Insights
30 March 2023
A Letter from a Neurodiverse Applicant to a Hiring Manager
Written By:
Francine E. Lahm, Office Administrator-New York, Pallas Partners LLP
Fritz Galette, Ph.D., Loeb Leadership LLC
John J. Winer, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Jewish Association for Developmental Disabilities (J-ADD)
Nina S. Winer, M.Sc., New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), retired. Subject matter expert in digital accessibility and online learning.
Dear Hiring Manager,
Thank you for your response to my resume and for taking the time to meet with me. It was a pleasure meeting with you and the other managers at the Firm and I hope to have the opportunity for additional conversation. I know I have severe anxiety—and no one noticed?
When I walked into the room, the manager thought I was just nervous about the interview call? Do all candidates not look you in the eye–the majority of the time they spend with you? Do all candidates sweat like I did (even though it’s wintertime?) Do all candidates play with their hands incessantly?
I CAN DO THE JOB!
I was asked to take a seat—and no one noticed?
Did they not see the cue that I needed a bit more personal space than other applicants
And I sat down. I really wish I could have sat NEXT to the person, not opposite them….
It’s a lot more comfortable for me that way because I’m not continuously forced to look at you. This way I can do so when I’m able.
I CAN DO THE JOB!
I think that I have the right to be a productive member of society, no matter who I am. I should be hired for the skills I have that are relevant to the position offered rather than for the skills I don’t have or the other challenges in life I might have.
If you hire me, I would appreciate it if you would let me work out how to deal with those other challenges, including asking you for help when I am hired (thinking positively!) Just as you might ask any prospective neurotypical employee, ask me if there is anything that I might need in place to make my onboarding go well.
Ask all prospective employees the same questions and share information in a multimodal and accessible manner (print, audio, visual, make sure to adjust for volume, font size, color, etc.). We all communicate differently.
The design of these questions should help you, as an employer, onboard staff successfully and help new hires with the onboarding process.
Remember to treat all aspects of discrimination and intolerance with the same “NO TOLERANCE” policies. Highlight ALL differences as a positive goal of the team. My identity is not defined by my disability, but rather my disability is defined by my identity. How I deal with my disability is determined by my self-acceptance, which in turn is influenced by how the world views me.
Please educate yourselves and my peers in the types of differences that exist in the workforce, allowing me the opportunity to showcase my talents.
Sincerely Yours,
A Neurodiverse Job Candidate
“I think that I have the right to be a productive member of society, no matter who I am. I should be hired for the skills I have that are relevant to the position offered rather than for the skills I don’t have or the other challenges in life I might have.”
One is frequently reminded of the remarkable diversity in the world. Raising awareness of all types of diversity is important, as not all disabilities are visible. Every day, job applicants encounter hiring managers who interview and evaluate them against their organization’s pre-existing on-boarding protocols. It is standard to assess applicants across a set of relevant criteria to select the best person for the job.
Over the past few decades, organizations have increased efforts to make sure hiring practices take into account the ever-increasing diversity of applicants in the job market. In the workplace, greater attention to valuing diversity has resulted in more inclusive practices in the hiring and retention of employees.
Valuing diversity is the practice of honoring and recognizing individual differences. Diversity can span across a wide variety of dimensions including culture, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender identification, religion, age, marital status and many more categories. While efforts to increase diversity within organizations have resulted in positive change, neurodiversity has been sorely overlooked.
Neurodiversity, a term first coined by sociologist Judy Singer in 1998, further broadens the concept of diversity by bringing attention to differences among us that extend to brain functioning, perception, and social-emotional functioning. This concept invites us to rethink what is normal and to expand and extend our understanding of our rich diversity at the neurological level. Neurodiversity highlights our differences in lived experience informed by the natural and unique differences in brain function, behavior and physical ability.
The prevalence of neurodiversity in the general population is difficult to ascertain because neurodivergence is an umbrella term for a range of descriptive categories. Some estimates place prevalence between 30-40% while other estimates are more conservative between 15-20%. The difficulty in ascertaining a consistent number lies in assessing prevalence along a variety of categories and conditions. Our awareness and understanding of these categories are ever expanding, and each varies in prevalence in the population. Including a range from Asperger’s syndrome to autism, from attention deficit to anxiety disorders, neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one “right” way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits.
While some conditions carry with them significant struggles and impairments, viewing individuals through a neurodivergent lens allows for more open, flexible and inclusive practices and accommodations to exist.
For example, because some people travel using wheelchairs, most public spaces have elevators and ramps. While a person in a wheelchair is limited in that they cannot use stairs, this “disability” is removed if a facility is constructed to address the needs of the whole population. In much the same way, hiring practices would benefit from being informed from a neurodivergent perspective.
“Valuing diversity is the practice of honoring and recognizing individual differences.”
What if the world were made for everyone?
While organizations provide diverse working environments today in so many ways, we are not yet embracing the neurodiverse population. There is so much prejudice, stigma and negativity around workers who are traveling roads different than the majority. Many of these employees are quite skilled and capable, yet we often disregard their abilities and focus on their shortcomings. How do we, as legal managers, manage the neurodivergent population? EDUCATION.
Firstly, know how to recognize you have a neurodivergent employee.
1. Raise awareness by learning more about neurodiversity; read articles, speak with people who are knowledgeable in the area. Make efforts to become more aware of ways to recognize what neurodivergence is and what it looks like.
2. As noted above, when interviewing prospective employees, ask all prospective candidates the same questions, treating everyone the same and using the same interviewing techniques.
3. Be sensitive that people may take in information differently.
Now that you know you have neurodivergent employees, how can you best support them?
“While organizations provide diverse working environments today in so many ways, we are not yet embracing the neurodiverse population.”
Looking to find out more? Why not try one of these sources?
A Web for Everyone: Designing Accessible User Experiences, by Sarah Horton and Whitney Quesenbery, Rosenfeld Media Brooklyn, New York © 2013
Strategic IT Accessibility: Enabling the Organization, 2nd Edition, by Jeff Kline, [Independently Published] © 2020
For a look at how this plays out in real life, click here.