When I started work at Logica in 1989 one of the most talented of my consulting team (let me call him John) had a significant visual handicap resulting from macular degeneration. At the time John had to rely on a horizontally-scrolling LED display of text to write reports and create emails. Apart from being a superb technology analyst John also spoke absolutely fluent French and German as his hearing became a means of offsetting his visual handicaps. I have to say that this was my first and formative experience of how people with a cognitive condition develop compensatory skills. A year or so later the early versions of text-to-speech software emerged, transforming the way in which John worked. This catalysed my interest in web accessibility. In my subsequent experience rather too many intranet and web site managers assume that because their systems are ‘WCAG compliant’ all the boxes under ‘accessibility’ have been ticked. Recent research indicates that this is very far from the case in terms of dyslexia, let alone other neurodiverse conditions.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/icom-2021-0040/html
This interest that took on a new dimension in 2012 when I became aware of the challenges that dyslexia posed for users of digital technology, especially their ability to scan and comprehend search results . I become especially annoyed by the current prevalence of thumbnail images which assume near 100% perfect vision. I visited the first Dyslexia Event at the National Exhibition Centre and was amazed at the range of resources available to parents and teachers to help support reading development in children. However there were only a few exhibitors that were focusing on dyslexia in the workplace, prompting me to write a blog post on the topic.
Dyslexia is just one of many conditions that fall into the overall definition of neurodiversity. In common with many of these dyslexia is a spectrum condition and it is very difficult to give any indication of where on the spectrum someone might lie. Take a look at this attempt to illustrate some of the challenges. I am therefore delighted to see the formation of the NeurodiverseIT Specialist Group, and have already been having some initial discussions of how I can work with the Group to increase the awareness of the opportunities that are open to people who are experiencing these conditions.
I have listed below just a few resources that you may find of value in gaining an understanding of neurodiversity and how organisations can benefit from the skills of neurodiverse employees.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/neurodiversity-in-the-workplace
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/neurodiversity-in-the-workplace.html
https://hbr.org/2017/05/neurodiversity-as-a-competitive-advantage