And it's really hard to explain
to someone who doesn't experience the world the same way you do.
Oftentimes you get people that don't believe you
or that they think that you're overreacting.
As you know, happens, my whole life.
I underappreciated the
challenges associated
with neurodiversity.
I have friends who have a an autistic child
and wearing the VR experience and seeing this sort of panic
and, you know, how challenging and frustrating that can be
was like a real eye-opener for me and will help me be more
understanding with them and their family.
Yeah, I do have a son that has ADHD.
He also suffers from migraines.
So being in that classroom where the sun was shining in and hearing
kind of the sounds going around that were distracting,
it kind of made me understand maybe what his day is like.
And I think will allow me to parent him a little bit better.
So, for that, I'm really appreciative and grateful.
I just went through the experience and for me it was eye-opening
because I have a son in the spectrum.
And just to be able to finally understand what he goes through
when he goes out,
that’s really big.
So I think, as leaders, we should be on the watch out and understand,
first of all, you know, try to create an environment
where people are able to speak up and they will not feel judged.
So, you know, somebody can approach you and say, hey,
you know, I'm divergent in this or the other way.
I am,
or I attempt to be, a better listener
and more patient and
you know, trying to take the time out
to understand what is, I guess, intended,how people are thinking.
They might be coming at things from a different angle and perspective
than maybe I would come from
but that’s okay.
TH!NK has made great progress
influencing change to policies and working practices
with departments such as HR and Talent Acquisition.
We offer many tools and IT support technology
to aid accommodations that neurodivergent employees
may find to be beneficial to improve their productivity.
I was able to take part in the Empowerment Leadership Programme,
which was specifically focused for women who consider themselves neurodivergent.
And it aims to help people develop their leadership skills,
something that we’re all very interested in and something
that nobody should feel is out of their reach.
It’s about building that community and spreading awareness
that some people may need different needs than others
but that everyone together can contribute to a greater cause.
Yeah, we may have trouble reading at times
but there are other things that we do exceptionally well
and we succeed, despite our challenges.
Neurodiversity is not a word specific to just a handful of people.
It talks about how our brains function differently from each other
and that those variations make us unique in the way we think
but it also makes us unique contributors to our teams.
Now, more than ever, we are
and, when I say we, I mean as a society
we are starting to open our eyes
to understanding that we are all different.
We all work differently, we all think differently
and some people might have a diagnosis
but ultimately, we are all individuals
that all play a really, really important part
to the success of our society or our companies.