Articles

When discussing diversity, we often consider age, gender, migration background, sexual orientation, religion, etc. But we rarely talk about neurodiversity. It is also literally invisible. Nevertheless, every company comes into contact with this form of diversity without even realising it, and it has an enormous impact on the productivity, team dynamics and returns of organisations.

In recent years, there has been increased attention to neurodivergencies such as ADHD, hyper-sensitivity, autism, dyslexia, etc. More people seem to self-identify as being neurodivergent, and companies are starting to pay attention to becoming more neuro-inclusive and fostering the strengths of neurodiversity.

In this article, I’m telling my own story with ADHD while working as a software developer and becoming a team lead, what I learned, and what I found to be working well to help people with ADHD and more to thrive in their teams and companies.

People with autism face significant employment challenges on a global scale. The participation rate of adults with autism in the labour market is low (Patton, 2018; ‘Career progression for autistic people: A scoping review’ by Davies, Romualdez, and Remington, 2024). Even autistics with mild challenges in the workplace show an unemployment rate of 80 per cent. How is it possible that the participation rate is so low?

Neurodivergent people, such as those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and more, often have specific talents and skills yet remain easily overlooked, misunderstood, or not fully integrated into society and companies. With an estimated one in five people being neurodivergent, this group of underappreciated people and talent is immense.