Neurodiversity? What is it?!
Back in the mid-90s, I remember my nephew being given extra time to finish a school exam because of his dyslexia.
We laughed about the absurdity of it - how utterly amazing was it that he would be given MORE TIME to complete an exam?! I mean, he didn’t have a broken arm or anything visibly different about him and yet there he was - being magically gifted extra time without even asking for it! I was a bit jealous, tbh. I’d completed my GCSEs around the same time and felt like I’d rushed through exam paper after exam paper. I would have ruddy loved some extra time.
I guess neither of us really understood anything about dyslexia back then. Was neurodiversity even an actual word in the 90s? I’m not sure.
Fast forward to today, and Google promptly delivers me 10,500,000 results when I type in the word “neurodiversity”.
The search results begin with “what is Neurodiversity”, so let’s start there today.
Neuro = relating to nerves or the nervous system
Diversity = variety or a range of different things
Put ‘em together and whaddaya have?
Neurodiversity: the unique ways in which brains work.
Oxford Languages says:
“The range of differences in individual brain function and behavioural traits, regarded as part of normal variation in the human population.”
Because the society we live in prefers labels to help us quickly make sense of information, we split neurodiversity down into two like this:
Neurotypical: people with brains that function in ways that are similar to a lot of people.
Neurodivergent: people with brains that function in a slightly different way than a lot of people.
Despite our best (and regularly good) intentions, society often likes to wag its finger at us and tell us off if we use a word in the wrong context.
Yet a lot of the neurotypical and neurodivergent people I've spoken with have found the terminology confusing. I have had to pause and think or go back and tweak my wording many a time while writing this.
So please, let's talk and open up this wider conversation rather than tear one another down for trying.
Neurominorities
To further categorise the types of neurodiversity, there are labels (neurominorities).
And as much as labels are often unhelpful in the sense they can quickly lead to assumptions and biases (more of which I'll share in this article), I do understand that categorising information in this way helps people quickly make sense of the world.
HOWEVAH, to avoid me typing eleventy billion words here today, I’m not going to dig into the detail of each one - this is more to raise awareness of the wording which I’ll expand on sometime soon.
Just a few common you’ve-probably-heard-of-them labels include:
Autism
ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder (now known as Primarily Inattentive ADHD)
Dyslexia
Dyspraxia
And then there are these (and more) which, in all honesty, I had NEVER heard of in my 41-year-old life (have you?):
Dyscalculia
Dysgraphia
Meares-Irlen Syndrome
Hyperlexia
Synaesthesia
Strengths and challenges
If you were to give me a label (aside from “vegetarian”, “cat lover”, “Director”, “coach”), having done research in this area, I'd also lean towards thinking I'm a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) - empathetic, reads emotions, intuitive, feels upset watching negative news/violent scenes, difficulty letting go (I'm a ruminator!) among others. Does my brain operate in a similar way to a lot of people? I have no idea! No-one can agree whether HSP classes as neurodivergence as the variation is so great, but I mention it here because certain HSP traits appear in other neurotypes and I can speak from my first-hand experience.
If I look at the work I’m good at and enjoy, data analysis would be right up there at the top. I find it easy. Time flies when I get stuck into a task like that. If I was on a co-working session with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (and yes - I can pronounce his name... I listened to this very audio over and over until it sank in), he’d smile and praise me for being in my “flow state” where the task feels effortless.
On the flip side, research is NOT a strength - the scope is too wide, the options feel neverending, and I quickly become overwhelmed. And when that happens, I actually slow down and grind to a halt because I just don’t know where to start (so I don’t).
Actually, being entirely honest, asking me to do research would quickly make me feel anxious, worried and pretty darn stressed.
My inability to do research doesn’t need to be “fixed” (no amount of me trying will make it feel easy). Equally, it doesn’t mean I am “less than” someone who can research with ease. And my love for data analysis doesn’t mean I am “more than” someone who hates it.
In the same way, neurotypical or neurodivergent doesn’t mean “more than” or “less than”. There isn't anything that needs to be "fixed".
Remember - Oxford Languages said neurodiversity relates to normal variations. All normal.
It simply means we’re all very different and that for every neurotypical or neurodivergent strength, someone else may experience a mirrored challenge. Differences can be disabling but that doesn’t mean people identify as disabled. And when certain workplaces and tasks require neurotypical thinking skills, this can throw up challenges (but ones that can be overcome by offering one-to-one coaching and support).
Debunking the myths around neurodivergence
I chatted with some friends about the responses they experienced when they told people that they (or someone in their family) were neurodivergent.
Grainne, a friend from my school days (don’t worry, I no longer wear chunky Kickers shoes and use an old River Island bag for my sports kit), was told that her son couldn’t possibly have dyspraxia (a condition that typically affects movement and coordination) because he could ride a bike, play football and enjoy sports.
And although Grainne knew about ADHD and how it often impacts concentration levels, her son *is* able to fixate on one thing for a long period of time, despite the ADHD diagnosis. Grainne discovered there are both hyperactive ADHD and inattentive ADHD (plus a combined one too) - proving there are further neurominorities within neurominorities. (I told you it was confusing.)
Continuing to think about neurodivergence in children, I spoke with Sarah Weaver who specialises in courses and support for parenting emotionally intense children. Sarah shared:
“It’s still so widely believed that ADHD is a hyperactive boys disorder! Soooo not true! Plus it's not always a deficit in attention, but rather where the brain is wired for interest and when there's not enough interest that person can really struggle to pay attention. But when they have the interest, the ability to hyperfocus is quite a gift! The label needs changing I think. I believe that for many the 'hyperactive' element can be internal, rather than having to be a fidget bum who can't sit still!”
Amy Richards runs the Square Peg Podcast and Community specifically for autistic adults, and wanted to debunk the stereotype that autistic people are computer geniuses and coders. Amy told me:
“Many of us (like me!) are pretty terrible with numbers, but brilliant with words and grammar. And lots of us are extremely creative thinkers who, probably because our brains experience and interpret the world differently to neurotypical people, will come up with left-field solutions to problems, or give you a completely different way of seeing something."
Why neurodiversity isn’t always embraced in the workplace
Neurodivergence doesn’t automatically equal a disability, but there is legislation to protect employees when it is. And the neurodivergent employees I speak with often don’t want “special treatment” at work, but employers *should* make reasonable adjustments. If you’re not sure where to start, find time in my calendar to discuss how I can support your business with this.
Yet I do understand that it’s tricky to design a workspace to cater to everyone’s preferences. But when needs aren’t being met, employees can experience low motivation, low self-esteem, anxiety and depression.
I’m thinking back to some of the offices I’ve worked in over the years. I remember the open-plan office where accountants and back-office teams were quietly heads down in the corner, trying to concentrate and reconcile their data.
The indoor sales team took over most of the floor and were regularly speaking loudly on their call-after-calls and distractingly waving hands around or shouting out to communicate to their outdoor sale rep who’d suddenly popped in the office in between appointments.
It was noisy. It was hectic.
And I (an indoor sales rep at the time) found it hard to incredibly hard to concentrate and hit my outbound call targets while sat in the middle of a busy sales section of the floor.
That office was set up for the neurotypical and yet I didn’t stay in that job long and often wonder if I’d have performed better in a quieter space.
When no neurotypical or neurodivergent brain is the same, small adjustments to company policies and approaches can make a huge difference to the happiness and productivity of all employees.
When we’re thinking of adjustments, small tweaks often turn into universal benefits, meaning they actually help the majority of people as well as the few. And the key here really is to stay curious and not make assumptions about what people want and need. But here are three examples of workplace challenges:
Some people will prefer to maintain focus by sticking on headphones to listen to music or white noise, but many companies still believe that open-plan offices and pin-dropping silence (or CNN...) is the only way to go.
Others find it hard to process instructions given verbally, so the unscheduled "walk and talk" might feel like bonding for a manager, but could leave the employee feeling anxious if they’ve forgotten an important point by the time they return to their desk.
Some need visual cues to remember certain actions, so the rigid "no personal items / clear desk at all times policy" isn't helping employees stay productive because the workstation rules state desks must be void of visual triggers (and post-its.. and personality - yes, I said it!) to comply with policy. This article from the BBC indicates that employees with personal items on their desks are 25% more productive than those who work in “a sterile space”>
So the adjustments are easy and either free or low-cost:
allow the use of headphones so that background noise can be shut out to aid concentration.
adjust communication styles based on the individual so that what is said is truly heard.
tweak the clear desk policy so that visual reminders can be used.
In my mind, none of this is "special treatment". It's simply recognising that team members have complementary skills and ways of thinking, and that small tweaks to workplace policies can make a big difference to employee motivation and performance.
About
I'm Victoria Tretis and I'm a certified coach. Leaders and HR departments hire me to coach and support their neurodivergent team members to see higher engagement, productivity and output.
To explore how this can support your teams, book a call here or use the contact form here.
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