Member Article

Tackling neurodiversity in the workplace

A Lancaster University report – commissioned by Perfect Support – advocates how “ensuring neurodiversity among a workforce can bring significant benefits for
organisations”, in particular the “inherently creative qualities of dyslexic individuals”.

And for Tracy Trickett, of Blackpool, supporting people on their autism and ADHD journey is not only her life’s work, but her own reality too.

Tracy empowers people to overcome the day-to-day challenges of their condition in the workplace, as well as supporting several members of her own family.

It’s a very personal mission for the mum and grandmother, whose daughter has severe dyslexia, with another suspected of having the condition too.

Her son is awaiting a diagnosis for autism and two of her ten grandchildren have respective dyslexia and dyspraxia diagnoses.

Perfect Support offers workplace wellbeing coaching strategies, and a large element of Tracy’s work is focused on helping managers identify and facilitate neurodiverse needs among their teams.

She says: “Participants will develop a better understanding of the challenges faced by neurodivergent individuals in the workplace by appreciating more about each condition and learning about the experiences of someone with them.

“We investigate the benefits of a neurodiverse workforce, helping everyone to acknowledge and realise the positive impact diversity has on productivity, creativity and achievement of workplace targets.

“Some people can struggle with managing their time, procrastination and feeling overwhelmed through autism, especially when it comes to communicating with team
members and managers.

“So, we look at different solutions that might help them.

“Sometimes managers just don’t understand; a lot of people with autism, for example, can’t handle change.

“So, we’ll discuss with them and their line manager about how they think it would be best to be notified of that change.

“It’s about seeing what people’s individual struggles are; managers often say they genuinely had no idea.”

And Tracy says there is some way to go to beat workplace stigma.

She says: “Some companies and line managers are more understanding than others.

“I have clients who won’t mention the fact they have autism in an interview because then people start talking to them like they’re less intelligent.

“There’s still that stigma.”

She adds: “It is different for every industry, but I would say open communication is key. 

“And if there’s something that can be put in place, maybe introduce it to the whole team so it makes that person seem less individualised.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Bdaily Publishing .