Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the last decade or so, you will have at least heard the term ‘Neurodivergent‘ (particularly if you’re a regular reader or follow me on Social Media!). Even if you don’t know much about it, you’ll definitely have heard people using the term.
You’ll most certainly know someone that’s Neurodivergent- even if they don’t know it themselves. Taking away the outdated stereotypes associated with neurodivergence, us ND folk look and, for the most part, are able to act like Neurotypical folk (thanks masking!). Despite all this, Neurodivergent people face far more barriers to, well just about everything, than their Neurotypical counterparts. There are “stark barriers to neurodivergent employees disclosing their conditions to employers: 65% of employees feared discrimination from management, 55% from colleagues, and 40% said that there aren’t knowledgeable staff to help.
The research team looked at both sides of the coin. Employers reported that they experienced barriers to making adjustments: with 69% saying that lack of disclosure is an issue, 65% that managers don’t know enough, and 30% had little faith that adjustments work. This highlights a catch 22 – employees don’t feel safe enough to disclose, but without them stating their needs, employers and managers don’t know how best to support.” (Birkbeck University, 2023)
Those percentages are pretty high aren’t they? Every day I come across posts from people desperate to be able to make their contributions to society in a way that doesn’t put them at risk mentally and physically. I know because I’m one of them.
I think back to my younger days. I worked a full-time job, sang at the weekends and then went on to study full-time at university to become a teacher. Everyone else made being an adult look so easy. They weren’t permanently exhausted, they had social lives, and seemed to know how that work/life balance worked. I didn’t.
I was exhausted ALL THE TIME. There was never enough sleep, never enough hours in the day to get everything I needed and wanted to get done. I felt like a failure most of the time, and nothing I ever did ever seemed good enough for people. I made careless mistakes, forgot almost everything, and really struggled with my sense of self.
My first ever job was working at Claire’s Accessories in my city centre. I thought I was doing a good job, but I would regularly ‘zone out’ and have to be reminded to finish tasks, or to get more work done. I would often find myself staring at the music video tv they had in the shop- singing along and not getting a single thing done. I hated the mundane tasks of stock replenishment with a passion. I was forever messing with the air conditioning/heating because the temperature was never quite right.
The signs I was Neurodivergent were all there, I just missed them completely. I can’t have done too badly though, I was made Supervisor began my Assistant Manager training at the age of 17.
I was so sad when I had to leave. I kept passing out at work and no-one knew why. Turns out, it was most likely ND burnout with a healthy dose of a Fibromyalgia flare to boot. I ended up dreading going to a job that I loved and felt safe and secure in because I knew I couldn’t keep doing it. It felt like it was killing me so I left. Job longevity has never been my strong point- the only job I ever kept for more than 2 years was my singing. My singing is part of me though, so it rarely felt like work.
Learning what I have over the last five years or so, so much now makes perfect sense to me. I only failed at things because I was trying to do them Neurotypically.
Neurodivergent people have SO much to offer the workplace and society in general. So why are so many of us unable to access the workplace? Jill Miller, Senior Adviser for Inclusion and Diversity at the CIPD states it’s because “attention has focused far too much on the challenges often associated with neurodivergence in the workplace, rather than on the strengths“. This is slowly beginning to change, but so much more is needed.
I posted earlier this week on LinkedIn in desperation for all the obstacles I have in my path when it comes to wanting to have a career for myself. I had such an outpour of support and advice, as well as a lot of people saying how much my post resonated with them. As well as being grateful for the support I received, I also felt a surge of sadness that there are so many people out there desperate to be something other than ‘the person with ABCD etc’. People that want to be successful in spite of their differences; people like me.
I don’t have the answers for how to overcome my obstacles or how to help other people overcome theirs yet- I wish I did. In the meantime, however, I’ll be here fighting all our corners.
Laura x
