Mel Houser, M.D., Executive Director, All Brains Belong VT (2/21/2024)
“Difficult” employee. “Difficult” learner. Society often sends the message that there’s one right way to do [the thing]. When people struggle with “work performance,” they are given the message that if only they could “do [the thing]” then they wouldn’t be struggling. This message is not only harmful, but it’s just plain wrong.
In reality, the struggle almost always involves a mismatch between a person’s access needs — the elements they require for full, meaningful participation — and what their context affords. They are thwarted by barriers to access: barriers from the environment, barriers to communication, and so many more.
Moreover, we can’t forget that “performance expectations” are not objective laws of physics. Neuronormative workplace expectations come from culture, which is embedded with harmful elements of systems that interfere with a socially just world. Committing to a journey of unlearning ableism, white supremacy culture, exploitative economic systems, and all the other things we know hurt our communities means that we have to question everything. We can’t have it both ways.
We all have different brains. Different brains think, learn, communicate, and do things differently. What if we experimented with letting go of how employees are “supposed” to perform, achieve, communicate or “be”? What if we could build workplace culture where [the thing] gets done AND employees feel supported?
The cost (economic, cognitive, emotional, etc.) of turnover to an employer is significant. Understanding neurodiversity and access are essential for employee retention. What if we offered and normalized flexible, multiple ways of “doing [the thing]” and saw that this actually decreases turnover?
When people have their needs met, they are more likely to be able to do their jobs. Assuming that there was an intentional matching of someone’s skills and strengths to the essential duties of a job to begin with (a post for another day!), applying a lens of access provides a framework for adapting environments and routines so that employees with all types of needs can do their best work AND stay in their jobs.
Check out this video clip from our recent Brain Club on Redefining Our Relationship with Work.
Want to learn more? Check out our educational trainings for organizations at https://allbrainsbelong.org/education