We hear the terms inclusion, neurodiversity, neurodivergence and adjustments and they can evoke many responses. From the warriors who can sometimes scream too loudly, too aggressively to lamentations about being ‘woke’ or ‘you can’t say anything anymore’.
But, what do they mean, how can they look and why is it important to understand and cater to them at all?
Well mainly because … here’s the shocker … all humans are different and need different things to thrive and by not creating environments that cater to as many of those different needs, we not only inadvertently disable and hurt people; we also lose out on the talents, creativity and diversity they bring to our world, business, classroom, family …
Being inherently inclusive by design, means we can glimpse a world where labels and diagnosis are not needed and blame and shame culture is replaced with compassion and kindness.
I know it all sounds really rather arduous and impossible, but here is the thing… the biggest obstacle to overcome when introducing inclusive culture is that the adjustment can seem so simple, so small, so insignificant to those that do not need them that their power is underestimated; as is the impact of the absence of them.
They are the little things, like normalising saying, ‘I am sorry I zoned out, can you repeat that please’ without anybody getting offended or embarrassed. It is giving people choice over how they are communicated with when the other doesn’t really have a preference between email or zoom. It is not getting offended when somebody forget to add niceties at the beginning of an email. It is putting spaces in between paragraphs between spaces on long messages (or not so long ones if I am honest). It is knowing who needs extra reminders before meetings or bullet point notes after.
I know to many it can seem a bit silly that I’d rather end up ambulanced into hospital than make a doctors appointment if there is no option to live chat or email for an appointment. I can’t really explain it either… I just know lots of little moments like that all day long, create little spikes of anxiety all day long and by the end of the day, I have nothing left to give.
So it’s thinking about every process you have and applying as much choice to each as possible without waiting for people having to ask that will mean people are freed to use their energy on being brilliant instead of just surviving.
Will we get it right all the time, no. Will we be able to provide for every single need, no again… but when we show we are open minded about all needs and that we do not need to understand them to believe them, we are saying you are welcome here as your whole complete self.
There is literally nothing that can be provided for somebody who needs it that will not enhance the experience for those who might not need it but appreciate it. Yes, we would all like all our needs catered for, we understand that. But what is beneficial for all, is crucial for some and can mean the difference between drowning and flying.
When we are all being supported to fly a little… can you imagine the heights we can achieve together?
