How I Work (Neurodivergently) - Leon Furze

Location: Regional SW Victoria

Current gig(s): PhD in AI/education, consultant, author

One word that best describes how you work:?Broad

Neurodivergent??Autistic

First of all, tell us a little about your work background and how you got to where you are today.?I worked in Secondary education for 15 years teaching English and literature and in school leadership. I'm also a non executive director on the?boards of Young Change Agents and Reframing Autism. In term 2 2022 I decided (partly because of positive experiences working from home during remote?learning) to go out on my own as a consultant. Shortly after making that decision the PhD opportunity came up which unites my two passions: technology and English

What are your job responsibilities??Whatever I decide! My work now is very broad - I run professional development, particularly around English teaching, literacy, reading and writing. Increasingly?I am running PD around AI. I have a number of advisory positions both?with schools and businesses. My AI research means I work with a diverse range of academics, including several overseas in the UK and US. I also write constantly: blog posts, books, anything really.

Take us through a typical workday.?If I'm up very early I might get a few things done before the kids wake up. Normally I'm on the school run and start "work" at 9am. I try to keep 9-10am free for a walk or a run. The rest of the day is divided between PhD reading, meetings with clients, writing, or making resources, videos, etc. for professional development. Since I've gone out on my own I also have the usual responsibilities of finance, marketing, emails, and so on - I try to have at least an hour a day to attend to the business.?

What’s your workspace setup like??Sometimes it's my desk, which is in the porch at home. Often it's a cafe or the library in town. A couple of weeks ago I got caught in the middle of something and ended up running a three hour online session from the passenger seat of my car....?

What apps, gadgets, or tools can’t you live without??Todoist has basically replaced my brain with coloured lists and projects. I use ChatGPT a lot now for brainstorming and sometimes to check my perspective on an issue. I'm an apple user and have an M2 air which has been great, plus an ipad which I use for reading and annotating the PhD readings. For writing though I go low tech - I've got a fountain pen special interest that waxes and wanes. Most of the time I use TWSBI Ecos because they're workhorses,?but I also have a Lamy 2000 and a Pelikan M800 I love using for writing longhand.

Do you stim? If so, how and when??Audio and verbal stimming constantly. I hate loud noises unless they're coming from me or music I'm playing. My former students tell me I also hum when I'm marking work. Physically, tapping and drumming, particularly when reading. I actually find typing to be very stimmy...

How do you align your neurodivergence with your work environment? (e.g. planning,?supports, environmental)?I was a late adult diagnosis and remote learning was?really good?- one of the driving factors behind going out on my own was more control over the environment. I can choose when and how to interact with people. During RL I stayed on the farm for 8 weeks before?my wife made me go out (it's a big farm...). I have to carefully plan now how?I balance the "song and dance" side of what I do - running PD,?speaking events, panels, conferences - with the hyperfocus research reading/writing work. I enjoy both but they both have different pitfalls.

Are there any challenges or misconceptions that you've faced in your work? How have you addressed them??Classic "you're not autistic" responses, combined with "of course you're autistic how did you not realise" - depending on who you ask (or don't ask, the opinions are usually unsolicited) I'm either 0% or 150% autistic. That seems to come from a lifetime of masking. There's a misconception that because I enjoy public speaking, presenting, networking etc. that I can't be autistic. I can even make eye contact when I have to!

What’s your favourite shortcut or hack??Understanding that taking half an?hour or an hour to go for a run will actually gain me about two hours of more productive time afterwards.?

How do you keep track of what you have to do??Todoist and iCal. I have five different gmail accounts and three outlook?accounts because of my affiliations with different organisations and universities, so they all get centralised onto iCal. One of the calendars is connected to my wife's calendar, and we have two separate hard copy calendars plus a whiteboard on the fridge. Something always goes missing though!

How do you recharge or take a break??I run and play guitar, and take jazz guitar lessons once a week. I have to very?consciously find time to do those things though otherwise I'd work all the time. That's particularly true of reading?and writing because I?treat that as "leisure" as much as work.

What’s your favourite passion/interest/side project??At the moment I'm playing with AI as much as studying it. It's an ethically complex and problematic technology, but also very generative and interesting. I can lose a few hours in mid journey?just playing with prompts.

What are you currently reading/listening to, or what do you recommend??I'm telling anyone who will listen to read Kate Crawford's?Atlas of AI. She's an amazing author. I'm listening to a?duo of books I've read many times before: Octavia E Butler's?Parable of the?Sower?and?Parable of the Talents. Butler is one of my favourite fiction authors.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received??It was actually teaching advice while I was doing my teacher training. A head of English I worked for told me: "never take marking home. Give feedback directly to students. Mark during lunch if you have to. But leave the damn pile of books on your desk and never ever take them home." That carried me through 15 years.

Anything else you'd like to tell us??I joined the Reframing Autism board as part of my own journey - I think the most important thing anyone can do is be constantly learning, and sometimes that means learning new things about yourself. RA has been incredibly helpful to me in that process through their courses and materials and I'd encourage anyone else on a similar journey to check them out.