How embracing neurodiversity can benefit all of us

Joel Marks works in a senior position in the education technology sector. His ADHD has caused him difficulties in previous jobs and also brought anxiety when searching for his current one, but its benefits have far outweighed those issues. With assistance to “shine” in the interview process, Joel landed a new job in June.

“After being diagnosed [with ADHD] and getting treatment seven years ago, I was able to focus, upskill and enhance my career,” he says. “ADHD can be both a positive and a negative. When it’s controlled, it can be incredible – my brain works differently, and I find solutions when others can’t. People come to me with problems that have been declared unfixable, and I solve them. That’s my job!”

While each workplace is different, Joel has found that when employers have made accommodations in the past – such as offering more breaks, a permanent desk or noise-cancelling headphones – it has had a huge impact on his productivity and wellbeing.

“When I’ve had the right setup, I’ve been able to work at triple the pace of most other people,” he says.

Britt Sarony is a self-employed creative solutions expert and neurodiversity consultant, who blends strategic thinking, creativity and insight to unlock untapped potential.

She held multiple roles, often at once, in top London ad agencies, before launching her own consultancy – a virtual agency of four people, who handled all of Visit England’s advertising. She also developed a neuroinclusive initiative for Guinness Six Nations rugby.

Diagnosed with ADHD at 53, Britt says that on the downside, “routine admin can be a challenge, given the dopamine deficit that comes with ADHD”, but “that same wiring makes me endlessly curious, creative, fast thinking and driven to solve problems. I see and connect things others can’t… and that brings real value to my clients.”

With neurodivergent women so often mis- or undiagnosed until menopause, Britt adds: “Having been diagnosed with ADHD the same year I was diagnosed menopausal, and realising the connection between and the impact of both, I also champion midlife women navigating a late diagnosis of any neurodiversity.”

Michael Korn runs two businesses – KwickScreen, a partition system for hospitals he invented in 2009, which won the JC’s Dragons’ Den competition, and Blue Garage, a new innovation hub and accelerator for hardware entrepreneurs.

“I always knew I had dyslexia but hid it,” he says. “You could say I was ashamed. I have two autistic sons, and they – along with my own late ADHD diagnosis – have taken me on a journey to celebrate, rather than hide, difference.

“Looking back through this lens, one reflection is that the team we had in the heyday of KwickScreen, when we were really innovating, were –  dare I say – misfits, who were difficult to manage, not always presentable or even coherent, and may have struggled to find jobs elsewhere.

“Yet, this hugely gifted and diverse group of people, who had the freedom to do their best work without the usual limitations, outstripped everything other companies in our industry were doing.

“This has all made me a champion for not just neuro-inclusivity, but for giving everyone, especially those in the creative and entrepreneurial sectors, the environment that they need for their talent and ambition to thrive.”

​Debbie Lebrett is CEO of Work Avenue