Proven opportunity
Neurodiversity in Action
Here are some of the benefits universities and companies are noticing around the world with neurodiverse hiring:
“...Organizations who incorporate the diverse perspectives of their workforce are more innovative.” (link)
Vanderbilt University’s Autism and Innovation Center
Israeli and Australian Defense forces, Microsoft, SAP, and New Relic
“People affected by dyspraxia (a neurologically based physical disorder), dyslexia, ADHD, social anxiety disorders, and other condition...can have higher-than-average abilities; research shows that some conditions, including autism and dyslexia, can bestow special skills in pattern recognition, memory, or mathematics.” (link)
Harvard Business Review
“We have consistently outperformed the competition, increasing bug detection rates by as much as 55% while maintaining a Net Promoter Score of 100%. Our testers and quality engineers have deep technical skills and heightened abilities that are an exact match for software testing - e.g. pattern recognition, logical reasoning, tolerance for repetition.” (link)
Ultra Testing
“Over the past two years HPE’s program has placed more than 30 participants in software-testing roles at Australia’s Department of Human Services (DHS). Preliminary results suggest that the organization’s neurodiverse testing teams are 30% more productive than the others.” (link)
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
“We go into all of these conversations assuming that no one has extra money to put into this (hiring neurodiverse),” he said. “I just always start conversations with our business partners like, ‘Look, this will not cost you money. If anything, it will enhance your bottom line because it’s going to make you better at your business.’” (link)
Drexel Transition Pathways
“Our workforce delivers: aptitude and attitude for careful, detailed, repetitive work, lowest turnover, absenteeism, and lost-time accident rates in the industry, over 98% work-task team engagement while on the clock and proves that lack of employment is related to lack of opportunity.” (link)
Blue Star Recycling in Denver
When discussing neurodiversity, it’s important to understand it to be able to fully support it. Neurodiversity:
- Relates to natural variations in the way humans act and think, akin to biodiversity.
- Encompasses and differs from the term “neurodistinct” or “neurodivergent”. These terms describe individuals on the “edges” of the bell curve, in terms of processing, attention, memory, numeracy, interaction, etc. According to the wisdom of thought leaders in this space, “neurodivergent” and “neurodistinct” specifically describe individuals whose neurologic make-up varies significantly from mainstream culture.
- Does not require a person to have a diagnosis or “qualify” to be considered neurodiverse or neurodistinct. It’s really about how you see yourself in determining if you identify with this movement.
- Transitions away from the medical model where a diagnosis is regarded in terms of deficits and rather, focuses on skills and strengths that individuals bring to the table.
- Relates to historic marginalization tendency within society due to lack of understanding, leading to unemployment and/or underemployment in neurodistinct populations.
- Reveals a huge untapped talent pool of human potential.
- Can be summed up below:
Diverse talent recruitment —> Innovation / creativity —> Increased ROI