Neurodiversity in the Workforce: Benjamin Powers Of The Southport School On Why It’s Important To Include Neurodiverse Employees & How To Make Your Workplace More Neuro-Inclusive
An Interview With Eric Pines
Regularly evaluate and update policies and practices to ensure they align with the goal of creating a more inclusive environment for neurodivergent individuals.
Research suggests that up to 15–20% of the U.S. population is neurodivergent. There has been a slow but vitally important rise in companies embracing neurodiversity. How can companies support neurodiversity in the workplace? What are some benefits of including neurodiverse employees? To address these questions, we are talking to successful business leaders who can share stories and insights from their experience about “Neurodiversity in the Workforce: Companies Including Neurodiverse Employees”. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Benjamin Powers.
Dr. Benjamin N. Powers, DBA, Executive Director, The Southport School Founder & Executive Director, The Southport CoLAB Senior Scientist.
Welcome to The Southport CoLAB where we believe in integrating research, practice, and advocacy to effect positive outcomes for people with learning and attention issues.
The reach of The Southport School extends beyond our physical walls as we seek to capitalize on the opportunity to impact the local and national communities by helping train teachers, educate families, and inform the public about language-based learning disabilities and attention issues.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you ended up where you are?
Today I am the executive director of The Southport School, an independent school in Connecticut for neurodiverse learners in grades 2–8. I am also the founder and executive director of The Southport CoLAB, which provides high-quality programs for training professionals, educators and families, director of the Global Literacy Hub at the Yale Child Study Center, and the president of The Dyslexia Foundation.
I’m extremely passionate about my work particularly given my own combined-type ADHD. I wasn’t diagnosed until adulthood, which meant my journey in school was not always easy. The work I do in schools today, helping identify effective learning strategies for students, was really the last place I expected to find myself. During high school and college, my goal was to be finished with school forever! It was only through an unexpected opportunity to substitute teach that I began to realize we could change the conversation for learners, which has really been at the core of my professional career over the past 20+ years. The more I learned about differentiating and individualizing evidence-based instructional practices, the greater success I had with students in the classroom and with my own continued learning, which led me to graduate school and, eventually, a doctoral degree.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Perspective taking is one key characteristic that has helped me be clearer and more efficient in understanding what type of solution or outcome will be beneficial. A recent example would be helping a group of people starting a new, specialized program for students gain consensus on their approach. Because each of them was advocating for different reasons, it was hard to move forward. Perspective taking allowed me to understand what each of them was hoping to accomplish which then led to everyone to a better understanding that there was far more common ground than differences.
Another key characteristic is perseverance. There were times during school when I questioned whether I was smart enough to succeed but realized that the only way anyone is successful in the long term is if they apply themselves continuously. This trait became vital during my doctoral work, when your studies are mostly independent. It was during this time I found tricks like focusing on a small or easy task to start my work to help me persevere. Learning I didn’t need to start with a task that I found overwhelming was a strategy that helps me accomplish my work.
Lastly, being a lifelong learner has also been critical in my success as a leader. As much as continuing in school was not something that appealed to me early in my career, I realized that the more we seek to learn, the better we are at challenging assumptions and improving outcomes. I found that incorporating visible reminders worked well to motive me. For example, I began drinking from a water bottle emblazoned with my school logo and name. Seeing that in front of me helped me move forward and served as a visual cue that my education was important to me and that I wanted to be a lifelong learner.
Can you share a story about one of your greatest work-related struggles? Can you share what you did to overcome it?
One of my most challenging work-related struggles is listening to someone and taking notes — juggling these two active learning tasks is very difficult for me. When I first started as head of school at The Southport School, I was having incredibly engaging conversations with colleagues and members of the board. It was a choice to take notes or be present in the conversation. On one particularly frustrating occasion, I remember asking our head of upper school to help me figure out my notes because my handwriting was illegible. That terrible experience led me to the realization I needed to have someone else in my meetings to help with note taking. Having an extra set of ears in the room allows me to stay focused on my meeting.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
One of the projects I’m most focused on right now is The Southport CoLAB, which provides high quality training programs for professionals, educators and families. Its mission is to integrate research, practice and advocacy to effect positive outcomes for people with learning and attention issues. Today The Southport CoLAB offers three specialized training programs: structured literacy, executive functions, and assistive technology.
The CoLAB is advancing the science of learning and supporting generational change for students with various learning needs and from diverse communities. In fact, over the last five years, The Southport School and the CoLAB have trained more than 1,400 teachers on the science of reading, impacting more than 21,000 children and screened nearly 600 students at-risk for reading failure.
Fantastic. Let’s now shift to our discussion about neurodiversity in the workforce. Can you tell our readers a bit about your experience working with initiatives to include neurodiverse employees? Can you share a story with us?
I recently had the opportunity to give a talk on dyslexia and its impact in the workplace for a well-known financial services firm. Participants in the session shared their own experience, with some disclosing learning disabilities to their colleagues for the first time. This type of event provided a visible and supportive platform for employees, which is incredibly important when we discuss initiatives to include neurodiverse staff. We all have areas of strength and deficit and it is imperative for workplaces to be inclusive of everyone. Employers can help employees leverage their areas of strength to perform even better and help create a positive culture when staff see that neurodiversity is supported and valued.
This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have an inclusive work culture?
An inclusive work culture is essential for businesses and organizations as it helps foster a positive work environment, maximizes the potential of employees’ unique strengths, and encourages innovation and creativity. An inclusive work culture recognizes and values the unique traits of individuals with different neurological profiles. Neurodiversity is an inherent aspect of the human species, which has played a crucial role in our development and evolution. By fostering an environment that supports neurodiversity, organizations can benefit from a wide range of perspectives and skill sets.
Positive work environment: An inclusive work culture promotes empathy, understanding and better relationships among colleagues. This creates a supportive atmosphere where employees feel valued and respected, leading to increased job satisfaction, motivation and productivity.
Leveraging unique strengths: Inclusive work cultures should acknowledge that individuals with certain differences, such as ADHD and dyslexia, may have a unique learning or productivity profile. Studies have shown that ADHD traits have contributed to the early migration of humans across the globe, as these individuals were more likely to explore and take risks. By providing necessary supports and accommodations, organizations can harness the unique abilities of such individuals, leading to a significant value addition to the workplace.
Encouraging innovation and creativity: An inclusive work culture that embraces diverse perspectives, skills and experiences can foster innovation and creativity. This can lead to the development of new ideas and solutions that help businesses and organizations thrive.
Can you share a few examples of ideas that were implemented at your workplace to help include neurodiverse employees? Can you share with us how the work culture was affected as a result?
At The Southport School, we implemented accommodations such as text-to-speech and speech-to-text software for all employees — not just those who identify as neurodiverse. These inclusive measures have helped us create a better, more productive and thoughtful work culture, as they catered to diverse preferences and needs, benefiting everyone in our organization.
What are some of the challenges or obstacles to including neurodivergent employees? What needs to be done to address those obstacles?
The biggest challenge I see is that more often than not, people view neurodivergent individuals through a deficit lens.
This perspective can overshadow their potential strengths and contributions. I firmly believe that a strong community is one that accepts and celebrates the different abilities of its members. To address these obstacles, employers should:
· Shift the focus from a deficit model to recognizing the unique strengths and abilities that neurodivergent individuals bring to the workplace.
· Create a supportive environment where employees feel valued and understood, regardless of their neurological differences.
· Provide necessary accommodations and resources to help neurodivergent employees work effectively and independently.
· Encourage open communication and education about neurodiversity, dismantling stigma and promoting a better understanding of different neurological profiles.
· Foster a culture that celebrates diversity and embraces the potential benefits that neurodivergent employees can offer to the organization.
How do you and your organization educate yourselves and your teams on the concept of neurodiversity and the needs of neurodivergent employees? Are there any resources, training, or workshops that you have found particularly helpful?
The Southport School and The Southport CoLAB are inherently focused on neurodiversity. Our community wants to teach the world about supporting and educating students with language-based learning disabilities and ADHD, including ensuring all teachers have access to training in best educational practices and current research. From hosting our Community Lecture Series on topics like executive functioning to holding professional development workshops for educators, we work diligently to educate people on what it means to be neurodiverse. Our goal is to empower the community by fostering a better understanding of neurodiversity and leveraging individual differences to benefit society.
This is the main question of our interview. Can you please share five best practices that can make a business place feel more welcoming and inclusive of people who are neurodivergent? If you can, please share a few examples.
To make a workplace more welcoming and inclusive for neurodivergent individuals, I suggest implementing the following five best practices:
1. Foster a culture of openness and inclusiveness by encouraging employees to share their experiences without fear of penalty. Create safe spaces, such as affinity groups, and invite neurodivergent individuals to share their stories, adding context and personal perspectives.
2. Encourage leadership to be visibly supportive of neurodiversity. If administrators, managers and others in positions of leadership are neurodivergent, their openness about personal experiences can be inspiring and aid with creating a more inclusive atmosphere.
3. Implement universal design principles by offering supports and accommodations to all employees, not just those who disclose their neurodivergence. This approach helps avoid stigmatization and promotes equal access to resources.
4. Provide ongoing education and training on neurodiversity to raise awareness, dismantle stereotypes and foster understanding among all employees.
5. Regularly evaluate and update policies and practices to ensure they align with the goal of creating a more inclusive environment for neurodivergent individuals.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story about how that was relevant in your own life?
My absolute favorite “life lesson quote” is from author Anthony Doerr: “Whoever says adults are better at paying attention than children is wrong: we’re too busy filtering out the world, focusing on some task or another, paying no attention. Our kids are the ones discovering new contents all day long.”
As a dad and executive director of a school, I’m reminded daily that the mindset of a child is beautiful and framed from a lens of infinite possibility and wonder. Throughout my professional and personal experiences, it has become clear that in order to solve challenging problems, we need novel perspectives. This quote is a good reminder that there is an advantage to being able to pay attention to lots of different things happening in your environment.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I would inspire a movement centered on embracing neurodiversity, promoting inclusive education, and incorporating research-based teaching practices. By empowering educators with evidence-based approaches and tools to support neurodivergent students, we can unlock their full potential and enable them to thrive. This movement would benefit not only individuals with learning differences but also society as a whole, fostering a more compassionate, understanding and diverse world.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Readers can follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!
About the Interviewer: Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative. A formal federal employee himself, Mr. Pines began his federal employment law career as in-house counsel for AFGE Local 1923 which is in Social Security Administration’s headquarters and is the largest federal union local in the world. He presently serves as AFGE 1923’s Chief Counsel as well as in-house counsel for all FEMA bargaining unit employees and numerous Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs unions.
While he and his firm specialize in representing federal employees from all federal agencies and in reference to virtually all federal employee matters, his firm has placed special attention on representing Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses hired under the authority of Title. He and his firm have a particular passion in representing disabled federal employees with their requests for medical and religious reasonable accommodations when those accommodations are warranted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (ADA). He also represents them with their requests for Federal Employee Disability Retirement (OPM) when an accommodation would not be possible.
Mr. Pines has also served as a mediator for numerous federal agencies including serving a year as the Library of Congress’ in-house EEO Mediator. He has also served as an expert witness in federal court for federal employee matters. He has also worked as an EEO technical writer drafting hundreds of Final Agency Decisions for the federal sector.
Mr. Pines’ firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. His first passion is his wife and five children. He plays classical and rock guitar and enjoys playing ice hockey, running, and biking. Please visit his websites at www.pinesfederal.com and www.toughinjurylawyers.com. He can also be reached at eric@pinesfederal.com.
