Neurodiversity Celebration Week
Interview with Consultant, Lydia Collins:
Can you share a little about your journey and how you discovered or embraced your neurotype?
I am a late-realised, and lifelong highly masking autistic person, assigned female at birth, and I also have OCD and PTSD. I know I’ve struggled for much of my life in making friends, keeping friends, understanding social norms (which don’t always make sense!), and with a strong and intense sense of justice. Learning more about my neurotype, being autistic, things made more sense.
I realised I’m just using a different ‘operating system’ to my neurotypical peers.
We don’t always think the same way, and that’s great. Knowing this helps me feel more able to be my true self, bringing my unique perspective, experience, and skills to my work.
How has being neurodivergent shaped your perspective on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion?
Our identities intersect, so whilst I am neurodivergent, I’m also disabled (and chronically ill), white, had two parents in the household I grew up in, and was born and grew up in the UK, being from a white British family (and, and, and….). I am often aware of situations where there is exclusion, as someone who has felt excluded.
Being autistic in particular means I don’t always respond to hierarchy in the way some other neurotypical people may – I suppose this helps me challenge, engage in curiosity, and voice myself in situations where the hierarchy places me with less formal authority.
I’ve been described as an ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’ – which I will happily take. I am also prone to thinking quite literally at times – and one conversation where I feel this difference to neurotypical peers is when we talk about empathy, or understanding others’ experiences. I firmly believe that no one can truly understand the experience of another, especially if they are from a majority group. As a white person, I will never understand the experience of my peers who are people of colour, and their experiences of racism. I have never experienced racism, because power structures work in favour of white people – like me.
But what I can do, is learn about and platform people with lived experience, and work my hardest to deconstruct the systems which perpetuate racism – at the cost of my unearned privilege. I experience exclusion and oppression in other ways, but no experience can be truly equated – all human experiences are unique and our intersecting identities create nuances of oppression. There ARE patterns though. As an autistic person, pattern recognition is a strength for me. And I can recognise patterns of injustice against particular groups.
What’s one small change that could make a big difference for neuroinclusion?
Just listen to, and believe us. Listen to understand (as opposed to listening to respond), and leave defensiveness, scepticism, and assumptions out of the conversation.
What’s one message you’d like to share during Neurodiversity Celebration Week?
We know ourselves best, we know our brains, our needs, and how we find joy and comfort.
Our self-exploration, self-regulation, and self-acceptance should not elicit anything other than joy, pride, and respect from our peers.
Neurodiversity can be hereditary, so neurodivergent parents can have neurodivergent children. Here’s a message from an Included community member on the topic:
“What would help most in the workplace is education as to the various ways neurodivergent people might present in the workplace. I perhaps wouldn’t feel so self-conscious about the way I come across. Then perhaps people would think ahead to the difference physical adjustments such as toning down the strip lighting might make too. I also have to balance my needs and work with the unique needs of my daughter.
For example, she needs extra support and to see healthcare professionals and education assessors, so I’m very lucky me and (my husband) have flexible jobs with regular hours. Even then we struggle to keep up. There are days when I’m exhausted. Fortunately, I work in non-profit with others in similar situations so they ‘get it’. I feel I can ask for help or flexibility if needed. I can’t imagine how other families without this support manage.”
So what can you do?
- Flexibility: Embed flexible working and educate managers on how to navigate and succeed with a flexible working team
- Policy: Review your family leave policies for support for those with caring responsibilities
- Process: Implement a regular adjustments check for existing and new staff, to ensure you are aware, and accommodating of people’s working styles and preferences.
- Accessibility: Commission an independent accessibility review of your buildings, materials, and working practices – and make the necessary changes!
- Representation: Platform neurodivergent voices by running events and talks on the topic, with people with lived experience. We’ve run effective keynotes, fireside chats, and listening groups to connect with and platform neurodiversity and neuroinclusion.
- Support: Support your community groups or employee resource groups to dedicate time to their work. Release some time/responsibilities, or reward participation.
- Understanding: Run training on neuroinclusion with a thoughtful, nuanced, and person centred approach.
Need help with the above? Get in touch, we’d love to work with you.
~Lydia Collins
