Relating to People Who Are Different in the Workplace

Have you ever met someone who is different from you? By that I mean a person who is autistic, or has ADHD or dyslexic? You might be uncomfortable and not know how to relate to that person.

Now, think of that person applying for a job and the discomfort you might have interviewed the person. Now, think of how that person feels and their level of discomfort. Congratulations, you are experiencing the proverbial 2 ships passing in the night.

There is now a term for these people and it’s Neurodiverse.

These Neurodiverse people may actually be very smart and can get the work done, but they might do it all differently. There’s an organization at Stanford University called the Neurodiversity Project. Its purpose is to help these neurodiverse individuals looking for work and show companies how they can create a more accessible workplace.

The program is aimed at developing strengths in these people so that an organization’s managers and employees are equipped with the skills to work with neurodiverse individuals.

How important is this? As an example, 80% of the people on the autism spectrum are unemployed or underemployed. This number is so high because they don’t know how to maneuver in a social setting or people don’t understand how to work with them.

There can be tremendous value in having a neurodiverse person on staff because they may conceptualize things differently and can bring in new ideas and ways of solving problems.

Companies such as Google, Amazon, Dell, Facebook and the United Nations are working with them and developing best practices in recruitment. 

An example of a simple change in a recruiting situation would be if the neurodiverse person has anxiety in an interview situation, then have them do some of the things they would be doing on the job to demonstrate their competency, or you can give the person the interview questions in advance of the interview so that the person will have time to prepare their answers.

Finally, an interviewer needs to realize that the neurodiverse person may not make eye contact, they may not do the “usual greetings” and they may not express enthusiasm. What the Neurodiversity Project is doing is teaching companies to not look at these kinds of criteria when judging a neurodiverse person for a job.

As an example, I have a friend who is great with computers (he actually works at Langley doing top secret computer work), but he is poor with relating socially. So…I and others changed our expectations which allows him to flourish around people.
(Reported PCMA.ORG, September/October 2021)