Aeolienne

(Not written by me) The Bronze Age: Lucy Bronze talks candidly about neurodivergence and proving people wrong England’s most decorated female footballer has made net gains from not fitting the mould. As the Lionesses enter Euro 2025 as defending champions, Lucy Bronze talks about her team’s chances, life after her ADHD and autism diagnoses and why she doesn’t fear her career’s final whistle It’s one of spring 2025’s Mediterranean afternoons when the face of Lucy Bronze appears on my laptop screen. The blue of her Chelsea top is a dead ringer for the sky above the London training fields and she’s beaming for reasons unrelated to the weather. The night before we speak, her team trounced Crystal Palace 4-0, edging within touching distance of the Women’s Super League title – a feat they’ll go on to achieve a week later, beating Manchester United with a single headed goal from their star defender. Then she flashes another reason for the grin – a ring on her right hand. There’s no diamond, but for the athlete once ranked the best female footballer in the world by Uefa and Fifa, this slim black band contains something more precious: data. It’s part of an arsenal of performance-optimising tools – sleep-tracking, saunas, red-light therapy, supplements and installing an at-home ice bath – that the oldest Lioness is using to balance a relentless club schedule with staying at the top of her game ahead of England’s first Euros match against France on 5 July. A shared enthusiasm for the field Lucy calls ‘small gains’ sees me immediately disregard the first rule of celebrity journalism – delicately break the ice with impersonal small talk. Somehow, our ice-breaker segues straight to the 33-year-old’s ovaries and in less time than it would take to discuss her commute to work, I’m prying into her periods. ‘There’s a phase in my menstrual cycle when I’m physically capable of doing more and can train even harder, it’s insane,’ she tells me of her Euros prep, with an excitability most of us reserve for summer Fridays. ‘Men – they’re just this baseline the whole time. Whereas we can “periodise” training around the four phases of the cycle and get a lot of benefit. Research is quite low-level at the minute…’ Lucy – the sports science graduate – clarifies, in one of many times during our conversation when I feel as if I’m chatting through an article idea with a WH colleague. ‘But it’s like I’ve been given a superpower for a week.’ Euro vision Most would argue that Lucy’s superpowers are markedly more timeless. Beginning her senior career in 2007, she’s played as a defender for some of the best clubs in England – Liverpool, Manchester City and, since 2024, Chelsea – plus European powerhouses Barcelona and Lyon. (Adding Spanish and French skills to being raised bilingual by her Portuguese father, Lucy – real name Lucia – often translates for Chelsea’s international players). After Chelsea won the FA Cup last month, she became the first player to win the domestic treble – three major domestic competitions within the same season – in three countries and she’s won the Champions League five times (for context, my husband credits the elation of Barcelona winning the Champions League one year as the reason he proposed to me). An England staple since 2013, Lucy became a household name as a cornerstone of the team that beat Germany to win Euro 2022. Does having brought football home once already ease some of the pressure going into this tournament, I wonder, or pile on even more? ‘It’s a bit of everything,’ she reflects. ‘What we’ve spoken about [as a team] is that we admire what we’ve done in the past, being the Euros winners. But we’re a “new England” going into this and we’ll create our own history.’ The squad’s self-proclaimed ‘bossy mum’, Lucy hopes this new England approach will lighten the load for the new Lioness cubs. ‘There are people going to the Euros and it’ll be their first ever tournament wearing an England shirt. You want them to enjoy that. And I think taking away that pressure is a great way for them to do it.’ Ahead of the competition in Switzerland – ‘10 days when the only time we’re apart is when we go to bed’ (and yes, Lucy smiles, they do get a bit sick of each other) – squad contact stays within the group chat. Club matches ended in mid-May, when players were granted 10 days’ holiday. But while she suspects some of her teammates will give short shrift to manager Sarina Wiegman’s plea to ‘be sensible’ when they’re OOO (‘the girls tend to do what they want,’ she laughs), Lucy’s eyes are never far from the prize. ‘Yeah, I’m always thinking about the Euros,’ she confirms. ‘I can’t not think about it. Everything I do is to play in the Euros and win the Euros. Though people who know me know that I am a little bit obsessed.’ Gatekeeping I suspect that ‘little bit’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Lucy’s fixation with football began in Northumberland in the 00s, when the sport became her salvation. ‘I got bullied when I was younger and had to move schools,’ she shares, of the worst of that time. Dyslexia frustrated written tasks, but she was smart, competitive and a natural at numbers – with cognitive processing that was steps ahead. ‘All these things could have been seen or used as a strength of mine, but they made me seem like a problem. It was, “She’s arrogant, she’s bossy, she’s not listening to others.” I wasn’t listening to others. But it wasn’t because I didn’t care, it was because I knew I was right.’ Lucy’s mum, a maths teacher, suspected her daughter was neurodivergent, but lingering stigma meant she shied away from seeking a diagnosis for her daughter. ‘I read stories that said they’re the kids who need to be put in the corner, which is exactly what mum didn’t want me labelled as.’ Instead, she stuck Lucy in every sport available – and her child came alive. ‘Off the pitch, I couldn’t even make conversation because I was so within myself. But when I was on the field, I was the most confident person in the world. When you’re doing something you love, it brings out the best in you and that’s what I had as a child with sport. Sport would unlock the gates of Lucy Bronze.’ When her older brother, Jorge, let her join in with him and his friends playing football, something clicked. ‘I fell in love with football because I loved that [Jorge] did it – and then I loved being in a team. I was painfully shy and sport was the only way I knew how to connect with people. You already have a common ground of: you’re playing football and you want to win. You don’t need to say anything else; you don’t need to explain yourself. I think that’s why I love sport so much, because it was obvious what I was trying to do without even speaking.’ Fitting in If Lucy’s long career let her footwork do the talking, that changed in March. In a BBC interview with friend, former Lioness and another former WH cover star Alex Scott, Lucy revealed that four years ago – on the suggestion of an England team psychologist – she was tested for, then diagnosed with, autism and ADHD. Speaking with her a month after the interview aired, I’m struck by how content she seems. Has the diagnosis her mum tried so valiantly to protect her from had the converse effect of empowering her? ‘Yeah, 100%. Mum put it in such a positive spin that I never saw it as a negative. She’d say, “How you act is just you, you’re Lucy and that’s part of you.” But then reading the [the psychologist’s report] I was like, “Wow, this is me. This is why there have been so many times where people don’t get what I’m trying to say and how I’m coming across.” I always speak about being misunderstood – and I think that I was misunderstood by myself, as well.’ As enlightening as it’s been to understand the neurological root of her behaviours, it’s seeing that openness paid forwards that truly lights Lucy up. ‘In the game last night, a little kid ran up to me and said, “You’re my idol, because I’m autistic and I have ADHD and I’m so proud of you for speaking about it.” I thought, “He’s proud of me?!” He’s seven! Because he’s seen someone else [with neurodivergent traits], he thought it was really cool.’ He isn’t the only one; adults have been stopping her in the street – especially women, often late-diagnosed – to thank her for talking about autism. ‘Doing that interview is the biggest reaction I’ve ever had to anything I’ve ever done in my whole career,’ she tells me, a little dumbfounded. ‘Even winning things football-wise or getting a degree or anything that I’ve done that I’ve had success with wouldn’t come close to the reaction I had from that.’ Days after listening to the interview, I was still thinking about Lucy’s description of her twenties – a period knew how she spent making herself ‘feel uncomfortable so that others felt more comfortable’. As someone who’s often to connect’ felt socially awkward, I empathise at the labour of having to “fake” social behaviours to fit in: the discomfort of holding eye contact and trying to appear warmer (Lucy would copy the naturally gregarious 2022 Euro squad member Jill Scott); hugging (which she still hates). Does she finally have the freedom to be herself? ‘I do… but because I’ve gained respect for what I’ve done on the football pitch,’ she says emphasising the caveat. ‘My autism is my superpower that’s made me successful – it makes me obsessed with things, it makes me want to do things extra, it makes me think 10 steps ahead – but I wish it didn’t take being a successful footballer for me to be free to be who I am,’ she continues. ‘That’s the thing: everything in the world is set for one generic way. If you don’t fit that standard, where do you fit in?’ I’m learning that there are two ways: sit back and accept your lot or do a Bronze and sharpen your elbows. Suffering four bad knee injuries by the time you’re 18 would have blown the whistle on most athletes’ careers; instead, Lucy wrote a university thesis on ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries so she could learn how to do a full knee rehab. And frustrated by fashion’s blinkered representation of female athletes (‘it’s a long-standing thing in sport with sponsors and the players they try to push into the light that it’s more about their looks than their achievements,’ she critiques), in mid-September Lucy will front her second partnership with Aligne – the female-led British brand known for beautiful, accessible tailoring. As well as creating the perfect pair of pinstripe trousers to go from walking the dog to a meeting (featuring my love language: an elasticated waistband), the collection honours female strength. ‘I’ve found a space with Aligne where I’m actually celebrated as a footballer while being part of fashion… And at my age I probably shouldn’t be wearing tracksuits all the time,’ Lucy laughs. Second half Casual as you like, she’s brought up the elephant in the room: age. If anything underpins the ruthless brutality of elite sport, it’s discussing retirement at exactly half the age you can claim a state pension. As a writer, I have ChatGPT chasing my tail, but at least I got into my forties. Does her steps-ahead thinking extend to her own future? ‘I’m honest with myself. I’m still at the highest level, but I’m not as good as I was six years ago,’ she admits with the measured acceptance of someone intimately acquainted with the metrics. ‘I was the best player in the world at one point and I can’t quite reach that. I’m trying to learn to take off that “competitive Lucy” hat and be a little bit prouder of the things I have achieved.’ After losing the 2023 World Cup final to Spain, Lucy tells me, reporters immediately asked her if she’d retire – a level of scrutiny she suspects is reserved for women. ‘I think that’s something that for females is pointed out: your age, your looks, your biological clock. I don’t think it’s the same for men at all. But I quite enjoy the idea of, “Oh well, I’ll prove them wrong.”’ Talking to Lucy about her future, what strikes me most is the abundance of options. In 2020, interviewing thirtysomething athletes for WH ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, I recall their sense of plummeting into the abyss – destabilised by everything from losing their routine to having no idea what to do next. The following year, Alex Scott told me that she studied sports journalism towards the end of her football career to bat off the anticipated criticism that she didn’t deserve presenting gigs. But in 2025, something’s shifted. ‘I could get a corporate job. I could try to be part of the Federation or Fifa. I could help someone like Chelsea develop the women’s team,’ she says, reeling off her options. As for anything she hasn’t yet had time for? ‘I wouldn’t say there’s something I’m dying to do, apart from have a family. My brother’s got two kids and that’s what I’m most jealous of, seeing my niece and nephew. But there’s plenty of time for that – and what that looks like, I don’t know.’ Back in the here and now, it’s game on. ‘When we won the Euros, it was empowering to so many women who didn’t even like football,’ she recalls, of the bump the sport enjoyed following that victory – a bump that saw 1,500 new female teams register to play during the following seasons. ‘Seeing women succeed in “a man’s game” or “a man’s world” gave [a feeling of ] confidence and achievement. And for the men who loved football, but who maybe had a bit of underlying misogyny, they were like, “Do you know what, we love football and we’re so proud of these girls,”’ she continues. ‘I think football can help change society.’ When you’re thinking big, who needs small talk? Euro 2025: the defence is ready. Lucy Bronze’s collaborative collection with Aligne launches in September. Source: Women's Health

(Not written by me) Police arrested autistic activist in supported housing as part of Quaker raid operation Exclusive: Joe Booth, 23, says he has PTSD after arrest in which seven officers entered his flat when he was in bed Daniel Boffey Chief reporter Sun 22 Jun 2025 07.00 BST The Met police operation in which officers raided a Quaker meeting house also resulted in the arrest of an autistic climate activist at his supported accommodation, the Guardian can reveal. Joe Booth, 23, was in bed when seven police officers arrived at the flats for vulnerable adults in New Barnet, north London, to arrest him on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. The arrest appeared to be linked to his attendance at weekly meetings of Youth Demand, an off-shoot of Just Stop Oil that describes itself as a nonviolent protest movement. The evening before his arrest, up to 30 Met officers broke down the front door of a Quaker meeting house to arrest six female members of the group in what appears to be a linked raid. It is thought to be the first time that police had forced their way into a place of worship used by the pacifist Quaker movement. The raid has been heavily criticised by politicians, campaigners and religious groups. Booth, who claims to have never been involved in disruptive protest and to have previously attended one peaceful Youth Demand march on Downing Street, said the arrest had left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said the officers who arrested him appeared to be surprised that he lived in supported accommodation for vulnerable adults. After a support worker let the police into his flat, an officer had grabbed his arm, he claimed, and asked whether “I need to put you in handcuffs” before reading him his rights. “They did not know until they turned up that I lived in supported accommodation,” claimed Booth, who is a cleaner on the London underground. “When they arrested me, they said to me: ‘Joe, is this supported accommodation?’ They didn’t know. You would think there would be a system in place when they are going to an address to say this is a care setting.” Booth was in his pyjamas when the police arrived. They searched his bedroom and seized his work phone. He was then taken on a two-hour drive to Kingston police station where he was questioned and held for more than seven hours. He was released on police bail with conditions that included a ban on him entering Westminster. Booth, whose brother was allowed to attend the police interview as an “appropriate adult” due to his vulnerability, said: “They showed me pictures of protests that I wasn’t even in. They showed me pictures of [information about] upcoming events, only a few of which were actually protests, the other which were just meetings and free food events. So they didn’t tell me at any point what evidence they had on me and why they got me and how they even knew my face.” He had previously attended Youth Demand meetings at the Quaker meeting hall on St Martin’s Lane in London where attenders enjoyed a spread of jasmine tea, ginger biscuits and a selection of vegan cheese straws. Youth Demand had been planning a series of 10-minute protests as part of a “Shut Down London” campaign and Booth had handed out leaflets promoting the group’s actions in opposition to arms sales to Israel and a lack of action on fossil-fuel harm, he said. Booth, whose father is John Leach, the assistant general secretary of the RMT union, claimed: “I was only planning to spread news of the events. I’m not at a stage in my life where I’m ready to risk going to prison. “Like all autistic people, I can often struggle to understand certain messages that are told to me, which is why I often need staff with me when I receive letters, because I interpret things differently and I also can’t survive without structure and routine. So when that gets disrupted by ongoing issues that becomes a problem.” Booth said the arrest, which will raise fresh questions about the overpolicing of protest groups, had seriously affected his mental health. He said: “Every time I hear noise in the corridor, even from a distance, I get scared that it might be police, especially when there’s a knock at my door, especially if that knock at my door is early in the morning. “But even if it’s just from support staff or Amazon delivery or whatever, I get scared that it might be police. So my alertness has increased and my anxiety has increased. And I see a therapist every single week, because I always have and he’s in full knowledge of how it’s been affecting me.” Booth had previously been arrested in June 2024 on the same grounds after attending Just Stop Oil meetings, he said, but again released on police bail without charge. Booth claimed he had never been involved in their disruptive activities. “I remember specifically going to meetings and saying, ‘I have not been at a protest,’” he said. “It has left me bewildered.” It is understood that the Met believed Booth had been involved in disruptive protest in the past, which he denies. A Met police spokesperson said: “Youth Demand stated an intention to ‘shut down’ London over the month of April. “We have a responsibility to intervene to disrupt and prevent activity that crosses the line from lawful protest into criminality and serious disruption that adversely impacts the lives of ordinary Londoners. “The proactive police activity on Thursday 27 March and Friday 28 March took place on the basis of intelligence that those arrested were involved in conspiring to cause serious disruption. They remain on bail while our investigations continue. “Officers will always take into account an arrested person’s mental and physical health, carrying out full risk assessments to ensure they can be cared for appropriately while in police custody. Those processes were followed in this case.” Source: The Guardian

Seems like Christian Mallon is not the only one playing this game... SRA and others obtain restraint order against law student 13 June 2025 Posted by Neil Rose The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and five government department have obtained a restraint order against a law student who has brought multiple employment claims against them. Zakir Khan has brought 42 employment tribunal claims since 2017, including 13 against the SRA, seven against various large law firms, six against the Ministry of Justice and five against the Crown Prosecution Service. Her Honour Judge Emma Kelly in Birmingham said there was no evidence that any have succeeded and many have been struck out, although the claimants said the defendant had indicated that two law firms settled claims with nuisance payments of £700 and £1,000. Mr Khan, who says he has a law degree and LLM in commercial law, typically alleges a failure by the prospective employer to make reasonable adjustments in relation to job applications he had made or claimed he wanted to make. He relies on a number of disabilities: ADHD, depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive personality disorder. The judge said: “The reasonable adjustments the defendant asserts he is entitled to vary from claim to claim but common themes include one or more of: replacing written competency-based application forms with assessed work experience; permitting the defendant to sit a written test to assess hypothetical examples in lieu of demonstrating competencies by already acquired experience; permitting the defendant to bypass a particular stage of the application process; being permitted to engage in post-application correspondence; ignoring grammatical errors in application forms; lowering the minimum competency threshold for jobs; not imposing a word limit on applications; obtaining evidence from an occupation psychologist; providing advance notification of the form of online tests; awarding the defendant higher marks at a particular stage of the application process and, perhaps most optimistically, providing a scholarship for him to undertake the then solicitors’ legal practice course.” HHJ Kelly was not convinced by Mr Khan’s claim that he would not bring any more claims, as he now has a job at the Office of the Public Guardian and was about to become a father. He also told the court he planned to fight the claims already issued and pursue them “until the very end”. He blamed the respondents and judiciary for the problems he had encountered with his cases. HHJ Kelly said Mr Khan had accepted that his intention could “possibly change”. She added: “The defendant’s conceded obsession and uncontrollable urges heightens the risk of a change of intention in the future… “His lack of objectivity and apparent inability to accept judicial decisions heightens the risk of him pursuing totally without merit appeals to the EAT within the extant claims.” Referring to Mr Khan’s applications to strike out the claim and miscellaneous relief, the judge observed: “He did, however, tell the court he had studied law a long time ago and couldn’t remember much of it.” She dismissed them all and recorded they were totally without merit. HHJ Kelly concluded the test for an extended civil restraint order was met. “The persistent nature of the defendant’s totally without merit claims and applications, coupled with the significant risk of further such claims or applications being filed if unrestrained, means that I am persuaded it is appropriate for the court to exercise its discretion to make a civil restraint order.” She ordered that for the next three years Mr Khan could not issue or present a claim in the employment tribunal or an appeal in the Employment Appeal Tribunal without permission of the court, in respect of any job application or application process. The claim was also brought by the Ministry of Justice, Department of Work and Pensions, Department of Business and Trade, the Home Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Source: Legal Futures

Robyn's Rocket now has its own website - see Gigs I wonder how Robyn selects her performers? On the face of it, a mix of artists with and without learning disabilities/ and autistic and non Autistic artists sounds tautologous.

The BBC article mentions CubeLynx, which I have posted about in an earlier thread: UK employers eye ‘competitive advantage’ in hiring neurodivergent workers

Update: I reached out to Mayur Gondhea via LinkedIn after reading the above article and was invited to an interview at CubeLynx in February. Except that this "interview" consisted of being shut in a cubbyhole with a financial modelling exercise to complete within 1 1/2 hours. After 45 minutes I'd made no headway as it was completely unfamiliar to me, so I was allowed to leave. I haven't heard anything from them since.

>post deleted - wrong thread<

That link no longer works - try this.

I should have stated that my original posting was not written by me and cited its source. Here's one copy of it, but given that it appears to come from Agence France-Presse (AFP) it was probably published in other places: News.com.au (11 June 2013)

(Not written by me) UK employers eye ‘competitive advantage’ in hiring neurodivergent workers Six-fold rise in job ads that mention conditions such as ADHD and autism since 2019, data shows Amy Borrett, 19 December 2024 UK employers are waking up to the “competitive advantage” of hiring people with conditions such as ADHD and autism, as data shows a six-fold increase in job adverts mentioning terms related to neurodiversity since 2019. But policy experts and campaigners warn that companies need to do more to improve labour market access for neurodivergent candidates as employment rates for this group remain stubbornly low. Figures from hiring website Indeed, shared with the Financial Times, indicated that 2.1 per cent of posts referenced these conditions in October 2024, compared with 0.3 per cent in January 2019. The findings, which excluded roles that typically involve working with neurodivergent people, reflect how more companies are actively seeking such candidates and adjusting their hiring processes to attract the rapidly expanding share of the population with these conditions. Policy experts cautioned against companies paying lip service to long-standing barriers to entry without taking real action and called for the government to urgently improve education and health services. The NHS estimates that one in seven people in the UK are neurodivergent, a term that covers conditions such as autism, ADHD and dyslexia that affect how the brain processes information. Business leaders argue there is a strong economic case for recruiting more people from this “untapped pool of talent”, who have historically been disadvantaged by ineffective hiring and working practices. Mayur Gondhea, founder of CubeLynx, a consultancy providing financial modelling on infrastructure and net zero projects, said half of the company’s 30 analysts were neurodivergent, giving his businesses a “competitive advantage”. “This group is hugely talented but just cannot get a foothold and contribute to the jobs market,” he said. Gondhea added that making adjustments to the work environment, such as providing noise-cancelling headphones and flexible working hours, were “not that expensive or difficult” to implement. "Being inclusive makes people comfortable at work, more productive and more likely to stay with you,” he said. Joseph Koppenhout, a financial analyst at CubeLynx who is autistic, said conventional hiring practices often inadvertently excluded neurodivergent people. “A lot of job interviews rely on vibes and whether you click with that person, which by the nature of autism is quite challenging,” he said. He added that autistic people were often deterred from applying if they did not meet all the job requirements, not realising that recruiters expected people to apply “optimistically”. CubeLynx is one of the companies leading the way on improving workplace inclusivity, according to the inaugural Neurodiversity Employers index, an annual evaluation of workplace culture, recruitment strategies and employee wellbeing. Management consultancy Baringa and insurer Aviva Group were also among the top performers. The report, which was published by charity Autistica last month, concluded more action was needed, with only 30 per cent of the 118 companies that chose to participate having a clear neuro-inclusion goal and strategy. James Cusack, Autistica chief executive, said changes to working practices had “cascading benefits” across an organisation. “It’s not about giving neurodivergent people preferential treatment. The current interview system isn’t very effective and it particularly disadvantages autistic people,” he added. Dan Harris, founder of Neurodiversity in Business, an industry group, said that while large companies were starting to take note of the “vast” neurodivergent workforce, some efforts were “perfunctory” but most companies were making changes “with gusto”. In recent years, Wall Street has lead the way in widening the goalposts. US banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo have invested heavily in global neurodiversity programmes.“ A small number of key leaders in the industry are driving forth recognition that there is incredibly untapped talent,” said Stephen DeStefani, neurodiversity lead at Wells Fargo, adding that the programme had filled “critical skills” gaps. Bryan Gill, head of neurodiversity at JPMorgan, said hiring had become “far more competitive” and one of the “largest untapped pools” of talent is the neurodivergent community. Despite this greater awareness, employment rates have barely shifted. Official data shows only 31 per cent of autistic adults in the UK were in work in the year ending March 2024, only a slight rise from 26 per cent in the 12 months to March 2021, the first year comparable data was collected. Dismantling the barriers of entry would also drive economic growth, research suggests. Pro Bono Economics, a think-tank, found that doubling employment rates for autistic people by 2030 would deliver between £900mn and £1.5bn in societal benefits each year. “There’s a real hard economic edge to this issue,” said Sir Robert Buckland, author of a government review into autism employment, which was published in February. “This is something that Britain can lead the world on, but to genuinely close the productivity and employment gap we need more than high-level words.” He said the government needed to “ramp up” employer support programmes such as Disability Confident, and that a “bottom-up” approach that helped businesses with free training would be more effective and quicker than new legislation. Rising awareness of neurodiversity has created a surge in new referrals and mounting pressure on NHS services. In England, there are as many as 1.2mn autistic people and 2.2mn with ADHD, according to the Nuffield Trust. A record 205,000 patients are on the NHS waiting list for an autism referral, while waits for an ADHD diagnosis exceed 10 years in parts of England. Cusack said improving economic opportunities for neurodivergent people required “urgent action” to improve special educational needs provision and reduce long waiting lists. “If we don’t find a sustainable way forward then we will see another generation who are highly likely to experience mental health problems and find it impossible to access work,” he added. Sir Stephen Timms, Social Security and Disability minister, said the government would “take forward” the announcements in the Get Britain Working white paper with further measures to improve employment outcomes for disabled people and benefits system reform. “Too many people have faced unnecessary barriers to employment. This government is committed to unlocking the full potential of neurodivergent people, too much of which has been untapped for far too long,” he said. Source: Financial Times

Give ChatGPT a job description and see how ND-friendly it thinks it is: ChatGPT - Is this job Neurodivergent (By Spectroomz.com) As an example, here's what it thought of that notorious Ernst & Young vacancy from 2009/2010 ("Life after graduation" in the "Help and advice forum): Score: 2 (A bit ND friendly) The job offers some flexibility, such as working on multiple projects and collaborating with global teams, but it requires strong multitasking, project management, and frequent communication, which can be challenging for neurodivergent individuals prone to burnout or those who prefer more structured environments. The heavy emphasis on changing deadlines and priorities, combined with complex stakeholder management, could be stressful without clear support systems for neurodivergent employees. There's no mention of accommodations, making it less ND-friendly.

This description of one of the events at the recent British Science Festival got me thinking (emphasis added): Autistic people & the languages nobody knows they speak Did you know that half the world’s population is bilingual? However, reports have shown that many autistic people are prevented from learning another language because of misconceptions that it will be “too much” for them. This is denying them access to multiple skills and opportunities, and the chance to enjoy the thinking skills and social benefits of bilingualism. In this year’s Social Sciences Award Lecture, Bérengère Digard from the University of Edinburgh explains why these misconceptions are incorrect. Bérengère will share how being bilingual has helped many of the autistic people she works with, shaping their thinking skills and challenging the current theories of autism. Original link Is this really true?

(Not written by me) Inside an autistic mind Science journalist Sue Nelson discovered she had autism aged 60. She shares her personal journey to better understand a condition that affects millions worldwide. Science journalist Sue Nelson shares her personal journey to better understand a condition that affects millions worldwide. Inside her autistic inner world is a cacophony of brain chatter, anxiety and sensory issues - recreated within a 360 degree soundscape - that impact her life and interactions with others. Sue, who discovered she had autism last year aged 60, meets other autistic people, researchers and clinicians to try to make sense of her late diagnosis. Those who offer their own stories and experiences include Canadian actor Mickey Rowe, the first autistic actor to play the autistic lead character in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime; award-winning science writer Dr Camilla Pang; and former teacher Pete Wharmby, who left the profession to write about his condition to help others. Experts who shed light on Sue’s findings include psychiatrist and founder of the Centre for Autism Research in Africa, Professor Petrus de Vries, and Professor Sonya Girdler, director of the Curtin Autism Research Group in Australia. Sue travels to Denmark and Scotland to meet business leaders who are building bridges between those with and without autism. Research shows autistic people make great employees and, in Copenhagen, Specialisterne CEO Carsten Lassen and his team have found ways to match autistic people to jobs, which benefits both the individuals and the companies. In Scotland, Sue is shown around the Barclays buildings that have been built specifically with neurodiverse people in mind, but which the rest of the workforce enjoy too. Podcast

(Not written by me) Could innovative LARP education improve the experience and achievement for all neurodiverse pupils globally? Neurodivergent students learn, think, and process information differently than their neurotypical peers. Because of this, they often face unique challenges in the school setting. Students may struggle with executive functioning skills, typical social and communication skills and have sensory processing difficulties. As a result, they may be more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and many other mental health crises - resulting in a difficult education in which they won't receive the grades or social experience that they could achieve. This programme uses the Østerskov Efterskole school in Denmark as a case study to determine whether their revolutionary LARP (Live Action Role Play) teaching techniques could aid the education of every neurodiverse pupil. And if it can, why not implement it globally. Podcast

(Not written by me) Police record ‘hate incident’ after autistic boy drops Quran in school corridor Police have recorded a “hate incident” after an autistic boy dropped a copy of the Quran in a busy school corridor and four pupils were suspended over false rumours that it had been set alight. A Year 10 pupil at Kettlethorpe High School, Wakefield - who was said to be autistic - was told to bring in a copy of the Quran by friends after losing a video game. It was later damaged after he dropped it in a busy corridor. Four pupils were suspended for a week and West Yorkshire police intervened after false rumours spread that the holy book had been set alight. Akef Akbar, a councillor who works with the school, said the boy had taken the Quran to school last week and given it to another pupil who read out passages on the tennis court. The book was later taken inside, where it fell on the floor before being put in a pupil’s bag, he said. Inspector Andy Thornton spoke to parents at the local mosque and told them the damage was being treated as a “hate incident”. Meanwhile, Tudor Griffiths, the school's headteacher, said there had been “no malicious intent” but the pupils’ actions were “unacceptable”. In a recording of a meeting seen by The Times, Mr Griffiths said: “If more consequences have to be followed, that will be the case.” Humanists UK said the decision to suspend the boys alleged to have started the rumours was “horrendous” and the school had allowed itself to be “pressured into excessive disciplinary action by a religious group”. Home Secretary Suella Braverman is understood to have expressed concern after police took such steps over the “slight damage”. “These are very concerning reports," a source close to Ms Braverman said. "The Home Secretary is clear that the police response should always be proportionate and consider the welfare of young children as a priority over any perceived insults.” The mother of the boy who brought in the Quran said he was autistic and had received death threats. Apologising on his behalf, she added: “He hasn’t eaten since Wednesday afternoon when this occurred because with his autism. "It’s put his anxiety to a level where he is beside himself. He is very, very sorry.” The case is believed to be considered a “non-crime hate incident”, giving police a way to record an incident which does not necessarily meet the criminal threshold. Source: LBC

(Not written by me)‘It’s manipulative’: Parents defend girl who ‘politely’ turned down classmate’s Valentine’s Day requestThe school came to the boy’s defence, but observers pointed out that the girl did nothing wrong by spurning his advancesA debate has been sparked after a schoolgirl turned down a classmate’s Valentine’s Day request, prompting a wave of sympathy for her would-be suitor.The controversy began when the boy’s mother, Heather Starr, wrote on Facebook that her son Roman, who is neurodivergent, had made a poster to ask a girl to be his Valentine. It didn’t go well.“You guys. My oldest baby is 14, he has autism, is very shy and socially awkward,” Ms Starr wrote in a post on Feburary 14. “Yesterday he made a poster for a girl at school and asked her to be his valentine at lunch in front of everyone. She said no.”Ms Starr’s story got national attention — and plenty of sympathy for her son at the school.The next day at school, a number of Roman’s classmates approached him with kind words and offers to be his Valentine. According to Today, one of his fellow students presented him with a poster like the one he had made to ask the girl the day before.“They asked him to be their Valentine and he said yes,” Ms Starr wrote on Facebook. “Then the entire cafeteria cheered so loud that they disrupted nearby classes and everyone got in trouble and had to have a silent lunch period after that.”The experience, Ms Starr said, was a highlight for her son.“He told me it was one of the best days of his entire life,” she told Today.com.After the story was given national exposure on the NBC platform, however, a number of observers pointed out that while they were happy for Roman, they were troubled by how the response might affect the girl he asked out.Mandy, a TikTok user, made a video claiming that the boy is being “coddled,” while the girl who rejected his advance was being “demonised.” “He’s a boy who asked a girl to be his Valentine, and she, from all sources I can find, politely declined,” Mandy said in the video. “He chose to do it in a very public way. We’ve got to stop teaching kids to do that. It’s manipulative, because it puts the recipient on the f****** defensive. It puts them in a position where everybody is watching, and now you have to decide something in front of other people.”Mandy said that the response to the story was “planting the seeds that if a girl says no to you, she’s beneath you” and that women are often bullied or even assaulted or killed for rejecting male romantic advances in a world in which men are often taught to feel entitled to women’s bodies.Kris Renee, another TikTok user who made a video about the situation, said that she was teaching her children that they are entitled to respectfully decline anyone’s advances.“Is anyone thinking about the fact of how the next day, that girl was made to feel guilty for having said no? Has that thought crossed anyone’s mind?”Source: Independent

(Not written by me) Dad's warning after girl, 14, dies from inhaling deodorant The parents of a girl who died after inhaling aerosol deodorant want clearer product labelling to warn people of the potential dangers.Giorgia Green, who was 14 and from Derby, had a cardiac arrest after spraying the deodorant in her bedroom.Her parents have since become aware of other young people who accidentally died after inhaling deodorant.In response, the British Aerosol Manufacturers' Association (BAMA) said deodorants have "very clear warnings".By law, aerosol deodorants must be printed with the warning "keep out of reach of children". However, Giorgia's parents said the writing was small.They believe many parents buy deodorant for their children without noticing the warning."People don't know how dangerous the contents of those tins can be," said her father Paul."I would like it so that no-one else in the country - or the world - would end up having to go through what we've personally gone through."We don't want our daughter's death to be in vain."Giorgia was autistic and her father said she liked to spray deodorant on blankets as she found the smell comforting."The smell of it gave her a certain sense of relaxation," said Mr Green. "If she was feeling in any way a little bit anxious, she would spray this spray and it would give her a sense of comfort because it's a deodorant my wife used."Giorgia's older brother found her unresponsive in her bedroom on 11 May 2022."Her door was open, so it wasn't as if it was an enclosed environment," said her father."The exact amount [of deodorant] isn't clear but it would be more than you would normally spray."At some point her heart stopped as a result of breathing it in."An inquest was held into Giorgia's death and the coroner recorded the conclusion as misadventure.Her medical cause of death was "unascertained but consistent with inhalation of aerosol". According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), "deodorant" was mentioned on 11 death certificates between 2001 and 2020.However, the actual number of deaths is likely to be higher than this, due to the fact that specific substances are not always mentioned on death certificates.Giorgia's death certificate referred to "inhalation of aerosol" rather than "deodorant".Butane - the main ingredient of Giorgia's deodorant - was recorded as having been involved in 324 deaths between 2001 and 2020. Propane and isobutane - also in Giorgia's deodorant - were mentioned in 123 and 38 deaths respectively.The ONS said the substances had been linked to a number of deaths, noting: "The inhalation of butane or propane gas can lead to heart failure." The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) said a number of people had died after over-spraying deodorants. 'Common misconception' Ashley Martin, public health adviser at RoSPA, said: "It's easy to assume they are completely safe and totally free from risk. The truth is they're not."Inhaling large quantities of aerosols, not just deodorants, can lead to a whole host of life-endangering scenarios - from blackouts and breathing difficulties, to heart rhythm changes and sadly, death."There's a common misconception that fatalities from aerosols only happen in a substance abuse scenario, but this is absolutely not true."We have seen a number of fatalities over recent years where children and young adults have over-sprayed aerosols - from teenagers conscious of body odour, to children seeking reassurance from familiar smells." Giorgia's parents said they had come across some of these cases through their own research.They include 12-year-old Daniel Hurley, also from Derbyshire, who collapsed and died after spraying himself with deodorant in a bathroom."That was in 2008 but my daughter died in 2022," said Mr Green. "The awareness still isn't where it should be."More recently, 13-year-old Jack Waple died in similar circumstances to Giorgia in 2019. His inquest heard he sprayed deodorant if he felt anxious when his mother left the house, as it smelled like her. What warnings are printed on aerosol deodorants? By law, aerosol deodorants must be printed with the warning "keep out of reach of children". Most aerosol deodorants also have a warning that says "solvent abuse can kill instantly". This is not a legal requirement, but is recommended by BAMA due to the risk of people inhaling aerosols to intentionally get high.Giorgia's parents believe the warning should be changed to "solvent use can kill instantly", because Giorgia was not abusing deodorant.Aerosol deodorants must also contain instructions on their correct usage, which are written following risk assessments carried out by the manufacturer. For example, the instructions might say "use in short bursts in well-ventilated places".If an aerosol deodorant is flammable there must also be a warning about this.BAMA said in a statement: "The British Aerosol Manufacturers' Association (BAMA) takes very seriously any incident involving aerosol products, and we were deeply saddened to learn of the death of someone so young. "As an industry association we work with manufacturers to ensure that aerosols are made to the highest safety standards and are labelled with very clear warnings and usage instructions and recommend that anyone using an aerosol does so in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions."We also recommend applying a number of additional warnings and usage instructions, beyond those required by regulation, and continue to review these to encourage the safe use of aerosols."Source: BBC News

(Not written by me) By the time Richard Turner was in his mid-30s, he’d given away nearly all of his money to a church. Everything he held dear had been stripped bare by a religious community in the UK which claimed to have his best interests at heart. It took him years to piece together how this could have happened. It was only in recovery that he was diagnosed with autism, which he believes made him more susceptible to coercive control by a group he now regards as a cult. For Heart and Soul, Richard takes us on his journey of self-discovery, sharing his faith experiences with other ‘cult survivors’, including one US man with Asperger’s Syndrome who has spent most of his adult life ‘cult-hopping’. How common are these extraordinary stories across the world? With very little academic research available, Richard is part of a growing movement working to understand the link between neurodivergence and cults. Listen here

I see it's EU funded. Does that mean Brits need not apply?

(Not written by me) Rhianan Rudd: MI5 had evidence teen terror suspect was exploited Evidence showing the grooming and sexual exploitation of a schoolgirl was handed to MI5 months before she was charged with terrorism offences, a BBC investigation has found. The prosecution of Rhianan Rudd was later dropped after the Home Office concluded she was a victim of exploitation. Rhianan, who was 15 when she became the youngest girl charged with terror offences in the UK, took her own life in a children's home in May 2022. Her mother says investigators should have treated her daughter "as a victim rather than a terrorist". The case raises questions about how the UK deals with the problem of children involved in extremism, according to the senior lawyer responsible for reviewing terror laws. At the age of 14, Rhianan Rudd became absorbed by right-wing extremism. Her mother Emily Carter remembers her as a "lovely girl" who adored horses. But then she began to express racist and antisemitic beliefs, Ms Carter says. "If you didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes - Aryan as they say - she didn't want to know you, you were an inferior race, you shouldn't have been alive," her mother recalls. She says her daughter was taking in extreme views "like a sponge". "She was changing herself, that's not Rhianan," she says. "She was a child who fixated on things." Rhianan, who was born in Essex and later moved to Derbyshire, had difficulty building relationships and "struggled in life", Ms Carter says. She was also diagnosed as autistic. Rhianan had run away from home in the past and there was social service involvement with the family. Her mother acknowledges she made mistakes but "always tried to do her best". By September 2020, Ms Carter had become so concerned by Rhianan's mindset that she referred her to Prevent, the government de-radicalisation scheme, after she admitted downloading a bomb-making manual. Within a month, Rhianan was arrested by counter-terror detectives and her brief engagement with Prevent had to end. She was questioned, bailed as a terrorism suspect, and was no longer able to attend school. For some time, she had been talking to older people online, including American Christopher Cook, who promoted a terrorist form of neo-Nazism, and formed a combat cell to carry out attacks. Evidence shows the then-partner of Rhianan's mother also had an influence. Ms Carter says this was kept from her. The partner, American Dax Mallaburn, had been part of a white supremacist prison gang in the US. He met Rhianan's mother via a pen pal system for prisoners. Before Rhianan was arrested, Mallaburn's relationship with her mother had broken down and he returned to the US. But the BBC has discovered that Cook and Mallaburn had been in contact, with Cook telling him to teach Rhianan the "right way". During police interviews, Rhianan described being coerced and groomed, including sexually, and having sent explicit images of herself to Cook. The abuse she described would eventually result in a formal government finding of exploitation. Under modern slavery laws, certain public bodies like the police are required to notify the Home Office about any potential victims of exploitation they encounter. However, in the months before Rhianan was charged, none of the organisations involved referred her to the specialist Home Office unit that considers such cases. This was not due to a lack of information. The BBC has found that, around the time of Rhianan's arrest, MI5 received evidence showing she had been exploited - including sexually - by Cook. An FBI investigation had uncovered messages and images from Cook's devices showing Rhianan being groomed, coerced and exploited. The FBI handed the material to MI5. Rhianan spent over six months on bail waiting for a charging decision. Her mother says this period led to a decline in Rhianan's mental health, with instances of self-harm, running away, and attempted suicide. Derbyshire social services were involved and she was moved into care. In April 2021, more than six months after the arrest, she was charged with six terrorism offences for having earlier possessed instructions for making explosives and weapons. Prosecutors alleged one set of instructions were connected to a potential planned attack. Days after she was charged, when newly-appointed defence lawyers intervened, Derbyshire Council referred Rhianan to the Home Office as a possible victim of exploitation. It took a further seven months for a decision to be made. When it came, the Home Office concluded she had been trafficked and exploited. In late December 2021 the prosecution was halted. Rhianan is part of a trend of growing numbers of children, often involved in online right-wing extremism, being investigated by MI5 and police. Convictions in the past two years include a Cornish boy who led his own online terror cell aged 14 and a boy from Darlington arrested aged 13. In the case of another boy, a pre-sentence report from experts said it was "likely that he did not see the wider ramifications of his activities, now seamlessly replaced apparently by interests such as Dad's Army". Cases involving children are complex. A child might have been groomed and exploited, but nevertheless pose a genuine risk of harm to other people. Debates about trafficking and exploitation are also taking place in immigration cases concerning young women appealing the removal of their British citizenship after they went to Syria to join the Islamic State group. In the case of Shamima Begum, who travelled aged 15, the government has argued against claims of trafficking and said she is a security threat. Her lawyers say she was trafficked and sexually exploited. Few children who are charged with terror offences end up being imprisoned. The process of investigation, arrest and prosecution can take many months, and well over a year in some cases. Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, says that in 2020/2021 only one child who committed a terrorism offence was jailed, with all the others "eventually given non-custodial sentences". He says the question needs to be asked about whether the current approach is effective. He suggests changes in the law that would allow police to say to a child terror suspect that they would either be prosecuted or they could accept an injunction. He says these could, for example, limit mobile phone use, require the use of monitoring software and engagement with a mentor. "That can be done really quickly, and keep them out of the criminal justice system altogether," he says. Rhianan's mother thinks her daughter should never have been charged. She says police "obviously" have to investigate and search for evidence, but she believes they should have subsequently dealt with it "completely differently". "They should have seen her as a victim rather than a terrorist. She's a child, an autistic child. She should have been treated as a child that had been groomed and sexually exploited." A government spokesperson told the BBC: "MI5 takes its responsibilities in relation to those who may be at risk of harm very seriously. "In accordance with long-standing government policy, MI5 can neither confirm nor deny involvement in individual cases. "More generally, if in the course of work to protect national security someone in MI5 obtains information that an individual is or may become at risk of death or serious harm, this will be passed to the relevant authorities." Cook, the American who exploited Rhianan, has pleaded guilty in the US to a neo-Nazi terrorist plot along with others to destroy a power grid. He had been on bail awaiting sentencing. But the BBC has established that the court in Ohio only recently became aware of Cook's predatory conduct towards Rhianan, which had not been part of the original case against him despite the FBI's long-standing knowledge of his abuse. After the court learned of his behaviour, Cook was placed in custody in December ahead of sentencing. After the prosecution of Rhianan was abandoned, she chose to continue living in her Nottinghamshire children's home and began engaging with the Prevent scheme. But there were signs that all was not well. In the weeks before her death, Rhianan asked her mother to help her contact a neo-Nazi extremist in the US. Her mother reported it to the children's home, which is run by private firm Blue Mountain Homes. She says she was then told social services and police had decided to let contact take place. It is unclear if it did. Her mother had warned Derbyshire Council about the risk of Rhianan taking her own life. In emails to a social worker in 2021, she wrote: "I hope she doesn't try kill herself when in her room on her own." She stated in the emails that Rhianan had access to ligatures. Ms Carter says she saw Rhianan days before her death and was so concerned by her appearance that she contacted the home. She says she warned staff that her daughter was "going to do something" and asked them to watch her. The manager said they would "find out what's going on" and told her not to worry, she says. But later that week, she says, three police officers were "standing in my living room telling me that my daughter died by hanging". In Rhianan's room at the children's home, access to items that could be used as ligatures were banned due to the risk of self-harm and suicide, but she gained access to one. Aged 16, she was found dead in May over 12 hours after she retired to her room the night before. An inquest is due to take place into her death. No date has been set. The organisations contacted by the BBC said they could not comment on the details of our investigation until the inquest is complete. Source: BBC News

(Not written by me)A host of speakers discussing visibility of neurodiversity within the tech space and the launch of our latest initiative supporting this.Wed, 25 January 2023, 18:00 – 20:00 GMT85 Gresham Street London EC2V 7NQNeurodiversity is increasingly becoming the topic of conversation across all sectors - CodeVerse have proudly partnered with Subject Matter Experts, 'Core Coaches' and 'Potential in Me' in hosting this event which will serve as a great opportunity to learn more about neurodiversity, what this means for the future of organisations and to engage with fellow executives who are also working to be front runners within this space.The agenda for the evening will include:Exploring the term 'neurodivergence' and the benefits of embracing and maximising the talents of people who think differently.Understand the challenges that neurodivergent candidates face in the workplace.Identify approaches to creating an inclusive work environment that supports neurodivergence.Opportunity to reflect on where organisations are now and what they needCodeVerse's enhanced support model for neurodiverse candidatesWe look forward to seeing you there!Book on Eventbrite

(Not written by me) Kelly Everly-Hall was ready for her interview. She wore a nice outfit, had reviewed her resume and knew she had many of the skills needed for the IT job she was seeking. But things went quickly downhill when she faced a panel of three interviewers, something she had never done before. She got nervous, rambled and struggled to make eye contact. She had a hard time describing her skills, so she asked if she could demonstrate them on a computer. The answer was no. She didn’t feel comfortable asking clarifying questions. “I knew 10 minutes into it that I wasn’t going to get the job,” says Everly-Hall, whose autism makes some social settings difficult. “It was like I lost before I even started.” A new job marketplace seeks to remedy that problem by connecting neurodivergent people like Everly-Hall with companies that have committed neurodiversity hiring programs. Launched this month, the Neurodiversity Career Connector features job listings by U.S. employers seeking applicants with autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia and other conditions associated with neurodivergent, or atypical, brain functioning. The site was launched by the Neurodiversity @ Work Employer Roundtable, a group of nearly 50 companies with neurodiversity hiring programs and support systems for new employees. Microsoft leads the group, which wants to decrease job barriers and improve neurodiversity in the workplace. “We’re trying to solve the problem where employers say they want to hire neurodivergent talent and can’t find people. And we have job seekers who say they can’t find who all these employers are,” says Neil Barnett, director of Accessibility and Inclusive Hiring at Microsoft. The concept of neurodiversity emerged in the ‘90s as an inclusive movement that views neurological and developmental conditions as normal variations in cognitive traits that should be embraced as a part of human diversity. An estimated 15% to 20% of people around the world have a neurodivergent condition. Autism, the initial focus of many neurodiversity hiring programs, affects about 2% of American adults. Some neurodivergent people struggle with social dynamics and new environments like traditional job interviews, which highlight social skills and the ability to answer vague questions like “Describe a challenge you faced,” says Susanne Bruyere, academic director of the Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability at Cornell University. That barrier leads to an enormous job gap in which only 14% of working-age adults with autism have a paid job in the community, according to a Drexel University study. “It’s important that we rethink how we screen people so we’re not discouraging or eliminating people who are neurodivergent,” says Bruyere. “This career platform is a huge signal of welcoming. It is saying, ‘We recognize this is an untapped population of talent, and we are going to minimize the barriers people may have historically experienced.’” Before employers can list jobs on the site, they must have a neurodiversity hiring program in place for at least a year and be public about it. That usually means having trained recruiters, coaching and supported interviews with detailed guidance and extra breaks. One such company, the global professional services firm EY, has hired more than 300 people in seven countries through a “center of excellence” model since 2016. The program emphasizes camaraderie, job coaches and structured, explicit communication with no “unspoken, unofficial rules.” Interviews focus on skills, not social behaviors. “It strips out, ‘Did the person make eye contact? How witty were they?’” says Hiren Shukla, leader of the Neuro-Diverse Center of Excellence at EY Global. Many of the program’s employees work on new data technologies, where the collaborative mix of thinking styles — spontaneous, logical, visual, detail-oriented, hyperfocused — can lead to transformative work and innovation. “Large organizations are really good at assimilation to build large workforces that inadvertently shave away the beautiful, unique edges and what the neurodivergent community often refers to as their ‘spiky profiles,’” Shukla says. “But it’s the spiky profile you want to retain and support to allow that innovation to rise to the surface.” Companies seeking neurodivergent talent often recruit through informal networks and relationships with local universities, nonprofits and advocacy groups — a time-intensive process for both recruiters and job seekers. The neurodiversity job site fills a need for a large-scale, national marketplace with a broad range of jobs, employers and people. Recently, the site brimmed with listings from small and large companies for software engineers, graphic designers, financial analysts and more. Job seekers can create a profile, upload a resume and connect with employers directly. Everly-Hall, who was diagnosed with autism in her 40s, says the platform would be helpful if she had to look for work again. “I could be myself and say this is who I am,” she says. “It would cause me less stress knowing I can just say, ‘I’m on the spectrum. You understand this. I understand this.’” But Everly-Hall is not looking for work because she’s happy with her job at Ultranauts, a rapidly growing software and data quality engineering firm built with neurodiversity in mind. More than 75% of its employees are neurodivergent. The majority are autistic, many have ADHD or dyslexia, and some are non-speaking or hard of hearing. When Everly-Hall interviewed with the company in 2015, she disclosed her autism and found her interviewer to be patient and understanding. Seven years later, she still appreciates the supportive workplace, which includes a mentor who helps her interpret social subtext, and the chance to become a leader, an opportunity she lacked at previous jobs. “I was really made to feel at ease right away, like, ‘We don’t care you have this disability. What we care about is your experience,’” says Everly-Hall, a senior quality analyst and accessibility consultant who works from home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2013, Ultranauts has designed a “Universal Workplace” that allows employees to fully participate and collaborate with colleagues who are different than them. It reduces hiring barriers by not requiring specific degrees or a certain number of years of experience. It favors skills assessments over chatty interviews to determine job fit. Employees, who work remotely across 30 states in the U.S., are encouraged to communicate in their preferred mode — writing, speaking, being on camera or off. Leadership communication is explicit and transparent to reduce ambiguity and anxiety. “The advantage we have is not from individual team members being exceptional, but in bringing together different brain types, information processing models and perspectives, and forging collaborative teams,” says Rajesh Anandan, Ultranauts cofounder and CEO. Neurodiversity also strengthens the workforce at Microsoft, which has hired about 200 people across engineering and business disciplines through its neurodiversity hiring program. “By adjusting the front door of our interview process, we are finding incredible talent that we previously may have been missing out on,” says Barnett. He hopes more employers will join the job site to enrich the talent at their companies and the lives of neurodivergent people. For Jason Ross, the platform is a major step in supporting people who have struggled like him. Before landing a cybersecurity job recently, Ross, who has autism, spent many demoralizing months searching for work and many years getting fired from job after job while trying to navigate workplace dynamics. “It’s very hard when you want to do well at this thing and you can’t do well at this thing to the point where can’t support yourself,” says Ross, who lives in Virginia and has a master’s degree in cybersecurity studies. He never discussed his autism at previous jobs but made a bold move this time and disclosed to his new manager. He’s following a mentor’s advice to be upfront and simply tell people he doesn’t “excel in social nuance.” He’s nervous and hopeful about the opportunity to work. “I’m not less than. I’m different and that’s OK,” Ross says. He’s also excited about the job site, which he and other neurodivergent people helped shape with their feedback and lived experiences. “It’s a phenomenal resource,” he says. “It’s made for us, by us. That level of understanding, baked in from the jump, is a meaningful distinction for this platform versus going on any general job platform and throwing your resume into the world.” Source: Microsoft

What does this have to do with artificial intelligence?

It doesn't exactly inspire confidence that Ian can't spell Somerset and thinks that Lands End is in that county.