……. They highlight ‘you’re different’

You never forget the feeling of standing out for the ‘wrong’ reasons.

As a member of the ‘bullied club’ at primary school, we tried to make ourselves as invisible as possible. Our days largely consisted of trying not to get noticed. Which we generally failed to do.

Sam (name change) one of our crew was noticed daily.  They had free school dinners which meant they queued separately.

This was decades ago when the country had more money than it appears to have today. Wouldn’t it have been better,  back then, to make school dinners free to every child? Instead of highlighting their ‘difference’ which caused more self-loathing and bullying.

Fast forward to today. I ask myself the same question when speaking with managers about easy adjustments they can make for their neurodivergent staff.

You may have noticed adjustments you’ve agreed aren’t being used. 

Ever considered why? 

Ever asked the team member why they aren’t making use of the adjustment you agreed?

In my experience people often won’t use adaptions agreed because it highlights their difference to their colleagues. 

What if those adjustments, where possible, were offered to all staff?

One manager I was speaking with had agreed with one of their ADHD team members they could use their fidget toys anytime they wanted to. Yet had never seen them do so. They could still see them struggling to focus in team meetings.

Why not make fidget toys ‘normal’? 

The manager brought a selection of fidget toys – all colours and shapes.  At the next team meeting, the manager said nothing as they put all the toys on the desk, picked one up and started using it. They then started the meeting. 

One by one the team picked up a toy and used it as they went through the agenda. Once a few colleagues had started using the fidget toy, the ADHDer picked up a toy to.

At the end of the meeting, the manager asked how everyone felt using the toys. All agreed, their concentration increased and ideas flowed. They kept their toys and used them as they wanted to.

Job done. Everyone felt included. The agreed adjustment of using the fidget toy benefitted everyone – which is so often the case. The team member who initially needed the fidget toy, now felt more confident using it.

Managers should be aware of:

⚡ 1 in 7 adults are neurodivergent which clashes with a neurotypical environment. 

⚡ A formal assessment doesn’t need to be in place before your responsibilities under employment law activates (Piper vs Coventry University 2023)

⚡ Compensation at Employment Tribunal under neurodivergence is uncapped – averaging c£45K per award.

Simple things will help and benefit the whole team!

If you want to explore how you can make your workplace more neuro inclusive and reduce the risk of burnout or an Employment Tribunal contact me.

How do you currently ensure your workplace is neuroinclusive?

I’m currently coaching someone who has been impacted by their neurodivergence since primary school. One example of how this impact showed-up was they were always the last to get ready for PE but didn’t know why. Their teacher was always hurrying them up – not asking curious questions to find out what was really going on. How different their life could have been.

Instead, trying to work with a brain that just won’t ‘fit in’ has impacted their personal and work life.  Known to always be late, friends give false times to meet up, but the impulsive distractions that often occur getting ready to go out, mean sometimes false deadlines don’t work!

Five coaching sessions in, a new understanding of how awesome their brain is, their interest based nervous system, the 30% delay in Executive Functioning has delivered a new respect to work with, not against, their brain.  Coaching is helping to name their areas of impact to learn tools to tame this. Once learnt, these tools will help in all areas of their life – including being able to retain a job to do the things they want to.

1:7 adults are neurodivergent  There are two brain types amongst workplace teams, neurodivergent and neurotypical  – which employers may not even realise. Those who are neurodivergent may not even realise it either! The symptoms may be mistaken as behaviours.

The person I spoke about earlier, has never been assessed. As they haven’t been assessed, they haven’t explored the benefits of medication for them with a psychiatrist, chemically taming how their neurodivergence shows up.

We have seen recent press reports that medication for neurodivergence is again globally in short supply.  

Why? 

When I first heard of Leanne Maskell and joined @ADHDWorks’s Champion course in September 2023 – the global shortage was mentioned then.  Over a year later it appears nothing has changed.  

Would this be acceptable for any other medication? 

So, what can we do?

In the workplace, I’d say plenty!

• Build awareness amongst your managers – what they might see, what they might do
• Ensure teams know how to be an ally
• Fund 1:1 ADHD Coaching for any staff that need it as part of your ‘reasonable adjustments’. 

It’s worth noting, in the UK, a formal assessment doesn’t have to be in place for an employer to be at risk of an ET challenge.

Of course there is a financial cost involved. But what’s the cost of doing nothing?