Jumping from 2023 into 2024

Jumping from 2023 into 2024, I find myself thinking at the path I walked in 2023, a path that, at times, felt like a labyrinth of challenges and triumphs.  2023 was a year with a mixture of personal resilience, whilst being vulnerable, working hard to seize opportunities, and celebrating and commiserating with trusted allies and friends.  I have remained passionate about making change for those of us who live are neurodivergent and/or those with hidden disabilities and removing the stigma of being part of this underrepresented group. In this blog post, I want to share some thoughts about 2024 and celebrating neurodiversity and disability in a world where I can often feel relentlessly busy.

But there are times during the week when I need to slow down, perhaps this is forced on me with my twice-weekly commute from home to my London office.  There are times when it is consciously planned for example when I do our weekly gardening, such activities are helpful in reminding me of whilst working in EDI regardless of the weather is, hard work, slow work, often repeatable, sowing seeds, removing weeds, cultivating plants, digging holes, picking fruit and vegetables, reaping the rewards.  Or when I am not found in the family garden, I unwind developing iterative and predictive Microsoft Excel football match models using a combination of online datasets and array of fancy formulas.  I also use mindfulness techniques and listen to instrumental music (too many words are often an unnecessary distraction to me) to slow down and consolidate my thought.  Often, I have to scribble ideas for the days ahead.  Slowly, forward thinking and asking myself how things could be done when the world opens in 2024!

My thoughts are rarely removed from neurodiversity and disability acceptance.  Random and unconnected thoughts are written down.  Any ongoing plan has taken shape.  The acceptance of neurodiversity and disability remains slow by it is gaining momentum, and prominence in our ever-evolving society and in workplaces.  By being an Equity Diversity Inclusion champion / advocate I will continue to seek to challenge preconceptions and create a world that embraces the uniqueness of individuals with diverse neurological profiles.  But amidst this goal, there is a potential pitfall – the risk of becoming overworked, promoting token awareness, and missing the essence of genuine acceptance.  As the number of neurodivergent employees in the workforce is growing, organizations are stronger when they embrace diversity and inclusion initiatives for other populations, the same applies when neurotypical employees interact in meaningful ways with colleagues who are neurodivergent.

It is important to always remember that neurodivergent employees offer companies the opportunity to push beyond the boundaries of the tried and tested. Do not treat us differently, empower us to unleash our full potential across all spheres of the business. Employers must be conscious of their approach and perspective but give time to pause and reflect and also to initiate action toward an inclusive outcome for all; if well treated with respect and dignity, neurodivergent employees can be valuable assets to various aspects of a company.  The best thing to manage them by find out their unique strengths, how they fit in best, given their skillset, and task them only with matters they can succeed in.  It is imperative that you do not overload us; instead, find where we fit best and watch us and see your company flourish.

I am neurodivergent; my conditions are real, messy, complex, lifelong and unique to me.  This represents differences in the way, I think, move, process, and communicate.  I am autistic, with dyslexia and dyspraxia who is also visually impaired, and, since graduating in 1995, I have been working in STEM as a chartered engineer and chartered geologist.  By knowing my strengths in the workplace can help me position myself in a team, make better decisions as an individual and advance my career. It has taken time to understand qualities that let me differentiate myself from colleagues in certain situations.  If we are able to highlight our strengths, these then these become an essential part of succeeding in our chosen career.  One good place to start when trying to identify workplace strengths, is sometimes to consider where my shortfalls are in at work.  This can also include things I do enjoy doing while working and why.  This is because strengths and weaknesses are interrelated concepts. 

When employers take note of our strengths to find roles that best suit our abilities, these often lead to promotions and opportunities. And some may come out of necessity, for example myself being an introvert by nature, but an extrovert to raise awareness and acceptance of underrepresented groups including neurodiversity and hidden disabilities, in the workplace and society.  Over the years, I have seen this personally whilst working as an engineer for several international civil and mining engineering consultancies whilst being an EDI Champion / Advocate specializing in disability and neurodiversity.  I often have to use of soft skills to help foster a collaborative environment or improve the overall efforts of a company.  My role involves advocating for inclusion and understanding and championing the rights and needs of neurodivergent individuals, including those with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other neurological differences. My advocacy aims to create environments across employment sectors where neurodivergent individuals can belong and thrive without facing discrimination or exclusion.  2023 was a year that was particularly satisfying on a personal note, my hard work was being noticed across many sectors and making a real difference.  2023, resulted in one EDI appointment as a volunteer, two national awards, and being shortlisted for three others:

• Vice President: Equity Diversity and Inclusion of the Geological Society of London 2023 – 2026.
• 2023 Winner: “Outstanding Contribution Award for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion”, Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining.
• 2023 Winner: “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award”, Ground Engineering.
• 2023 Disability Power 100 Finalist: pioneer, changemaker and influencer within the Science & Engineering category, Shaw Trust.
• 2023 Celebrating Neurodiversity Awards: (Finalist): Neurominority Achiever of the Year, Genius Within.
• 2023 Finalist (Top 3): “Engineer of the Year”, Engineering Talent Awards & Equal Engineers.

Again, I wish to say a big shout out and thank you to those who nominated me, those who have encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone when I was at my lowest.  I am incredibly thankful for the level of support you continue to show me.  Thank you for recognizing my hard work over the years and for allowing me this opportunity to increase my level of responsibility. I hope I continue to prove myself in the years to come.  Thank you for recognizing my fulfillment of this goal and for your unwavering support. I really appreciate it. It has been repeatedly, I feel like walking in solitude, not lonely because I am content in who I am, including one who is working with my strengths and minimizing my societal challenges, pushing my energy levels and trying to avoid my triggers.  I am at times vulnerable but often working in pain and fatigue,  I do not think I am asking for cures and fixes but for our liberation from the Medical and Social Models of Disability resulting in a fight against ableism in all its guises. 

Both models of disability are potential cages and are two ends of the spectrum have the potential to limit our capability to thrive and fully participate in society.  Yet these models can provide a useful tool to think what it its to be different, but they can be simplistic and make things appear more clear-cut than they are. Most people sit somewhere between the social and medical models and in the way they live.  The Medical Model states that our conditions are physical, mental, sensory or an impairment and the individual is the problem with an impairment; we can be entrapped by a labyrinth created by the medical profession by practices and procedures.  Whereas the Social Model of Disability states that our environment is inaccessible (barriers) be buildings, services, communication, or language, this is manifest by societal attitudes as stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination; we can be snared by another maze created by organizational practices, procedures, and tradition.  I live in hope of helping to build a truly progressive future by being a passionate, focused and tireless EDI Advocate focusing on acceptance of neurodiversity and disability in the workplace and society.  I dream of an accessible and inclusive world, a world where we have liberation and dignity regardless of our neurodivergent traits or our disability status, is a world where all of us thrive.

That said, there are very other few role models who are neurodivergent employed in my area of STEM (geoscience, engineering, mining), consequently, some have called me a trailblazer and troublemaker disrupting the status quo.  I know I am on a path, somehow mapped out in my mind; it is not easy at times to follow; it is not a recognizable or sometimes obvious to others.  But it is the right path for me and never a straightforward path, each day presents new challenges and there are occasional times when I do not feel like I am on the right path, or get stuck in a roundabout.  Or on a red traffic light, but these stages are only temporary give time to be curious and require stillness and slowness.  If I do trailblazing, I still ask myself if, am really out in front of others exploring unknown and new territories, mapping new pathways, and setting the pace.  Yes, I am curious, by thinking I do not know everything already and continuously checking my ego.  By not knowing all the answers, I do not need to be the expert.

This means I love to explore, asking questions of myself and my surroundings, and still being a work in progress to being a pioneer, no way the finished product (expert) at finding new and better ways.  I love encouraging, mentoring, and sharing with others and being problem-solving whilst being a neurodivergent engineer. Asking many questions throughout 2023, I was reminded by many on numerous occasions of the dangers of overworking while advocating for neurodiversity and disability.  I was often commended for my efforts for questioning the status quo. But in the same breath, I warned about taking it to the extreme and causing myself undue stress / anxiety / burnout and to slow down. I am aware of my limits, yet I cannot impose them on others but together we will see lasting change.  I know I do not feel the need to attend numerous events (face-to-face or virtually) and take on excessive responsibilities but whilst I have the energy I will continue.  By working with others, be they other volunteers, Champions, Advocates and organisations, it theory it means it helps to share the workload and multiply each other's impact.

For these reasons alone, EqualEngineers (www. equalengineers.com) has recently created a Neurodiversity Network and asked to me to be the inaugural co-chairperson.  The EqualEngineers Neurodiversity Network (EENN, the official name still to be decided) will strive to eliminate the sense of isolation and remove societal stigmas.  It is open for all who call themselves an engineer and everyone who is neurodivergent with lived experience (formally or self-diagnosed), has a relative who is neurodivergent, or allies.  Launched online in late September 2023, EENN aims to promote understanding and aims to be a safe place to support all, with mentoring, and training events, and, as a collective voice, we will raise awareness of being neurodivergent in the workplace and in society by celebrating our unique brilliance.  Moreover, in 2024, this new network will hopefully create a more diverse and inclusive engineering culture.  This will not only benefit the morale of those currently working and increase our reputation for those looking in, be it graduates wishing to enter the world of STEM or members of the public cynical about what we really do. 

Chairing EENN means collaborating with many others and I still really enjoy often working with others to avoid being overwhelmed and counterproductive, but it is draining of my energy.  Also, to avoid overworking, I prioritize self-care and setting realistic boundaries, taking breaks, seeking support when need to catch up with others and spending quality time with my family.  But one reason I am tireless is I would love society and workplaces to move away from token awareness to a genuine understanding of what it is like to be a person who is neurodivergent / hidden disability.  Often, we feel isolated at work we can be viewed as being “different”.  This results in being in a tribe of one and commonly misunderstood by our peers with unfair treatment in education or in the workplace and this affects our career progression.

I acknowledge my privilege: white heterosexual, married man in my early 50s, living in southeast England, being a native and an English communicator.  Furthermore, I continue to work full-time and I do not take this for granted; I am so thank that I am working for a company that is fully accepting of my condition and my workplace adjustments (accommodations) in place.  It is easy to for us all to recognize blatant discrimination (sexism, racism, homophobia, or ablism) when someone puts another person down because of their protected characteristic such as race or gender.  But as an EDI Advocate, I must continuously recognize how my everyday interactions with others may reinforce dominance simply because of my membership, by birth or circumstance, of a dominant group.  This also means I am not ashamed to say I associate with all people at every level.

But I repeat I am conscious that my neurodivergent conditions are real, lifelong, complex, and messy, they present me with unique strengths and challenges.  I continually want to move away from token awareness; we should never merely acknowledge neurodiversity without truly understanding its implications or significance. Basic acceptance is a superficial portrayal and even harmful if it leads to performative gestures without substantive change.  To avoid this depiction, I therefore continually strive for less than token awareness as I continue to educate myself and others about the experiences of neurodivergent individuals. As I listen and learn to the stories and experiences of other exceptional neurodivergent individuals, I gain further insights and inform my advocacy efforts.  Without listening, ongoing learning from others, there can be no real understanding or inclusion.  No two people’s experience of living with neurodivergent traits is the same; as we say, if you have met one person who is neurodivergent, you have met one person who is neurodivergent.

We all need time to invest the time to understand the value and differences in each of our co-workers and acknowledge and identify any special needs that will help each person stay engaged.  Talk to us informally face to face having a coffee and chat or perhaps formally with reverse mentoring and coaching schemes.  This investment of time will foster trust between employees and leaders, and it can also increase productivity by enhancing strengths.  Being neurodivergent at work has both strengths and weaknesses, but to succeed, together we must find strategies and learn coping methods to utilize our strengths and create systems to minimize the struggles.  These methods will be different for each one of us, we can learn from each other but never copy.  Since our manifestation of neurodiversity is unique to each of us, we learn from our positive and negative life experiences.  Adopting this approach can lead to significant understanding in supporting neurodiversity and those who are disabled.

By embracing and celebrating the diversity within the neurodiversity community itself, it is possible to recognize that each person's experience is unique.  Neurodiversity doesn’t exist in isolation – it intersects with other aspects of diversity such as gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.  As we grow in gaining a true understanding of an individual's lived experience leads to empathy and drives meaningful change.  For example, as part of EENN, we will work together by having a clear understanding of the network’s objectives and being respectful to each other, with the goal of understanding different viewpoints.  When we share our opinions with the network, we provide reasoning to help justify our thought process.  We are mindful of confidentiality and trust among others.  We accept that no individual can provide all the answers and our core strength is listening and learning from one another.  Each one of us on the committee is prepared to adapt our opinion and we lead by example. 

Personally, full acceptance of others is at the heart of my neurodiversity and disability advocacy.  As a society and workplaces, we need to embrace differences as an integral part of the human experience. We are different, not less, we should not be added to an existing culture, we should not be seen as people needing to be "fixed" or to be disfigured and assimilated into a neurotypical culture fit. This requires recognizing the strengths and challenges of neurodivergent individuals and people with disabilities and creating environments that accommodate their needs.  Please make a habit of talking to others with different beliefs or listening to perspectives different than your own. This will help to generate natural questions and expand your understanding of different perspectives and thoughts.  Recognize your biases and assumptions so that you can operate in an expansive open space rather than through a closed and narrow view of the world.  Focusing on a deep sense of acceptance and belonging for one and all in all aspects of life, will keep you and me grounded and keep our immediate goals simple.