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The Neurodiversity Compendium

Written by Theo Smith

Theo is a Welsh Wizard. After leaving his Celtic land he set out on a journey to help organisations attract more talent. This has included global executive search, RPO, in-house and recruitment marketing. He now talks on a wide variety of recruitment related subjects. He is also the podcast host for Neurodiversity – Eliminating Kryptonite & Enabling Superheroes

Last week I ran a lunch and learn session at NICE on Neurodiversity at work. We had a great turn out across two locations linked via video to explore this wonderful subject.

I have to say the response was great and the general feedback I’ve received has been positive. I also recognised that there is a lot of information out there and we’d all potentially benefit from pulling some of that content and information into one place.

So here I’ll have a go at doing exactly that!

Let’s start with our friends over at CIPD and their partner Uptimize for a look at Neurodiversity at work:

“Learn more about neurodiversity, the benefits for organisations, and how to support neurodivergent people to be comfortable and successful at work”

This is a good detailed and informative study.

CIPD Neurodiversity at work

https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/relations/diversity/neurodiversity-work

ACAS write on the subject of things to consider when looking at Neurodiversity in the workplace with some good hints and tips and some valuable additional resources and links.

This is a shorter article for further information and guidance.

ACAS Neurodiversity at work

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5858

 

Blogs

Only recently Ian Cook has written for Recruiting daily on Recruiting Neurodiversity:

How Dyslexic and Autistic Minds Can Move Your Business Forward

https://recruitingdaily.com/recruiting-neurodiversity-how-dyslexic-and-autistic-minds-can-move-your-business-forward/

With Richard Branson at the helm you’d expect Virgin to be keen on the subject of Neurodiversity. Here Lucy Jolin writes an article on what neurodiverse people can bring to teams.

How the Workplace Benefits from Neurodiversity

https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/how-workplace-benefits-neurodiversity

My neurodiversity journey begins here with:

An Introduction into Neurodiversity

https://www.chattalent.com/recruitment-hiring/leading-from-da-back-of-da-class/

We can start to attract a more diverse workforce, but if our assessment process is broken, and let’s face it for most of us it is! Then what are we going to do about it?

Neurodivergent Recruitment and Assessment

https://www.chattalent.com/strategy/diversity-inclusion/a-dolphin-in-a-rat-race/

The challenge I find with Diversity as a whole, is the sensitivity around the subject and the fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. So here I tried to simply break down what we as ‘people’ specialists can do to get things moving.

Taking steps to make a difference

https://www.chattalent.com/recruitment-hiring/neurodivergence-paralysis/

And of course, from:

A Dad’s perspective

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dyslexic-story-neurodiversity-theo-smith/

 

Must watch:

ADHD and Me with Rory Bremner (2017) BBC.Documentary

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5kbann

This program with Rory Bremner really opened my eyes to ADHD and it was a lightbulb moment for me!

 

Failing at Normal: An ADHD Success Story | Jessica McCabe | TEDxBratislava

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiwZQNYlGQI

Jessica shares her story and she didn’t achieve her perceived potential, which is very different to my journey of never really having any potential! At least not academically.

But the important thing for me is how being neurodivergent can have an impact on mental health, because it’s an invisible challenge we face every day. Education and awareness are key to success and happiness.

 

Chris Packham: Aspergers & Me

https://vimeo.com/252876361

“My name is Chris Packham. What you probably don’t know about me, because I’ve been hiding it most of my life, is that my brain is different than yours because I’m autistic. I’ve spent 30 years on the telly, trying my best to act normal, when really I’m anything but.”

 

People to follow:

Chris Packham

Naturalist, Broadcaster, Autistic and let’s face it an amazing person!

https://twitter.com/ChrisGPackham?lang=en-gb

 

Agony Autie

Autistic presenter & advocate. Diagnosed Ehlers Danlos, POTs, Endomitriosis & PCOS

https://twitter.com/AgonyAutie

https://www.facebook.com/agonyautie

 

Lucy Hobbs

The Future is ND @thefutureisnd and @lucykhobbs  a neurodiversity advocate and the founder of the first ever neurodiverse network for the creative and tech industries.

https://twitter.com/thefutureisnd

https://www.lucykhobbs.com/about-1

 

Jessica

@HowtoADHD

Building a toolbox of techniques for tackling ADHD. Tweeting the latest research, tried techniques, and her own foibles along the way to ADHD adulthood.

https://twitter.com/HowtoADHD

https://www.youtube.com/howtoadhd

 

Further information:

British Dyslexia Association ‘Understanding Neurodiversity, a guide to specific Learning differences’ funded by the Department for Education

https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/common/ckeditor/filemanager/userfiles/A_Guide_to_SpLD_2nd_ed.pdf

ADHD Foundation

https://www.adhdfoundation.org.uk/

National Autistic Society

https://www.autism.org.uk/

British Dyslexia Association

https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/

Dyspraxia Foundation

https://dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/

 

Events

in just a couple of weeks I’ll be leading a session in Manchester on Neurodiversity

https://www.meetup.com/TalentSessions/events/258668751/

I’ll also be leading a Track on Neurodiversity at:

TRU London

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/trulondon-tickets-55865145153?aff=erelexpmlt

TRU Manchester

https://trumunity.com/truevent/trumanchester-the-recruitment-unconference/

And I expect to be doing the rounds at other key events, feel free to get in touch if you think I could help?

 

If you feel there is anything else we can add to this post please feel free to signpost me to the content or contact me directly to share the information.

I hope you find this useful 🙂

 

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