Recap: Beyond the Label Workshop with Feldon Haynes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dn9_zNzGgg

In our latest workshop, Next Gen Hub went "Beyond the Label" as we sat down with our Trustee, Feldon Haynes to discuss his career journey and experiences as a neurodiverse professional touching on multiple topics throughout including:

• His personal story receiving a late diagnosis of dyslexia and autism

• The primary barriers for neurodiverse individuals when either job hunting or entering the workplace

• How to reframe your neurodiverse traits as career strengths

Join us as we delve deeper into the key takeaways from the workshop👇

1. Feldon's Educational Journey

Feldon was diagnosed late in life with his dyslexia diagnosed at 16 and his autism diagnosed at 18. His late diagnosis impacted a lot of his experiences going through his school years as it meant not only were reasonable accommodations missed for when it came to exam time. Also, it was missed as teachers were not able to provide the support Feldon required especially when it came to his English lessons as his diagnosis was not known at this point!

The education system in the UK has its strengths and we are fortunate to access school-level education for free. However, there are many gaps in the system especially for neurodiverse youth as Feldon noted during his own years at school:

• Depending on the student's diagnosis, sometimes students are often capped at doing Foundation level GCSEs for example capping their potential when it comes to obtaining grades but also what does that to their own self-belief?

• The focus on the hard and technical skills rather than the soft skills such as, communication which are crucial building blocks of your career journey

• Contrast between the brilliant support provided for neurodiverse individuals when they step into higher/adult education from counselling services to employability coaching and the limited services in secondary education

2. Workplace Barriers and the Solutions

Next, we broke down with Feldon the multiple barriers facing neurodiverse individuals in the workplace at all stages of the career journey from the job search through to your first day at work:

Barrier	Solution
Recruitment (50%-60% of the overall barrier)	Vague buzzwords such as “highly driven individual” or “excellent communicator” can be a deterrent for neurodiverse individuals driving them away from applying. Solution: Consider using clear + concise language and offer reasonable adjustments from the very start.
Management (30%-40% of the overall barrier)	Rigid and traditional management styles typically are not neurodiverse-friendly putting neurodiverse individuals into a metaphorical box. Solution: Tailoring your management style and advocate for change within your organisation through utilising specialist neurodiversity guides (i.e., CIPD)
Communicating Adjustments (circa 10% of the overall barrier)	Neurodiverse individuals may struggle communicating their needs or do not feel comfortable to share their needs. Solution: Create a psychologically safe environment by providing resources and training to managers and colleagues to foster an environment where neurodiverse individuals have the confidence to share.

3. Leverage Your Neurodiverse Strengths

"Your neurodiverse traits are strengths not weaknesses!"

What a powerful message from Feldon! Too often, neurodiverse individuals are always told that their traits pose a "problem" or have to "tone it down" to fit in.

Feldon gave practical examples of how neurodiverse traits can become assets in your career journey:

1.) Dyslexia can coincide with strong verbal communication and creative thinking

2.) Autism often supports data analysis, pattern recognition and logical problem solving

3.) ADHD can bring intense focus, energy and creativity during the right tasks

The key is matching tasks to strengths and not forcing everyone into the same mould!

If you want to learn more about utilising your neurodiverse strengths from an inspirational neurodiversity advocate, read our guest article by Arber Ismaili:

Feldon didn't stop there as he provided actionable advice on how we can further support neurodiverse individuals in utilising their strengths and empower them further!

Neurodiverse individuals may have inconsistent energy levels with periods of intense productivity followed by periods of exhaustion so why don't we plan work tasks to align with these energy patterns? Another example is how career advice for neurodiverse individuals should be focused on leveraging unique strengths instead of compensating for "perceived weaknesses". So, why don't we champion alternative career routes such as, entrepreneurship as an individual with ADHD is 300% more likely to start a business?

4. The Path to Inclusion

We closed off the workshop posing the question of "How far away are we from a truly neuroinclusive workplace?" to Feldon. The answer to that question? Well, it's not as simple as a Yes or No as Feldon noted the current landscape and what can be done going forward:

• Feldon mentioned the CIPD 2024 study into Neuroinclusion at work which stated how only around 30% of medium to large businesses are neuroinclusive and this is not considering SMEs (small and medium enterprises) who make up the majority of businesses/enterprises in the UK

• If we do consider SMEs, that figure Feldon stated goes down to 5-10% of workplaces being neuroinclusive

• However, slowly we are seeing a much larger focus on neurodiversity within the workplace with employees feeling empowered to be open about their neurodiversity through initiatives such as, Lunch & Learn sessions or Neurodiversity Celebration Week

So, we may not be there yet but a lot is being done to make the workplace and recruitment neuroinclusive!

5. My Advice to You: Don't be Ashamed of Yourself!

We rounded off the workshop with nuggets of advice from Feldon:

1. Don't be ashamed of your neurodiversity. It's your strength and not a weakness!

2. Start sharing your experiences and have the confidence to talk about your neurodiversity to support in educating others and building strong relationships in the workplace!

3. Explore and research support for your neurodiversity from specific organisations such as, National Autistic Society. Also, to support you into employment you can look into the NHS WorkWell programme here in the West Midlands as a first step into sustained employment.

If you have any further questions or want any further advice, reach out to Feldon via his LinkedIn:

Feldon Haynes