ND Voices: Late Diagnosis- Supporting our differences, utilising our strengths

Author: ??Sofie D. Day??

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In our series of "ND Voices" articles? highlighting benefits and best practices for creating community and supporting neurodivergent employees, we are focusing on both employee resource groups and other types of support groups. Neurodiversity in Business volunteer Sofie Day discusses the connections and mutual understanding that participants in her organisation’s disability forum are beginning to see take shape. She also discusses how a strengths-based approach to supporting neurodivergent employees can mitigate the harm that can otherwise come from being undiagnosed or lacking supports.?

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We had an enlightening discussion about neurodiversity within my organisation’s disability forum. Turns out quite a few of us have been diagnosed in adulthood. Dyslexia, ADHD, Dyspraxia, Autism, one of us has a Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder diagnosis. Our diagnostic ages ranged from 20 to 45+.??

Regardless of our individual diagnosis, we had all gone through long periods of not understanding what was ‘wrong’ with us. We would see peers and colleagues excel in areas where we felt completely stuck or clueless, wondering why we were struggling while everyone around us seemed completely oblivious to the faintest sense of difficulty.??

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Information processing that’s different, yet the same?

One colleague explained that they first noticed their differences at university. Whilst their peers were able to take notes as the professor was giving his lecture, they couldn’t simultaneously listen and write, because their mind needed to fully process what was being said prior to jotting it down on paper. They explained how, for them, words needed to be analysed in complex ways. A great example given was the word ‘bed’, which the person clarified looks like a bed, with the head and foot, respectively being the ‘b’ and ‘d’ with ‘e’ being the length of the bed connecting the head ‘b’ and foot ‘d’.??

I couldn’t imagine having to deal with this lengthy processing to enable my mind to write down a simple 3-letter word. However, as an autistic, I do similar mind-mapping to figure out people’s intentions.? So, although I am not dyslexic, as this colleague was, I could relate enormously to their tribulations. Many others in the forum could too, either due to their own dyslexia diagnosis or through differing diagnosis resulting in comparable information processing differences.???

Another example: my diagnostic report states I don’t understand sarcasm. I feel I do understand sarcasm to quite some extent, but I don’t always know with whom or when it is appropriate to use it. I also don’t always know when someone is being sarcastic or when they are being genuine.??

For example, I have thanked co-workers dissing me because I believed a compliment to be true. I was unable to detect the subtle nuances in their tone of voice which would have made me realise that ‘you’re a whole lot of fun’ didn’t mean they found me to be amusing, but meant they found me to be anything but. This confusion is exacerbated through others genuinely stating I am very funny (although near to always unintentionally!). It is hard for me to distinguish the people who appreciate the humour I bring into their lives from the people who don’t.??

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We can’t always rely on formal diagnosis??

When you are without diagnosis, yet your mind clearly works differently to most, it is challenging to understand what is going on. There are a lot of misconceptions about certain diagnoses, such as people with ADHD have a continuous abundance of physical energy; dyslexics can’t read or write; autistics don’t have empathy, etc.??

As someone who is autistic, I actually experience an abundance of empathy and often feel overwhelmed with it. Before I learnt that this sense of overwhelm and frequent inability to regulate emotions, including empathy, was a common autistic trait, I would never have considered myself potentially to be autistic.??

Similarly, a person who is dyslexic, but who didn’t massively struggle with reading and writing in primary and secondary education, may not realise that an inability to simultaneously listen and write is indicative of dyslexia. Someone who never had an overwhelming desire to run around their school’s sports field due to a sheer abundance in energy, may not suspect they have ADHD when they come into employment and find themselves seemingly unable to organise their day as successfully as their colleagues can. These people may go through their career getting and accepting negative labels such as ‘lazy’, ‘flaky’, ‘irritable’, ‘difficult’, … unemployable.???

Neurodivergence is often initially acknowledged following a diagnosis, but the above examples show that neurodiversity exists before diagnosis, from birth onwards. Neurodivergent people are simply born with atypical brains. Given this scope for overlap between the diagnoses and the underdiagnosis of females, who instead may present with anxiety, depression or eating disorders, a reasonable estimate of neurodiversity within the population is around 15–20%, a substantial marginalised group (1).?

Employers would do well to view issues relating to mental ill health, insomnia, and stress-related ailments in relation to the stress produced by continual sensory overload, marginalisation and/or the feeling of exclusion produced by feeling fundamentally different to neurotypical colleagues, who gain all the accolades and praise. Familiar themes like the command to ‘try harder’ or minimisation of emotions ‘we all feel like that sometimes’, lead to self-doubt and mental ill-health (4).?

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Taking a strengths-based approach to neurodiversity?

Once neurodiversity has been identified, an individual may feel exonerated, and experience catharsis. It may improve mental health due to finally having a reason, an explanation for why they weren’t able to do what others do without difficulty. Identifying one’s strengths and challenges can help breaking down barriers and remove self-criticism (3).??

Considering the amount of people who are likely employed without a formal or self-diagnosis of neurodiversity, it is important that employers focus on creating jobs which utilise an employee’s strengths rather than unduly challenge their weaknesses (2).?

It is vital that employers listen to their employees and recognise potential signs of neurodivergence and adopt a strengths-based approach. I have worked in addiction recovery since 2012. In this decade, I have heard the term ‘strengths-based approach’ within each organisation, referring to clients who are often marginalised and whose continual self-doubt has them stuck in a destructive cycle of substance misuse. Clients will often gain confidence when strengths are acknowledged and utilised to find a way out of their addiction. When strengths are applied in combination with setting attainable goals, it often leads to a successful and lasting recovery.??

Why don’t employers adopt the same strengths-based method to get the best from their workforce?? And furthermore, why is a formal diagnosis necessary for employers to recognise that some of the demands made upon their employee may not consider their neurological differences or preferences??

From what I have learned from our discussions in our disability forum is that employers should acknowledge differences and accept them, regardless of whether an employee has declared a neurodiversity diagnosis.?

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References:??

1. Hendrickx, S. (2010). The adolescent and adult neurodiversity handbook: Asperger's syndrome, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and related conditions. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.?
2. Doyle, N. (2020). Neurodiversity at work: a biopsychosocial model and the impact on working adults. British Medical Bulletin, 135(1), 108.?
3. Austin, R. D., & Pisano, G. P. (2017). Neurodiversity as a competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review, 95(3), 96-103.?
4. Sarrett, J. C. (2016). Biocertification and neurodiversity: The role and implications of self-diagnosis in autistic communities. Neuroethics, 9(1), 23-36.?