6 Common Workplace Neurodiversity Barriers and Opportunities

Written By Michael Aronsson

As someone who has worked across several industries since graduating college, I've worked at places that were supportive and saw my neurodivergence as a strength, while others lacked the resolve and/or knowledge of legal and HR practices of what it meant to have a more neuro-inclusive workplace. Even within progressive organizations and the neuro-inclusion industry, there can be stark contrasts between an organization's mission and its commitment to holding itself accountable to the same mission and services it provides.

It isn't easy, as sometimes the barriers we perpetuate are so pervasive that it can easily lead us to think the issues are the person, not the barrier we are enforcing. This is part of what makes ableism so subversive.

However, when organizations play to the strengths of the people they manage, it can be a game-changing experience for both the individual and the organization. 

 

Improving Opportunities to Play to Strengths

The managers I have worked with and thrived under – and whose style I have emulated throughout my management experience – center playing to strengths. Sometimes, this requires a bit of creativity and reorganization when it comes to project and task assignments, but I promise the results are worth it. It can almost be second nature to dismiss playing to strengths and think someone doesn't want to do a task because they are lazy. For instance, because of my ADHD, data entry can be mentally, emotionally, and physically draining. That leads to sleepless nights because I didn't get enough stimulation during the day, which can have a domino effect and impact performance.

Boredom isn't just boredom for me; it can be viscerally and emotionally painful. But trying to tell a manager you struggle with data entry because it isn't stimulating isn't often going to fly. Extracting from universal learning design, playing to interest and motivation can improve performance.

My current boss is amazing. We put together a worksheet on how we can work best together, including our strengths, challenges, communication styles, learning approaches, work styles, etc. Ask your employees/co-workers what their strengths are and what tasks/projects best play to them. This doesn't mean that no one does tasks they aren't interested in; it means prioritizing tasks and project assignments based on strengths and interests while being accountable to an intersectional lens, such as formalizing an assigning process rather than assigning projects at the “water cooler.”

 

Lack of an Intersectional Lens

This could be a blog post in and of itself. Intersectionality, coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, describes how people have intersecting identities/backgrounds – viewing gender, sex, class, race, religion, age, disability, and sexuality as a silo negates the overlapping identities people have and the experiences, privileges, and barriers that can come with overlap.

            Without an intersectional lens, neurodiversity initiatives fail to truly support, let alone be representative of the neurodivergent community. While my ADHD and Dyslexia come with challenges, as a cisgender, straight, white male growing up under fortunate circumstances, I have been afforded privileges and treatment in schools and the workplace that others have not. Studies have found that women, people of color, and people from the LGBTQIA+ community are more likely to have their accommodation requests denied in the workplace.

            One consulting organization I worked at didn't find it essential to highlight intersectionality in their training, addressing remote work barriers, despite its implication for salary, project preference, and promotions. It’s not truly neuro-inclusive if it isn’t intersectional. Sometimes, people avoid these topics because they feel they are "difficult," despite how that negligence can further perpetuate inequities. 

 

Avoiding “Difficult Topics”

Discussing intersectionality can sometimes be difficult for people with privilege as they fear saying the wrong thing and the perceived repercussions for their business. This mindset upholds an issue that must be confronted. Organizations should hold themselves accountable for not just having difficult conversations but also taking action from them.

For instance, actively building new accountability and equitable systems and processes to adapt to insights pulled from monitoring demographic information behind hiring, pay, and promotions, accommodation requests/rejections/approval, and how the interactive process might be less favorable to some based on their background. Not to mention looking into promotion, raises, or hiring rates based on people who have requested or have been granted accommodations and then further breaking that down by demographics.

Organizations should always be evolving and expanding the lens and effectiveness of their DEIB initiatives – not just to ask for feedback, but to adopt to it. 

One organization I worked at only started taking into consideration applicants' ethnicity after a grant required them to. This same organization, despite a client's request for them to do so, avoided discussing intersectionality during a webinar. When I pressed, the CEO said to me, "I hope they forgot they asked me about incorporating intersectionality."

The CEO’s rationale was that they didn't think it was necessary, didn't specialize in intersectionality, and were afraid of saying the wrong thing. By not centering intersectionality, the people in the webinar who could be recruiters or managers, i.e., decision-makers, might be less aware of their role in perpetuating workplace disparities and what they can work on.  

No one is going to say the right thing 100% of the time. What matters is owning up to any mistake and teaching others not to make the same one. Being afraid of saying the wrong thing is never an excuse and doesn’t absolve someone of accountability. 

 

Mistakes in the Workplace

As someone who is ADHD (hyperactive, inattentive, and impulsive) and dyslexic, with other language-based learning disabilities, I make a ton of mistakes. This doesn't mean I'm any less accountable for improving, but it can be beneficial when a workspace recognizes the importance of inclusive communication norms, playing to strengths, and consistent check-ins. I thrived at organizations that saw mistakes as mutual learning opportunities to improve collaboration and the work product, rather than as one founding partner put it, “Mike, I need someone that can read my mind.”

Ultimately, mistakes can be rectified and are learning experiences. There can always be check-in guardrails to ensure a mistake doesn't lead to a catastrophe. A good practice when mistakes happen is to ask yourself what you could have done differently and collaboratively troubleshoot with the individual rather than treating it as an interrogation. As managers, we should always work on improving how we manage, not focus on aligning the people we manage to our management style.

 

"That's the Way it Has Always Been."

This statement, whether one day from now or 100+ years from now, will have you on the wrong side of history. It’s important for organizations to challenge some of their core strategies, practices, operations, and culture. For instance, one organization I worked at was resistant to reducing data entry despite finding a way to automate it. It was technically even tax deductible because it could count as an accommodation for my executive functioning challenges. I was met with defensiveness, as the individual who had set up the data management system was very protective of their processes and didn’t want to look into alternative solutions.

Often when we create things, whether it's art, a system, or a process, we can understandably get defensive and protective. On campaigns where time is of the essence, you learn very quickly that ego and inflexible processes and systems lead to inefficiency, corrosive culture, failure, or employees going rogue (which is the best result).


As we work toward building a more neuro-inclusive workplace, we have to challenge the very things we worked so hard to create, sustain, and participate in. Specific tasks and projects can't be a rite of passage for everyone. I’m pretty sure we all can own up to (myself, included) perpetuating ableism by falling back on “this is how it has always been.” 

The Interactive Process

While many of the places I have worked (start-ups and campaigns) aren’t exactly renowned for their compliance with ADA/ADAA laws, there tends to be a lack of understanding of neurodiversity and the accommodation process, which can have detrimental effects up and down the ladder. Clarity around procedure is essential or people will fall back on what they know, and often what they know is how things have been done. If there isn’t knowledge and actionable awareness of neurodiversity, then it’s easy for accommodations to be perceived as unreasonable – let alone recognizing when someone is asking for an accommodation and the subsequent conversation between employee and employer required by Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).  Under the ADA, in most cases, organizations with fifteen or more people are federally required to provide reasonable accommodations. The threshold can be less in some states and municipalities.

Actionable education surrounding neurodiversity and disability can be incredibly helpful while establishing new norms and making the accommodation process clear and accessible to all employees, regardless of whether they have a disability or not. This includes reducing barriers to accessing accommodations, such as requiring doctor’s notes which can create financial, emotional, and social barriers. Not everyone can afford to get a doctor’s note, let alone an official diagnosis, especially keeping in mind the racial, gender, and class disparities in accessing an accurate identification of neurodivergence.

I was lucky. At one company, a boss tried to fire me for being ADHD/dyslexic, and I was required to have a medical professional send them documentation if I was to keep my job. Due to my privilege, I was already seeing a psychologist and psychiatrist and have been since age five when I was first “diagnosed.” 

It was a bizarre experience to have my psychologist communicate with my supervisor, HR, and leadership. At this organization, HR and the Head of Equity and Justice had my back and fought for me. They prevented my attempted termination and demotion, but we struggled to stymie the toxic and hostile environment, due to leadership’s complacency and refusal to intervene and hold my managers accountable for their continued retaliation.

Many of the accommodation requests tend to be things that can benefit people, regardless of whether or not they are neurodivergent. They can include communication preferences, advanced meeting notes, adapting to working styles, or playing to strengths. A starting point for organizations is to be vigilant and listen for accommodation requests (which legally don’t require the use of the word “accommodation”), constantly evaluate and challenge “the ways it has always been done” and actively engage in mutually collaborative and supportive work environments.

 

Summary

At the end of the day, we all play a role in creating barriers, including me and my fellow neurodivergent people. We all must challenge ourselves and actively challenge our management styles and organizational systems.

If you are seeking consulting or placement firms to help get you a job or are an organization looking to improve your neuro-inclusion efforts, don’t just look at a firm’s LinkedIn profile and website; make sure you ask the hard questions (including methodology) on how they center justice and intersectionality. Spoiler alert: many don’t. Anyone can like and reshare a LinkedIn post, but not everyone incorporates an intersectional and just lens.

Everyone will make mistakes on our journey to work toward creating a more neuro-inclusive workspace. What matters at the end of the day is how we learn and take ownership, accountability, and action from those mistakes.


Together, let’s challenge ourselves, our management styles, accommodation processes, preexisting beliefs, and organizational systems. Let’s all have and take action from difficult conversations. And let’s all work toward creating a more neuro-inclusive workspace!

 

Additional Management Best Practices:

  • Agree upon and be consistent in how you disperse information through those communication modes. If you agree to send urgent time-sensitive updates through Slack, don't email time-sensitive updates (you can always do both).

  • Provide clear deadlines, communication, boundaries, and expectations while also keeping in mind people may still misunderstand.

  • Tailor and commit to a check-in frequency. Use and customize task/project management apps.

  • Provide meeting agendas ahead of time.

  • Understand the difference between misunderstanding vs. unable vs. intentionally not doing something.

  • Differentiate between critical and careless mistakes. Does spelling on internal communication really require policing? Understand and work to bridge, not conform, different working styles.

 

Sources:

Michael Aronsson

Michael (he/him/his) is ADHD and Dyslexic with other language-based learning disabilities. Recently, Michael joined Neurodiversity Alliance as their national organizer where he works with highschool and college students to spread awareness about neurodiversity, engage in disability justice advocacy, and mobilize for change.

He has worked as a neuro-inclusion consultant, applying both research and lived experience, he developed and led trainings for employees at all levels of an organization. Michael has worked on electoral, candidate, and issue-based campaigns across the country. Throughout his political experience he managed and trained managers and staff and has led campaign wide workshops.

His most recent political experience was as a Deputy Organizing Director with the Colorado Democratic Party’s Coordinated Campaign during the 2022 midterm elections. During that campaign he led two seperate neuro-inclusion trainings, with distinct sessions for managers and staff, enhancing organizational understanding and support for neurodiversity. Michael received a B.A. in Psychology from Marymount Manhattan College.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelaronsson/
Previous

Inclusivity & Context
Next

Embracing Diversity & Inclusion in Entertainment: Unveiling “SOUTH PARK: THE LITTLE MOUNTAIN SHOW!”