Neurodiversity Challenges: Non-visible, Identity and Disclosure

By Tiffany Jameson, Grit & Flow

Extract from NDGiFTSMovement.com Collaborative Paper on Neurodiversity

Just because you cannot see a person’s diversity, does not mean it is not there. We need to look beyond the external shell of an individual into a deeper level of human functioning, the mind. Neurodivergent individuals are those that identify as autistic or with autism, ADHD/ADD, Dyslexic, or Dysgraphia. The challenge in the workplace is unique to this group for many reasons but the most substantial challenge is people do not view cognitive differences as diversity. Most people associate cognitive differences with a model of disability. If the color of my skin makes me diverse, shouldn’t the uniqueness of the way my mind functions also make me diverse? Diversity, external, and on the deeper level, is beautiful and must be embraced.

Neurodiversity in the workplace has unique challenges. First, neurodiversity itself is non-visible. Generally, someone looking at a neurodiverse person will not be able to identify them as neurodiverse. Secondly, society currently insists that neurodiverse individuals identify as disabled to receive reasonable accommodations. Yet, a neurodiverse worker must disclose that they have needs to do their best work. The following presents research associated with non-visible, identity, and disclosure as it pertains to neurodiverse workers. At the end of this section, the complexity of the neurodiverse employment challenge should be clear.

There are both benefits and disadvantages to having a non-visible diversity. The benefit is that people are not immediately placing you in a bucket, common with visible diversities. The disadvantage is the tendency for non-visible disabilities to be misunderstood because it is not in a context the other individual has been made aware. For example, an autistic worker may come across rude due to lack of eye contact or blunt answers, when in fact, this is just who the person is. If the co-worker knew the individual was autistic, they may be able to put the behavior into the context of autism and look deeper into what is being said instead of how it is being said. Up to 96% of disabilities are non-visible meaning that the chance of misunderstanding coworker’s intentions or context is high (RespectAbility, 2016). An additional challenge with non-visible disabilities is the episodic nature. There can be significant fluctuations in system severity, and often there is a progression of symptoms worsening over time when interventions do not come in a timely fashion (Bonaccio et al., 2019).

When it comes to identify, many individuals do not identify as being disabled. Dachez and Ndobo (2018) make an enlightening statement when they wrote, “many [individuals] do not consider autism a disability in itself, but a characteristic that may put the person with autism in a situation of disability when the environment is not adapted” (p. 89). There is also the issue of separating the neurodiversity from the self. A trait may be positive in some contexts but create challenges in another, but that trait still is yours (Russell, Kapp, Elliott, Elphick, Gwernan-Jones & Owens, 2019). Many times, organizations and society impose an identity of needing to be cared for, when in fact they have a deserving place in the organization by virtue of their contribution, not the identity given to them (Jammaers & Zanoni, 2020). Because of the placement of low expectations, the need [NS1] to fit in, to avoid bullying, impression management or stigma, many individuals engage in [NS2] camouflaging or masking behaviors to hide their neurodiversity, often at a high personal costs (Cage & Troxell-Whitman, 2019).

Disclosure is a personal decision for the neurodivergent. Many individuals are attracted to dedicated hiring initiatives because of the support provided and the openness that comes with being hired with a full understanding of the person, requiring fewer camouflaging behaviors (Flower et al., 2019). Hiring managers would prefer the individual to relate their potential and contributions, and also where they cannot contribute (Mai, 2019). In general, many feel that the legal protections that come from disclosure, are not worth the fears of stigma, co-worker treatment, and negative attitudes (Patton, 2019). By not receiving the adaptation to correctly do their job, many neurodiverse are unable to maintain employment.

The objective of this section was to introduce the reader to challenges associated with neurodivergent employment. This context will be expanded upon by the various authors in the upcoming sections. Our hope is that readers will look at the workplace challenges in a new light and reflect on how you and your organization can address these challenges.