Make meetings accessible for neurodivergent employees (and better for everyone).

Neurodiversity is a hot topic in workplace diversity as employers realize that ADHD, autism, dyslexia, synesthesia, and other forms of neurodivergence can bring unique skills and talents like enhanced divergent thinking, pattern recognition, spatial reasoning, and more. But neurodivergence isn’t just a diversity “quirk” — neurodivergent associates need support to succeed in a workplace designed to meet neurotypical needs. A lot of content on neurodivergence support involves sensory-friendly work environments or reasonable accommodations, but a challenge discussed far less often — despite being just as critical — is meetings. Neurodivergence often involves differences in socializing and communicating, and meetings are the workplace nexus of communicating socially. Neurodivergent associates may communicate more directly and explicitly, whereas neurotypical associates may rely more on contextual cues (even if they don’t realize it). Neurodivergent associates may need time to research a topic ahead of time or may need more time with written materials. They may struggle with meetings that feel too slow… or too fast. They may struggle to vocalize what they can easily write, or they may struggle to write what they can easily vocalize.

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