Guidance for Working with Neuro-Diversity

Implement reasonable adjusts to help managers and employees improve workplace performance

What you’ll learn

• Understand what it is like to experience Dyslexia, ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Ask carefully crafted questions to gain helpful insight into an individual’s experience
• Work with and build on the cognitive strengths that accompany these labels
• Help people to develop a sense of how to improve their experience at work
• Innovate and make simple adjustments which will improve performance in the workplace
• Remove the stigma from talking about differences in cognitive processing styles
• Learn more about the legal requirement to make reasonable adjustments for people
• Improve your workplace and processes with simple but effective adjustments
• Look at examples of typical “reasonable adjustments”
• Consider the research into cognitive differences to better assist people in the workplace
• Identify where cognitive strengths can be best matched to job requirements
• Think about best next steps for everybody concerned

Requirements

• A basic appreciation that we all process sensory input differently
• Honesty, open-mindedness and willingness to look at things from new perspectives
• Recognition that some people may have had very negative experiences in this regard
• Commercial intelligence to recognise that intervention will benefit costs and margins

Description

If you are a Manager or an Employee facing a performance issue potentially linked to  Neuro-Diversity, the most important thing to bear in mind is that you are legally obligated to ACT REASONABLY IN ALL THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

You will be required to make REASONABLE ADJUSTMENTS to help improve performance.

You are not required to FIX or CURE or DIAGNOSE or PASS OPINIONS – focus on making reasonable adjustments.

This course outlines your responsibilities and some basic adjustments and how to implement them.

Your legal position is outlined so that you can gauge what lawyers regard as REASONABLE. This may vary by jurisdiction but the principles are universal.

Reasonable Adjustments are typically the application of common sense – better lighting, regular breaks and scheduled professional feedback.

Professional support is increasingly available and it makes sense to request assistance especially if that would normally be regarded as the most likely reasonable option.

The essential considerations are to establish what current circumstances are for all parties, then to consider what circumstances ought to be like (required performance improvements) and then the reasonable adjustments required to deliver  the level of expected performance.

The mantra is Where are we? Where Should we be? How are we going to get there?

At all points in this process you are under a legal obligation to BEHAVE REASONABLY IN ALL THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

Author: Peter Urey