), you can discuss these needs with your manager without going into detail about your specific disability. 

You need to know your work environment and appreciate that while autism prevalence is increasing, more awareness is still required with the general population regarding autism inclusion and supporting people with varying abilities and disabilities. Unfortunately, many leaders and well-intentioned managers still make decisions based on assumptions, biases, misinformation, and prior experiences.  Rather than thinking about disclosure as a black and white decision – it would help if you strive to find managers that treat their employees with respect, are willing to adapt to individuals' needs and are not concerned with labels and pre-existing beliefs on what makes humans successful.