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Applying for jobs

I don’t apply for jobs any more. But these are also useful if you are employing yourself - ie freelancing or starting a business. They are also good questions for any new employee, including support workers and PAs.  Top tips for anyone applying for a job. Make sure you know two sets of information about yourself.   1. What strengths do you bring to the team/business that most people can’t bring? 2. What culture, role, physical space, social interaction/communication will allow you to thrive and bring your best to the team/business?  These are, in my opinion, good questions for anyone.  If you belong to a part of the rich diversity of humans (including neurodiversity) where ‘business as usual’ is not a good fit for you as a human or employee, knowing the answers to these two questions becomes essential for sustaining a job. I still haven’t answered these questions for myself. Autistic women are taught so well to mask that it is a revelation to know some employers wou...
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Parallel work, parallel play

Many autistic people enjoy parallel play. This means engaging in the same space as other people who are engaging on the same or similar activity without the pressure to focus on direct verbal social interaction.  Think lego. Two people creating from a shared box of bricks. Or think swimming. A whole club of individuals swimming up and down, up and down, as individuals train in the company of others.  NeuDICE is looking at ways to create parallel work opportunities. After all, if it works for autistic people at play, why wouldn't it work for autistic entrepreneurs, employees and freelancers?  This is one of the motivations behind the NeuDICE virtual co-working hours on Fridays and Mondays.  This is one of the many Living Lab concepts being developed by NeuDICE as we seek to transform entrepreneurship and make it a viable option for more neurodivergent people across the world.
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Canaries down the coalmine

Neurodivergent people are the canaries down the coalmine of the world of work - including the world of being your own boss.  By this, I mean that we are more sensitive to things that impact on everyone.  Put me in a room with no windows and fluorescent strip lighting without my tinted glasses and I will be vomiting with a migraine within an hour. Put others in the same room and they may not even notice their performance is reduced compared to working in a room with natural lighting.  Put a colleague in an open plan office where the culture allows people to call across between desks, and he will be unable to work. Put others in that office and their productivity will drop without them realising. In other words, design for your neurodivergent self, colleagues, clients and employees and watch everyone benefit. #UniversalDesign is not, of course, universal. One size never fits all. However, by focusing on designing an environment fit for your canaries, everyone in the coalmin...
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The Living Lab goes live

  The NeuDICE Living Lab goes live today. Three of us in Swansea will be sharing a co-working space, each with our own Ed the Executive Duck and a conversation menu* card. 1. Does telling Ed what we plan to achieve change help us get back on task each time we catch his eye? 2. Does sharing the space make it easier to get started on tasks we've been putting off? 3. Does the conversation menu make break times more comfortable and productive? Watch this space... It's a completely non-scientific, organic exploration to work out what a future more scientific trial might involve. *Conversation menu = dry wipe credit card size card where you can jot anything you fancy talking about or your autistic special interest or a simple 'back off and no-one gets hurt' depending on your mood.
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