What Is Neurodiversity?

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Workplace design choices encode assumptions about people that are rarely examined.

Designing for the average fits nobody.

Open offices and back-to-back meetings tax many nervous systems.

Removing barriers for neurodivergent employees can improve outcomes for all.

There's a question that comes up almost every time in an initial conversation about neuroinclusion at work. Sometimes it's asked directly. At other times, it hangs over the room, unspoken:

Isn't this just special treatment?

The question deserves a straight answer: No.

The Workplace Was Never Neutral

Every workplace is designed. Someone made choices about the physical space, the schedule, the communication style, the meeting format, the lighting, and the way performance gets measured. Those choices encode assumptions about what matters, and whose brain, body, and nervous system is the default.

Open-plan offices assume a nervous system that can filter noise and maintain focus amid constant movement without crashing, and that it's reasonable to spend cognitive energy on managing the sensory environment that could otherwise be spent on the actual work.

Back-to-back meetings assume a brain that does not get deeply involved with........

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