The whole self

x Sponsored content on Research Live and in Impact magazine is editorially independent.
Find out more about advertising and sponsorship.

As the conversation about inclusion and diversity in the workplace has intensified, there is a common mantra heard – you can’t be what you can’t see. This can be applied to all areas of diversity but for Emma Case, it’s particularly important in terms of neurodiversity, an area that has all too often remained invisible.

Around one in seven people are estimated to be neurodivergent – meaning their brain learns and processes information differently, with common conditions including attention deficit disorders (ADHD), autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia.

For the past few years, Case has been working hard to raise awareness of neurodiverse women and, to that end, created the Women Beyond the Box community – a network dedicated to supporting them.

She came to this after a successful career in fashion, setting up the network at the same time as she established herself as an entrepreneur and coach. This change of direction coincided with her own diagnosis of ADHD and dyspraxia.

“I left the fashion industry prior to having a diagnosis, but I definitely knew that there was a hidden challenge that I was facing; I didn’t know what it was, so I wasn’t then able to ask for the required support,” she says.

While identifying neurodiversity in schools has improved in recent years, it didn’t happen for Case.

“On paper, I was a grade A student. But all the qualifications I was predicted, I didn’t get. I was fortunate that I did a more practical degree, so I was able to show my talents that way,” she says.

Fashion can be a tough industry for anyone, and she admits it wasn’t “the easiest industry to go into”.

“For the most part, I thrived, but I came to a point where – I’ve now come to understand – my coping mechanisms and strategies were no longer working. I would even call it a period of burnout. I’d already started the process of retraining to do something else, anyway.”

Does an official diagnosis make it easier? “I sit within the intersection of being female, being black, and being neurodivergent. So, when I think about the things that have posed a challenge within my life and career, I already have being female and black; being neurodivergent – and finding that out later, when I’ve already had some success within my career – it’s neither here nor there.

“It’s important because it’s a piece of the jigsaw that helps me build the whole picture. Do I live within the label of ADHD? No more than I live within the label of being black or female.”

While a lack of diagnosis is a widespread problem, Case says it’s worse for women.

“Undiagnosed or misdiagnosed ADHD in women is a feminist issue. The research and studies originally done for ADHD and for neurological differences were on boys and men. So, when they are looking for the signs of ADHD and autism, they are looking and considering what a boy, or a man looks like. Women are often diagnosed with emotional disorders – with anxiety or depression.”

Women Beyond the Box was a reaction to her own diagnosis and thinking “OK, so, where are my women? Where are my people?

“I was horrified – I found a very one-sided view [in the media] of what it means to be a woman who is neurodivergent – it was talking about the struggle, the depression, the redundancy, the under-employment, the debt. I know there is absolute truth to that, but I also know there’s another side, and I wanted to see the other side.”

To change perceptions and tackle the ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ dilemma, Case has produced a list of 50 influential neurodivergent women published on the Women Beyond the Box website. She says that in putting together the list she was trying to understand what allowed some women to thrive, while others did not.

“Representation really matters. I wanted to create a list that was as diverse as possible – fully intersectional – 50 women that would have the potential to speak to as many women as possible. I wasn’t trying to create something perfect, I simply wanted to start something,” she adds.

As environmental activist Greta Thunberg has raised awareness of the climate crisis, she has also, less intentionally, raised awareness of autism. Case is careful to clarify the “Greta effect”.

“While it’s fantastic that Greta’s so visible and that it’s opening this conversation within mainstream media, I’m also aware that there’s a limitation to what she can do. She’s referred to autism as being her superpower and she’s had backlash for that. It’s a superpower right up until it isn’t a superpower. There are pros and cons to it. Nobody ever lives within their power, 24/7. I think what’s fantastic about Greta is that she’s going to have the greatest impact for girls her age.”

In the work environment, businesses are searching for ways to hire more diversely and create lasting inclusion policies and that is expanding from gender and ethnicity to neurodivergence. So, if Case was going to advise companies on this, what would she say?

“It’s a challenge. Change happens top down. It’s about how we treat people in the workplace, because this is about individuals. We’ve got a saying within the community, if you’ve met one person with ADHD, you’ve met one person. We must understand respect for the individual. Does a workplace have the time, the inclination and the money to accommodate people as individuals?”

When businesses do this well, Case says a common factor is often a personal interest – “whether that’s because there’s someone senior who has a child, or they themselves have a diagnosis of some sort”.

So what work practices are particularly bad for neurodivergent people?

“The workplace version of having your grades read out in class is probation periods – they make an already anxious person, 100 times more anxious. We know that anxiety impacts a person’s performance, when we’re concerned and worried, we are not dealing with the job at hand. So, probation periods need to be rethought. We must explore how to best support somebody, rather than feel like you’re going to be caught out for something.

“People thrive when they can bring their whole self to the workplace. It’s that simple. When we’re concealing things, when we’re masking, that is tiring, stressful, and leads to burnout.”

This article was first published in the January 2020 issue of Impact.