Discussing neurodiversity at work

Dirk Müller-Remus is a neurodiversity consultant and the founder of auticon and Diversicon, helping people on the autism spectrum achieve professional fulfillment and success. He is the winner of the Zugabepreis 2021 that is awarded to social entrepreneurs above 60 years who use sustainable business models to improve the lives of the underrepresented groups in society. Dirk’s companies have created over 400 jobs for talents with autism.

In the beginning of April, marking the onset of the World Autism Awareness month, we sat down with Dirk to discuss why companies should embrace employees with autism and how they can do that. The talk was facilitated by our internal Neurodiversity ERG (employee resource group) and its founder Mariam Gurgenidze.

Dirk, how did you become interested in the neurodiversity topic?

I have always sympathized with those who are different. When I was 50, it became obvious that my 14-year old son had certain difficulties. He didn’t socialize, he wasn’t communicative — we were not sure what the reason was. His IQ was very high, which we thought could be the explanation. Then his autism diagnosis came. For me, it was the beginning of a new way of thinking. I remember, once my wife and I went to a self-help group. There were about 20 people with autism there, discussing their experiences at work. Most of them were unemployed even though they were well-educated. Some of them had PhD degrees, but they found communication challenging. It was then that I felt I had to do something. I have an IT background, and I decided to launch an IT-consulting company, with one difference — our consultants would be autistic.

And what are your learnings in terms of how can employers be more open to working with people on the spectrum?

If you have empathy for people who are “different”, you will find a way, but if you are not, it’s quite difficult to change your way of thinking. In the beginning, it was challenging for us to bring it home to our work partners that we were a normal company. Yes, we were neurodiversity-focused, but we also wanted to be profitable, and we were — still are — pretty great at what we do. Over time, people started to better understand the advantages of hiring people on the autism spectrum. They saw how we helped them boost their performance. And this helped us reach out to more companies. People increasingly realize that if they can’t get through to an autistic person, it’s simply because they are not communicating clearly. One of our main learnings is how valuable job coaches are — they mediate between autistic employees and their employers. They can help people with autism perform better and resolve the misunderstandings they might have in the workplace. People on the spectrum tend to understand things literally — a number of misinterpretations can arise from that. Thus, when giving tasks, it is important to keep in mind that people with autism need to know exactly what to do and when. Instead of formulating tasks vaguely (“Why don’t we do that?” or “Shall we try doing this?”), make sure to make clear and well-structured instructions.

Do you think that the situation at workplaces is changing and that workplaces are becoming more neurodiversity-friendly?

When we started in 2011, the topic was quite new. Now I see that a lot of companies are ready to work on neurodiversity topics. They understand the advantages of hiring someone on the autism spectrum. I think we have made a lot of progress. If a person with autism has issues with noise, most employers are willing to provide them with earphones, or rearrange their seating arrangement. People with autism don’t like big crowds. They prefer to sit separately from others. Blinking lights can also be a real problem. But these issues are easy to resolve if employers are willing to do so.

Do you think that the rise of remote work is a positive change for people with autism?

Home office might be problematic because people with autism need direct communication with job coaches and colleagues. For people on the autism spectrum, clear communication is essential, which could be difficult to ensure when you work remotely. Speaking of meetings, both on- and offline, it would be a great idea to help your autistic employees prepare for meetings, let them know what to expect, give them a clear outline of a meeting beforehand.

How can meetings be optimized so that they are more neurodiverse-friendly?

Structure is important. When you have a meeting, you have people who are extroverted or introverted, people who are louder or quieter. So, you need to have a moderator, someone who steers the meeting, giving the quieter employees the chance to talk without interruption.

And speaking about interpersonal relationships, how can colleagues build good relationships in the office with their co-workers on the spectrum?

I think the key point is to talk with them. Don’t be surprised if it seems like you are not on the same page. Holding a conventional conversation with an autistic person may be challenging, as they tend to get into monologues. Ask a person what they are interested in to find a common base. Skip small talk, discuss something that is relevant for the company, for the project or for your colleague. People with autism are interested in solving problems more than they are interested in people — you might say it’s another plus for their employers. Of course, they have feelings, but they have difficulties with expressing and communicating them.

So, we speak a lot about the difficulties, but people with autism can also be incredibly talented…

Once I met a guy who was nearly 40 and had changed 20 jobs. He was depressed and frustrated, and didn’t know what to do. I asked him about what he enjoyed doing. He said that he read a lot, he read technical manuals and also translated them. Turned out, he was not just able to speak seven languages, but he was also able to program in eight different programming languages. And he had no idea about his competence. You see, people with autism have a problem gauging themselves against others and declaring that they are good or bad at something. That’s another argument in favour of having coaches at work — they can help unearth talents.

And it’s totally opposed to the system of job interviews that we have, when we are supposed to sell ourselves and kind of measure ourselves against others…

Autistic people undersell themselves at interviews and are often overlooked. Since they don’t seem charismatic or sociable, people fail to notice their potential and their talents. Autistic people feel ignored their whole life — their experiences at the kindergarten, school, at work are frustrating. Remember that, and when you interview them for a job, also bear in mind that an autistic person might have enormous potential.

So, what are the “superpowers” of autistic people?

I have always felt that the biggest talent of autistic people is pattern recognition. Often they notice something that is not obvious, they can put pieces of a puzzle together — but in fresh and unexpected ways. If you work with AI, hire people on the spectrum because their way of thinking is similar to artificial intelligence. I think people on the autism spectrum are also very detail-oriented. You can rely on your autistic colleague to spot mistakes and inconsistencies in your work. They will probably communicate them to you in a very straight-forward and open manner. It won’t be meant personally. These open criticisms may be hard to accept but they are useful. I think that working with people on the spectrum is very inspiring, it changes your way of thinking and in the end it helps the whole company.

What is your experience with neurodiversity and what is your take on the neurodiverse workspace? What do you/ your company do to be more inclusive? Reach out to Mariam Gurgenidze or me — and let’s talk! :)