Any learning and development (L&D) professional starts delivering training by acknowledging that every participant comes from different cultural backgrounds. However, most overlook other considerations such as neurodiversity in the workplace when conducting training sessions.
Working with different neurotypes isn’t different to working with people from different cultures and nationalities. In fact, most people are aware that there are differences in social interaction among various cultures and languages.
While these cultural differences are important, there are other considerations that need to be taken into consideration when training employees, including individual differences and disabilities that may require different interventions, such as language simplicity, font colours, text size, and more.
These are just a few of the interventions that need to be adjusted when training employees since organisations include many who have not disclosed their challenges.
Between 10 million and 13.5 million Britons are neurodivergent, but this doesn’t mean that all workplaces are neurodiverse. Many employees in the workforce who are neurodiverse do not divulge their condition for fear of discrimination and, therefore, decision-makers are missing many opportunities to champion neurodiversity at work.
One of the areas that need to be addressed is neuro-inclusive training, especially since these programs are key to helping develop leadership pipelines. Here are a few ways you can make sure your training strategies are neuro-inclusive.
Communication isn’t only about how you communicate via speech. It’s about the ways you communicate (e.g. verbal and non-verbal), the topics you talk about, and even the simple act of eye contact. For neurodiverse individuals, all these forms of communication can have an impact on how they learn and absorb information in a way that works for them.
Neurodiverse individuals often tend to have broader sensory bands; this means that they are hyper-sensitive to elements like harsh lighting, disturbing or loud noises, unpleasant smells, and even overcrowded spaces. Make necessary arrangements to ensure that any form of sensory overstimulation is addressed in your training preparation checklist.
It can be difficult for neurodiverse individuals to interpret situations such as sarcasm or jokes. Ideally, training programs should avoid sarcasm since it’s neither helpful nor kind. Keep jokes away from training programs as well since they could be disguised as discrimination. Instead, try to find ways where everyone can learn with universal training delivery methods.
Many organisations aren’t aware of what neurodiversity looks like or how to incorporate neurodiversity into their workplaces. This is where an expert can help guide you in the right direction, as developing genuinely neuro-inclusive training programs requires a lot of knowledge and expertise in neurodiversity that you may not find available in your organisation.
With 15-20% of the global population being neurodiverse, it’s important for businesses to take up the responsibility of doing everything they can to champion neurodiversity at work.
Our FREE guide—Championing a workplace that helps neurodiverse employees shine—introduces you to neurodiversity, its global presence, and how neurodiversity can be supported in the workplace.
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