You may have been hearing the terms neurodiversity, neurodivergent or even neurominority a lot lately. But what are they?
The term neurodiversity is around 20 years old being credited to the Australian sociologist Judith Singer. She argued that: “We are all neurodiverse because no two humans on the planet are exactly alike.”
Today, neurodiversity is an umbrella term that describes a range of different styles of learning, thinking and behaviours.
“We have different conditions that are common when we talk about neurodiversity,” explains Dr Naomi Humber, a clinical psychologist, and head of Mental Wellbeing at Bupa.
“There is autism, which affects communication, social interaction, and behaviour. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) which affects executive functions such as attention and concentration, and behaviour such as impulsivity. Dyspraxia is about physical coordination and difficulties. And there is dyslexia, which is about difficulty reading and interpreting words, symbols, and letters.”
Why is this relevant?
Despite what people may think, neurodiversity is not on the rise, but awareness is. Recent research reveals a 175 percent increase in Google searches for ‘neurodiverse meaning’, a 125 percent increase in people using the search term ‘types of neurodiversity’ and an 83 percent increase in Google searches for ‘neurodivergent’.
Estimates suggest that one in seven people on the planet are neurodivergent, so it’s highly likely that someone in your organisation is neurodiverse. Whether that be diagnosed and open, diagnosed and hidden or undiagnosed.
Educating your workplace and line managers to empower and support neurodiverse employees is key to business success. They can bring unique skills and talents to any business.
Neurodivergent individuals can offer sought-after skills including hyper-focus, strong visual, analytical, and problem-solving skills, the ability to multi-task and enhanced memory and observational skills.
Dr Humber says: “Neurodiversity is sometimes associated with fantastic creativity and the ability to drive innovation by seeing things from a different perspective and thinking outside the box. Having a varied team which includes people who are neurodiverse means that an organisation’s workforce better reflects the demographic of their customer base.”
Seeking out and supporting individuals who are neurodiverse will also become increasingly important in the challenge to recruit and retain top talent.
For more information about neurodiversity in the workplace and guidance for line managers to support employees with neurodiversity, take a look at Bupa’s toolkit here.
