Positive perspectives

We asked responders what additional benefits they feel their approach as a disabled and/or neurodivergent IT professional gives to a potential employer. These were the most common answers:

1. Unique perspectives: neurodiverse and disabled individuals offer a distinct way of viewing situations and problems, fostering creativity and innovation.
2. Deep concentration: many can dive deeply into a problem, excluding distractions and ensuring comprehensive solution, this can result in heightened team productivity
3. Technical prowess: some individuals have an innate ability to absorb and understand technical data, making them assets in fields like IT.
4. Attention to detail: spotting errors or inconsistencies others may overlook is a strength, ensuring quality and accuracy.
5. Enhancing user experience: having firsthand knowledge of certain barriers allows for the design of more inclusive and user-friendly services and their real-life experiences provide valuable insights during the rollout of new technologies or systems.
6. Positive societal impact: employing neurodiverse and disabled individuals positively influences social mobility and mental health considerations and showcases an organisation's commitment to diversity and inclusivity.
7. Remote adaptability: those with mobility challenges might already have a remote-first mentality, being proficient in effective communication and quality assurance from afar.
8. Empathy and tolerance: personal experiences often breed heightened levels of empathy, compassion, and understanding towards others.
9. The ‘Kerb Cut Phenomenon’: accommodations made for disabled individuals often end up benefiting everyone in an organisation.
10. Pattern recognition: the ability to decipher patterns quickly aids in problem-solving and system optimisation.
11. Lived experience: their experiences bring authentic insight and expertise, helping organisations achieve corporate goals related to inclusivity and representation.

Here are some specific benefits commenters suggested, in their own words:

‘IT is one of the few fields where neurodivergence is not a barrier to a fairly successful career, apart from the usual social problems of being a geek.’

‘I'm good at synthesizing ideas from different places/contexts.’

Employing neurodiverse and disabled people gives ‘access to a deep talent pool that is typically very loyal when in an appropriate environment, and access to unusual strengths in architecture, coding and innovation that leads to competitive advantage.’

‘Deep memory of facts and systems.’

‘Increased appreciation of the diverse needs of others from first-hand experience.’

‘I verify my understanding of information given to me verbally as I might have misheard - that helps during requirement gathering.’

‘I think outside the box. I don't even know what the box is…’

‘If you accommodate disabled people, you improve life for everyone. This is known as the "kerb cut phenomenon".’

‘My neurodivergence has been useful as it has given me an ability to absorb, retain and understand technical information that is unusual among neurotypical people. I've built my IT career around these abilities.’

‘Pattern recognition ability — to learn and memorise specific information systems, thinking out of the box, enhanced ability for empathy (I have AuDHD and feel empathy physically for other people).’