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April is Autism Awareness Month (also called Autism Acceptance Month by autism advocacy groups). So it seems appropriate to discuss how employers looking to assemble a more neurodiverse workforce can make their workplaces more, well, workable.
A recent Scientific American article explores how designers and architects are seeking to make open-plan offices more accommodating for neurodivergent and deaf workers. By reducing visual and acoustic distractions, adding more breakout spaces and private nooks, and adjusting workspace layout to incorporate employee feedback, they hope to remove sensory stressors and obstacles that fatigue and hinder those workers. Many of those changes also could benefit neurotypical and non-deaf workers.
But some of the most inclusive workplace adaptations aren’t about physical space. Rather, they’re about adjusting mental space to accept and accommodate differences in our fellow humans.
“Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” a South Korean series streaming on Netflix, illustrates the possibilities and challenges in making workplaces more neuroinclusive. The title character, Woo Young-woo, is a woman on the autism spectrum hired as an attorney at a high-powered law firm. Her eidetic memory, passion for justice and tireless attention to detail help her achieve surprising victories in the courtroom. However, her blunt and literal communication style, sensory issues and predilection for blurting inconvenient truths — and facts about cetaceans — also make fitting in at work a challenge for her.
The show is hilarious, heartwarming and occasionally heartbreaking. It’s also problematic because of its focus on the “extraordinary” end of the autism spectrum. Woo’s character, portrayed by a neurotypical actor, is part of the savant-syndrome trope, like “Rain Man” or “The Good Doctor” — overrepresented in media, but relatively rare among the autistic population. She also seems to need almost no workplace accommodations beyond her colleagues’ patience with her quirks.
Work Advice: He has an autism diagnosis but is still fighting to keep his job
In real life, autistic professionals are more often like Alex, a professional I wrote about last year: high performers who mask their autism effectively for years, until they hit a crisis point and are unable to access the support and accommodations that would help them avoid burnout. Or they simply remain under- or unemployed because of invisible barriers to entry that Woo’s reputation as a genius helps her bypass.
Even with those flaws, the show does many things right to bring the audience into her corner. Woo is sweet, likable and ultimately relatable. Because she can’t really mask her autistic tendencies, we see her struggle when she tries to follow neurotypical rules for fitting in. I recognize a realistic spectrum of reactions in the people around her: sympathy, tolerance, bewilderment, supportiveness, frustration, exasperation, ableism, jealousy. Even with all she brings to the table, acceptance does not come easily.
The most important thing “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” does well from a workplace perspective is show how to make the invisible visible. By being open about her autism, Woo defuses and demystifies it for neurotypical colleagues and clients.
In her first court appearance, she matter-of-factly informs the judges and jury that while her autism may affect how her speech and actions come across, it does not affect her love of the law and her respect for her client and the truth.
On other occasions, she explains that sustained eye contact and physical contact are difficult and uncomfortable for her, not because she is inattentive or uncaring, but because of her autism. Finally, although the motives for hiring her are murky, the tone from the top is clear: She is part of the team. Excluding her is not an option.
Of course, this is all limited to my individual perspective, but I think spending time in Woo’s world has helped expand my empathy. Sometimes inclusion is just about shifting our thinking to see people as they are, rather than as we think they should be. Take, for example, the following letter:
Reader: One of my colleagues watches TV on her cellphone while working in the office. We come into the office three times a week. Her cellphone is placed slightly behind the keyboard facing her, and she has ear plugs.
I find it unprofessional that someone watches TV while working.
We have an open office, and sometimes work calls or conversation can be noisy. We all sometimes put on headsets to concentrate. However, is watching TV while working an acceptable practice?
Work Advice: I saw my boss watching a sex scene on his phone at work. Should I say something?
Karla: “Unprofessional” and “acceptable” are such subjective terms. For example, I find it unprofessional when someone:
- Fails to complete work on time and to a defined standard.
- Engages in disruptive noise, activity or outbursts around colleagues who are minding their own business.
- Is completely checked-out and unresponsive to colleagues while absorbed in nonwork matters at work.
But then, you don’t mention any of these being an issue with your TV-watching co-worker. So what is the problem, exactly? Incredible as it seems to a silence-loving hermit like me, some people focus better with a bit of controlled diversion in their environment.
A familiar TV show or music can provide just enough predictable stimulation to keep the distractible part of their brain occupied while the work gets done. Maybe, like the inclusive designers in the Scientific American article mentioned above — or like you and other headphone-wearing colleagues — your colleague is trying to mitigate sensory distractions and discomfort, and this is what works for her.
If she’s still not getting things done or if she’s unavoidably disruptive, that’s worth bringing up to whoever is responsible for monitoring her performance. Otherwise, you can keep your workplace professional and inclusive by just leaving her be.
Source link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/13/autism-office-workadvice/