NEURODIVERSITY FEATURE
its impact (its control and its regulation) upon their subjective
experiences.
While medication can help with control and regulation, it can also
mean neurodiverse people need to make a trade off with some of
the more valuable aspects of their being, such as their creativity and
nonconformity.
Sleep
For Rebecca, Michelle, and Sarah, the influence of a lack of, or
disrupted sleep is key to their feelings of competence, confidence,
enjoyment, and their ability to regulate themselves or to manage
their symptoms.
Little is known about the impact of ongoing sleep disruption
upon people and their subjective experience of occupations. Unlike
the necessary flexibility that Bill’s workplace affords him, not all
workplaces are designed with neurodiversity in mind and therefore
may not be doing their best to retain staff, to foster creativity and
innovation (ACAS 2019), to facilitate accessibility, or to respect
(neuro)diversity.
Now, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we wonder what
the impact of different work patterns and arrangements will be.
Belonging
It is also clear from our accounts that if the ability to control our
interactional selves is compromised, so then is our ability to
actively seek to belong – which is necessary for being a part of our
respective communities.
However achieved, a sense of belonging is important to our
wellbeing, as is the acceptance of our neurodiversity and related
needs.
Performance of self
Though not without challenges, we have all been fortunate
to exercise our rights to education and to work. A common
experience has been the need to consciously alter our performance
of self. Thus, at work some of us have daily challenges and expend
many efforts that go unseen or, when observable, are commonly
misinterpreted or misunderstood.
For example, hypersensitivities can make workplaces
uncomfortable, stressful, chaotic, and tiring environments. Feeling
overwhelmed can lead to periods of shutdown or overload lasting
anything from several seconds to several months.
Auditory or language processing issues, different (negative)
body language, or a lack of eye contact can lead to us
being misperceived and labelled by our colleagues as rude,
uncooperative, or disinterested. On the flip side, being perceived as
too ‘high functioning’ can mean colleagues doubt we struggle at all.
Our narratives – which were either shared in the context of a
workday, or involved being at work, or being elsewhere, outside the
home – demonstrate the differences in performance of self between
home (private) and elsewhere (public).
Clare demonstrates how being involved with her community is
important to her, but also how such a day can then compromise
her energy levels the next day. Diana demonstrates the impact of a
morning appointment and the desire – need, even – to return ‘to the
safety of home’.
We are all kinds of minds
Written in November, 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic,
our narratives shared in this feature were intended to provide
insight into how – as neurodiverse people – we experience the
world (as it was, then) around us, embedded within a context
(employment as an occupational therapist) familiar to all members
of the profession. Daily life has of course since changed, including
how we all access and undertake our occupations. Everyone’s
narrative would certainly now have a different plot, and we are all
contending with new challenges.
While each of us are living relatively independently (to varying
degrees), we acknowledge that in Western societies like ours,
there are many neurodivergent people who struggle to meet the
pace that is set, due to the prioritisation of productivity, and are
consequently marginalised and isolated.
We hope our occupational therapy colleagues may address
these insights into our worlds as useful in understanding that
neurodiversity is not something to be fixed and, in fact, we advise
the need to look at these different ways of thinking, being, and
even doing as part of the person and their engagement in their
world; a celebration of the fact that, together, we are all kinds of
minds.
References
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) (2019). Neurodiversity
in the workplace. Available at: www.acas.org.uk/neurodiversity
Bargiela S, Steward R and Mandy W (2016) The experiences of latediagnosed
women with Autism Spectrum Conditions: An Investigation
of the female autism phenotype. Journal of Autism and Developmental
Disorders, 46(10), 3281–3294. doi:10.1007/s10803-016-2872-8
Walker N (2014) Neurodiversity: some basic terms and definitions.
Available at: https://neurocosmopolitanism.com/neurodiversity-somebasic-terms-definitions/
Rebecca Twinley, senior lecturer in occupational therapy,
University of Brighton, @RebeccaTwinley; Danielle Hitch,
senior lecturer in occupational therapy, Deakin University,
Australia, @DanielleHitch; Bill Wong, OTD, OTR/L, Adjunct
Faculty at Stanbridge University, California, @BillWongOT;
Michelle Perryman-Fox, occupational therapist, lecturer,
PhD Candidate, University of Cumbria and Visiting Scholar
at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, @Symbolic_Life;
Diana Sheridan, dementia specialist occupational therapist,
UK, @DianaSheridan11; Sarah Selvaggi Hernandez, autistic
advocate and occupational therapist, US, @theautisticot; and
Clare A Keogh, occupational therapist (education support staff),
Melbourne, Australia, @MyZania15. The views expressed in this
article are our own and not an official position of our respective
institutions or employers.
OTnews August 2020 37