Throughout this series, we have been “unmasking” autism through the perspectives of our own colleagues, Tonie and Jean-Julien. We were pleased at the response to our request to send us uncomfortable questions people had about autism, and Tonie and Jean-Julien brought not only their experience working with our colleagues but also their own lived experience as autistic neuroinclusion professionals. We have explored how to talk about autism, ways to respond to someone telling you they are autistic, differences in social and communication styles, and the challenges autistic people face at work.
In this fifth instalment of our series, Tonie and Jean-Julien address questions about the challenges autistic people face in the workplace and ways to support autistic colleagues.
Flexibility and asking questions are key.
In this final instalment, we wanted to allow them to tell us what they hoped people would ask and what they would take away from our recent event and this series.
Jean-Julien: To echo one of the questions we had earlier, it’s true that if a person doesn’t tell you they are autistic, it can be difficult. But though we may not be visible, we exist around you. There are a certain number of people who are neurodivergent and autistic, and we don’t even know it. It’s also important to consider that you don’t need to know! We can find opportunities to work better together if we all adopt a listening posture. At that point, we’re no longer talking about labels, autism or neurodivergence, but we’re really in it together to achieve a goal that motivates each other. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of asking the right questions: How can I help him or her? How can I evolve my biases or thinking thanks to the different perspectives?
These are often the questions we should ask ourselves rather than asking: What does an autistic person eat in the morning? What does an autistic person look like during the day? These are not really relevant questions. How can I take advantage of the opportunity to be different and move forward together?
Tonie: I think the one thing that comes to mind is that I often hear neurodiversity talked about as if we’re only talking about autistic folks or folks with ADHD or folks who are neurodivergent. We’ve decided that neurodiversity is synonymous with neurodivergence and means the same thing. But it doesn’t.
So often, we hear: We must empower and embrace neurodiversity. When we say that, we’re talking about everyone. We’re talking about all our brilliant minds working together, harnessing our strengths and experiences, and having an incredibly diverse team that can do different and novel things.
We often think about it as neurodivergent experiences. And I think that is why we usually don’t realize that we have differences and that we are all those who are not autistic or not ADHD or don’t have dyslexia or whatever their experience might be like. You also communicate in a certain way. You also have a diverse way of communicating and are part of that neurodiversity. So, we are responsible for interacting with one another with that awareness. And I think once we acknowledge that and really harness it, we can do some pretty great things – just knowing that we’re all part of that neurodiversity, not just neurodivergent people.
The value of diversity of thought and experience in a group and how we can embrace it is what brings the most value and benefit to the workplace and society as a whole.
Watch the full webinar on-demand here.
Are you interested in learning more about how your organization can embrace and support neurodivergent talent? Contact us at ac.no1742705349citua1742705349@ofni1742705349! We will happily share how our hiring, coaching, and training services can help.
