Diamond in the rough? Neurodiversity inclusion in practice. 20200518 SIOP webinar
Abstract
Neurodiversity broadly refers to naturally occurring diversity in human cognition of (Singer, 1999) but is increasingly used as an umbrella term for a range of neurocognitive developmental disorders (Doyle, 2017; Kapp, Gillespie-Lynch, Sherman, & Hutman, 2013). Evidence indicates that being diagnosed with such a condition (e.g. autism, ADHD, dyslexia, among others) leads to systemic social exclusion in education, work and society (Carter, Austin, & Trainor, 2012; Snowling, Adams, Bowyer-Crane, & Tobin, 2000) resulting in decreased opportunities for a fulfilled working life and career (Holliday, Koller, & Thomas, 1999; Taylor & Walter, 2003). Yet, this is in contrast to the emerging popular narrative about the talent potential of neurodiversity for modern workplaces (Austin & Pisano, 2017; Sniderman, 2014): the ‘diamond in the rough’.
In this panel discussion, we will reflect on the symbiotic journeys of I/O theory and practice in developing the neurodiversity paradigm. There is a pressing need to understand ‘what works’, with a move to an evidence-based practise model for applied practitioners to implement. Yet this ‘push’ for disability accommodations interventions based on pseudo-medical diagnosis somewhat undermines the ‘pull’ of the untapped talent model.
We draw out four main themes for each panel member to represent:
1. What is neurodiversity? Dr Nancy Doyle will introduce the concept and consider which conditions are included and why, as well as explore the boundary between talent pool and disability. We currently sit astride the medical model and social models (Morioka, Ijichi, Ijichi, Ijichi, & King, 2019) and the ‘identity’ of stakeholders affects the language of labelling that we are developing. Nancy will invite discussion on the extent to which this shifting paradigm may be similar to other forms of diversity inclusion. Our institutional norms have created exclusion that we may be able to overcome by changing our conceptualization of what ‘performance’ and ‘productivity’ represent in a modern workplace.
2. Systemic inclusion in practice. Large employers like SAP, Ernst and Young, and other tech giants with strong autism at work programs have created much media attention related to the hiring of autistic people for jobs requiring enhanced accuracy or attention to detail. Similar success stories have emerged from organizations with strong competitive integrated employment programs (e.g., Walgreens) where neurodiversity is inclusive of talent with intellectual disabilities. Dr Valentina Bruk-Lee and Dr Lawrence Fung will discuss case studies for participants to gain insight into how this may look in practice bringing to light the reality of the feted ‘diamond in the rough’ narrative.
a. Valentina will discuss the development of a leadership development training program aimed at addressing the critical training needs of supervisors of employees with developmental disabilities (DD). She will illustrate how IO knowledge of best practices across the employment cycle was adapted to provide supervisors with skills and knowledge to effectively manage and support employees with DD. Her presentation addresses the critical role of existing ongoing diversity and inclusion efforts as foundation for success.
b. Lawrence will discuss the development of the Stanford Neurodiversity Project, which is designed to uncover the strengths of neurodiverse individuals and empower them to increase innovation and productivity, resulting in favorable outcomes not only for them but for the entire community. Lawrence will describe strengths-based approaches in developing a series of programs to increase awareness of neurodiversity and to improve the opportunities received by neurodiverse students and employees at Stanford and beyond.
3. What can the neurodiversity inclusion agenda learn from disability inclusion research? We’re very aware that this nascent research agenda is unable to substantiate practice, but we can be ‘evidence-aware’ if not ‘evidence-based’. A good rule of thumb is always to explore related fields and build on best practice and research that supports what we are trying to achieve. Dr Susanne Bruyere will present relevant evidence on workplace disability inclusion more broadly defined (Bruyère, 2016; Bruyère, in press; Erickson et al., 2013; Erickson et al., 2014; von Schrader et al., 2014). We will discuss with participants how we can build on this work and elicit portable principles for our research and practice in facilitating inclusion of autistic individuals.
4. To close, we will reflect on the psychology of neurodiversity at work. Dr Nancy Doyle will introduce ways that we can support our developing research and practice through application of existing I/O psychology theories and meta-theories, using job crafting techniques, coaching psychology and ergonomics to improve ‘person-environment fit’. Though this comes with a challenge: does the legislative requirement for organizational accommodation permit individual treatments such as coaching aimed to ‘fix’ communication difficulties? Are we changing the person to fit the environment or changing the environment to fit the person?
... S'il a émergé dans le champ de l'autisme autour de la figure de l'Aspie 5 , le mouvement de la neurodiversité tend désormais à regrouper des profils neurologiques de plus en plus variés, comme l'autisme, la douance, la dyspraxie, la dyslexie, la dyscalculie, ou le déficit d'attention (Doyle et al., 2020). À l'instar de la biodiversité, de la diversité culturelle, ou de la diversité sexuelle et de la pluralité des genres, l'idée de la neurodiversité laisse à penser qu'une société en santé est une société composée de profils diversifiés… À une exception près : celle de la déficience intellectuelle. ...
a touche toute l'ensemble de sa personne, le fait qu'on soit discriminés. » Mélanie Fournier, personne première concernée 1 « La société me disait qu'on ne peut pas vivre seule parce qu'on a une déficience. » Julie Brodeur, per-sonne première concernée, en appartement auto-nome depuis 9 ans 1 Dans cet article, nous souhaitons aborder la question de la stigmatisation des personnes composant avec une déficience intellectuelle en posant l'hypothèse que la notion d'intelligence, telle que conçue histori-quement au sein du modèle médical, participe active-ment au maintien de la dévalorisation sociale vécue au quotidien par les personnes concernées. Dans cette perspective, nous estimons qu'en l'absence d'une critique frontale de la notion d'intelligence, les personnes associées au « manque d'intelligence », en l'occurrence celles qui composent avec une défi-cience intellectuelle, sont condamnées à vivre du discrédit social et de la honte.
... Prior meta-analytic research provides evidence to suggest that self-rated performance is generally inflated (Conway & Huffcutt, 1997), which may be a reason why self-ratings by supervisors were higher than "other" ratings of performance. We also know from the pilot interviews that supervisors derived a great sense of fulfillment and meaning from working with individuals with DD and reported feeling that they were better managers as a whole as a result of these experiences (Bruk-Lee et al., 2020), hence that may help to explain their higher performance ratings. Similarly, nonsupervisor ratings will likely reflect how well employees with DD are doing within their organization. ...
Individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) face significant barriers limiting their opportunities for competitive integrated employment. Given the critically low employment rates and the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with DD, there is an urgent need for research that investigates ways to eradicate existing barriers to improve the employment outlook for this population. To address significant gaps in both research and practice, the present study involved a supervisor training needs analysis informed by four different sources of employee support representative of both hiring organizations and supported employment (n = 113). Results identified skill and knowledge gaps across various supervisor duties relating to onboarding, socialization, training, feedback and evaluation, health and well-being, general management, goal setting, job accommodations, career development, and disability awareness. Hence, each perspective provided valuable insight into the current skill and knowledge gaps of supervisors of employees with DD and indicated the need for training that extends beyond traditional disability awareness topics. Evidence gained from this study is expected to significantly shape inclusive organizational practices in preparing supervisors to more effectively manage and support employees with DD.
... There are legislative obligations for employers to provide disability accommodation interventions in most developed economies [20][21][22]. The emergence of a Neurodiversity Movement has encouraged employers to increase representation of dyslexia, along with related conditions such as Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and autism [23,24]. Disability coaching interventions are thus increasingly provided as a reasonable accommodation across the world to support the growing need to support visible and invisible disabilities at work [25,26] and in order to make informed funding decisions, we need to know the extent to which they are likely to work. ...
The evaluation of applied psychological interventions in the workplace or elsewhere is challenging. Randomisation and matching are difficult to achieve and this often results in substantial heterogeneity within intervention and control groups. As a result, traditional comparison of group means using null hypothesis significance testing may mask effects experienced by some participants. Using longitudinal studies of coaching interventions designed to provide support for dyslexic employees, this study describes and evaluates a different approach using a Meta-Impact score. We offer a conceptual rationale for our method, illustrate how this score is calculated and analysed, and show how it highlights person-specific variations in how participants react and respond to interventions. We argue that Meta-Impact is an incremental supplement to traditional variable-centric group-wise comparisons and can more accurately demonstrate in practice the extent to which an intervention worked. Such methods are needed for applied research, where personalized intervention protocols may require impact analysis for policy, legal and ethical purposes, despite modest sample sizes.
... To summarize the context before moving to presentation and accommodation: an occupational narrative has developed around the 'diamond in the rough', 72 in which neurominority employees resemble thwarted geniuses, who would be able to succeed given the right support, environment or tools. The extent to which this narrative is plausible for individuals is not well captured by academic research, which is biased towards reductive neuropsychology in search of 'bits that are broken' 3 ,73 as opposed to more functional, contextual performance. ...
Introduction
The term neurodiversity is defined and discussed from the perspectives of neuroscience, psychology and campaigners with lived experience, illustrating the development of aetiological theories for included neurodevelopmental disorders. The emerging discourse is discussed with relevance to adults, social inclusion, occupational performance and the legislative obligations of organizations.
Sources of data
Literature is reviewed from medicine, psychiatry, psychology, sociology and popular press. No new data are presented in this article.
Areas of agreement
There is consensus regarding some neurodevelopmental conditions being classed as neurominorities, with a ‘spiky profile’ of executive functions difficulties juxtaposed against neurocognitive strengths as a defining characteristic.
Areas of controversy
The developing nomenclature is debated and the application of disability status versus naturally occurring difference. Diagnosis and legal protections vary geographically, resulting in heretofore unclear guidance for practitioners and employers.
Growing points
The evolutionary critique of the medical model, recognizing and updating clinical approaches considering the emerging consensus and paradigmatic shift.
Areas timely for developing research
It is recommended that research addresses more functional, occupational concerns and includes the experiences of stakeholders in research development, moving away from diagnosis and deficit towards multi-disciplinary collaboration within a biopsychosocial model.
Over the next decade and beyond, hundreds of thousands of neurodivergent individuals (e.g., individuals on the autism spectrum, individuals with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, individuals with dyslexia) will be entering the workplace. Is the workplace and are managers ready for them?
Purpose
The aims of the paper were to highlight the dearth of applied practitioner research concerning the expression of neurodiversity at work and develop an epistemological framework for a future research agenda.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic empty review protocol was employed, with three a priori research questions, inquiring as to the extent of neurodiversity research within mainstream work psychology, psychology in general and lastly within cross-disciplinary academic research. The results of the final search were quality checked and categorized to illustrate where studies relevant to practice are currently located.
Findings
The academic literature was found to be lacking in contextualized, practical advice for employers or employees. The location and foci of extracted studies highlighted a growing science-practitioner gap.
Research limitations/implications
The research focused on common neurominority conditions such as autism and dyslexia; it is acknowledged that the neurodiversity definition itself is broader and more anthropological in nature. A need for a comprehensive research agenda is articulated, and research questions and frameworks are proposed.
Practical implications
Guidance is given on applying disability accommodation to both individual and organizational targets.
Social implications
The disability employment gap is unchanged since legislation was introduced. The neurodiversity concept is no longer new, and it is time for multi-disciplinary collaborations across science and practice to address the questions raised in this paper.
Originality/value
This paper offers an original analysis of the neurodiversity paradox, combining systematic inquiry with a narrative synthesis of the extant literature. The conceptual clarification offers clear directions for researchers and practitioners.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.