Neurodiversity - be FECKful

FECK-ful

Is this a new word for you?

The modern English word effect comes from this. Other definitions from Scotland include?efficacy; force; value;?sturdy, trusty, powerful, and vigorous. - I like all these descriptors.

Why use this term?

I think being FECK-ful describes values, effectiveness, and force which I think is what we see in many neurodivergent people given the chance and opportunity to be their best selves.

So what does my F-E-C-K stand for?

·?????Feelings

·?????Executive Functioning

·?????Communication

·?????Kindness

Let's unpack this.... and create a mix that ensures we can all be FECK-FULL ( as opposed to feckless!)

1. Feelings:

How do you feel when understood, or not understood? What does it feel like to want to do something and you can’t? What does it feel like to hide something about yourself that you want to share? How hard it is when you do share something about yourself and see the response others make? (There is evidence that individuals with some neurodivergent traits have a higher rate of mental health challenges too. - see the article I wrote about this in Psychology Today).

2. Executive functioning:

(The above link takes you to another article I have written.)

Executive functioning (EF) is involved in handling novel situations outside the domain of some of our 'automatic' psychological processes that could be explained by the reproduction of learned schemas or set behaviors. Some people have described it as a cluster of skills that are necessary for efficient and effective future-orientated behavior. A number of metaphors have been used to describe how the brain is acting such as the CEO, conductor, driver, or pilot.

?One framework divides it into the following components:

??Activation-?organizing, prioritizing tasks, time estimation, initiation- leading to difficulties getting started, and??procrastination

??Focus-sustaining and shifting-?Difficulties may result in reading a story or document over and over again.

??Effort-regulating alertness-?Challenges may result in difficulties completing tasks, problems with your sleep pattern and not being able to shut off. Alertness is required when you need to actively listen to someone else and pick up the nuances and tone of what they are saying.

??Emotion-managing frustrations and modulating emotions-?This may make it hard to keep things in perspective and lead to ruminating as well.

??Memory- using working memory and accessing recall.?This can make it harder to remember what has just been saying and remember a sequence of instructions.

??Action- monitoring and regulating self-action.?The result can be being impulsive( acting without thinking), not considering the context and how this may need to be modified, or having difficulties adjusting your pace from one setting to another.

As you can see all these skills are really important if we are to decide what is urgent and what is important. This is key when working as part of a team.

There are some great sayings about how you can solve a bigger problem by breaking it into parts... “How do you eat an elephant? one bite at a time”

and also the saying by St Francis of Assisi:

“Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

However, it is often assumed that you know how to break the whole into parts and how to decide how long each part will take to eat (in the case of the elephant!). There is extensive research showing that some people who have neurodivergent traits (with traits associated with ADHD; Autism Spectrum Conditions; Dyslexia; and DCD ( Developmental Coordination Disorder) (also known as Dyspraxia)) often have difficulties with some of these skills. In fact, studies are showing for example, that half of the children diagnosed with DCD also show reduced EF (Sugden, Kirby, & Dunford, 2008; Willcutt & Pennington, 2000).

Professor Russell Barkley from the US talks about some people who are diagnosed with ADHD being ‘time blind’(?https://add.org/adhd-time-blindness/). You may be someone who finds it very hard to tell how long a task will take and as a consequence may avoid the task altogether (prevarication). We call this a feeling of inertia. (Some people have used terms like languishing as well). One particular area of the brain has been implicated in this and is the pre-frontal cortex. (Also other areas of the brain are involved!)

Some people have described executive functioning skills as hot and cool EF skills.

• Hot executive functions?refer to the self-management skills we use in situations where emotions run high.
• Cool?executive functions?refer to the skills we use when emotions aren't really a factor.

There have been some studies of children with DCD showing greater hot EF challenges resulting in higher levels of anxiety (Rahimi-Golkhandan et al, 2016).

Executive functioning skills are important for future functioning

There is evidence that having weaker executive functioning skills regardless of a person's intellect may have a long-term impact on social outcomes. If it is difficult to manage multiple things going on then you can see why this may impact on making friends. In one study of girls with poorer EF skills, this also predicted weaker academic achievement, especially in mathematics skills and social functioning (Miller, Hinshaw, 2010).

EF is not something that 'just' goes away as you get older. Life becomes increasingly demanding for you as an adult as you have more to juggle. Biederman has shown in a 7-year follow-up study of children moving to adulthood that 69% of those with ADHD?had persistent executive functioning challenges.

Communication

The third pillar is communication. Communication clashes or differences can lead to emotional upset and result in work not being achieved either individually or as a part of a team. Too often this is about how information has been (mis)interpreted by one person or another. Assumed understanding is often one of the key challenges.

More about this in the article I have written about ways to improve communication at work which includes some strategies that can be used.

Kindness

I put this as the 4th pillar because I truly believe if we can be kind and compassionate to each other change will happen for the better. You may want to read more about this in an article about compassionate leadership too.

The 4 pillars

I believe that each one of these pillars is important if we truly consider wanting to create neuroinclusive workplaces. If you attend more to one than another you will not result in truly successful inclusion and achieving a sense of belonging for all.

I don't think inclusion and equity are about money... they are about:

• Respectful curiosity
• Active listening
• Help with planning and prioritization
• Adequate time and appropriate training ( I have chosen these words carefully) given to learn new skills and embed good habits
• Regular reviewing to consider what is working (and not working) to create a cycle of greater understanding.

This week... I was very privileged to be chosen for the UK's first LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Programme and met a whole group of new amazing people to learn and link with. Hopefully, you are going to see, as I learn new skills, some different ways for me to get my messages across. Great to be alongside other neurodiverse campaigners including co-author Theo Smith , Jess Gosling Leanne Maskell , Onyinye Udokporo MA , Abigail Agyei-Jones MBE , Ellie Middleton Tyla Grant , Krystle McGilvery FRSA, ACMA CGMA, MSc., MiP and many more.

***PLEASE HELP!***

City and Guilds Foundation have launched a campaign to gain better data to inform practice and policy and make lasting change and create a?Neurodiversity Index?in collaboration with Do-IT Solutions.

Please circulate the link to the survey below to colleagues so we have the biggest sample possible to gain an understanding of Neurodiversity in the Workplace in the UK and internationally.

We need as many individuals with and without ND traits to complete the survey along with a second survey for HR, EDI, L, and D, SLT/C suite (?all sizes of organizations please) to gain an understanding of what is happening across different industries.

Anyone who completes the surveys can gain a?digital credential?with City and Guilds too and will have access to the report.

The link to the survey is:

https://cityandguildsfoundation.org/advocacy-networks/neurodiversity-index/?

The blog author

I am Amanda Kirby, CEO of?Do-IT Solutions?a tech-for-good company that delivers web-based screening tools and training that help 1000s of people deliver person-centered solutions relating to neurodiversity and wellbeing.

I am a mixed bag of experiences and skills and have 25+ years of working in the field of neurodiversity. I am a medical doctor, Professor, and have a Ph.D. in the field of neurodiversity; parent and grandparent to neurodivergent wonderful kids and am neurodivergent myself (bits of me I share!).

Theo Smith and I wrote the award-winning book?Neurodiversity at Work?Drive Innovation, Performance and Productivity with a Neurodiverse Workforce. We have also been shortlisted for an international book award. I have my 10th book coming out called Neurodiversity in Education coming early in 2023. I was also voted one of the top 20 Thinkers by?HR magazine for 2022!