Our Neurodiversity Support Group

Around one in every ten people are neurodivergent and around half are actually unaware. So where within our organisation is support available?

Welcome to the very first episode of our ‘People At The Heart’ podcast, where we chat about all kinds of things, both serious and light-hearted, connected with our team and our work here at RiskSTOP Group.  

Neurodiversity is something we’ve turned our attention to in recent years. Many of our team have participated in our awareness course, for example, and will have learned more about several conditions, such as ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism for example.

Our next step is the creation of a Neurodiversity Support Group, an idea our guest Abbie Davis, who is a team leader at RebuildCostASSESSMENT.com came up with and introduces us to...

Transcript

Natalie Joyce  00:11
Around one in every ten people are neurodivergent and around half are actually unaware. So, where within our organisation is support available? Hi everyone. I'm Natalie Joyce, and I'm responsible for HR and social responsibility at RiskSTOP Group. Welcome to the very first episode of our People At The Heart podcast, where we'll be chatting about all kinds of things. Both serious and light hearted, connected with our team and our own work here at RiskSTOP Group. Now, neurodiversity is something we've turned our attention to in recent years. Some of you in our staff have participated in awareness courses, and will have learned more about several conditions. Such as, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism, for example. I'd like to think that across our group, we're pretty good at embracing all parts of who people are, and what they bring to the table. However, as my guest, Abbie Davis, who is a Team Leader at RebuildCostASSESSMENT.com, will no doubt touch on today, being neurodiverse is not always easy, and sometimes a bit of support is needed. Hi, Abbie, thank you so much for joining me.

Abbie Davis  01:20
Hiya, thank you very much for having me, it's a pleasure to be here.

Natalie Joyce  01:23
Excellent. Now, before we get on to talk about your wonderful idea you've had around supporting those who are, or who could be neurodiverse within our organisation. Would you mind telling us first of all about your lived experiences of neurodiversity? 

Abbie Davis  01:31
Yeah, of course. So, I was first diagnosed with dyspraxia when I was in my second year of primary school. So, that was something that was spotted by my primary school teachers. They noticed that I was having problems with my coordination, and my fine motor skills weren't very good. Something that was also noticed by, specifically my mum, was my difficulties with phonics, reading, writing, having a really low processing speed. And, this was something that was actually ignored quite a lot by my teachers throughout a lot of my education. They put it down to me, maybe, just not having the highest intelligence, being quite quiet and too shy to ask questions and being quite slow to learn things. So, although my mum pushed and said that she thought I had dyslexia, it wasn't something that they really accepted, and so wouldn't refer me for a diagnosis. That was until year 10, of secondary school, where my mum carried on to push, all through my education, and they finally decided that they would be happy to refer me for dyslexia screening, which I was then subsequently diagnosed with dyslexia. And that's really when my interest in neurodiversity really took off. Because it was something that had really affected me my whole life. I always felt like an outsider, I felt very different, and couldn't understand why everything was so much harder for me. And how my peers around me seemed to be able to understand things and to grasp these concepts, as if it was nothing. And for me, it took so much more effort. You know, I, any exams, I was working so hard, I was, you know, extra work after school, I had tutors over the weekends. And it took so much effort for me to just get to the same level as my peers. And I think deep down, I always knew that it was nothing to do with my intelligence, I was fully capable of it. It's just the way that my brain was working, wasn't set up for the way education was being bought to me. And so, when I finally got my diagnosis, some things really were put in perspective for me. And it finally felt like the pieces of the puzzle were put together and I could really understand why I'd felt like this for so long. And it really, really helped to grow my confidence, because I realised that I was capable of a lot more than I'd been told to believe. And it was really nice to finally feel like, it was really nice to finally feel like I had a place.

Natalie Joyce  04:31
It sounds like your mum was the driving force behind your dyslexia diagnosis. So, without your mum being that, kind of, driving force behind the scenes that would have gone completely undiagnosed throughout your education?

Abbie Davis  04:44
Yeah, it certainly would have done and I think that I probably wouldn't have, even have a diagnosis today if it wasn't for her pushing it. So my mum has a degree in child psychology and child development. And so, she had a very deep understanding of these things. So it allowed for her to have this knowledge that maybe other people don't have access to. And I think that's something that's really important to recognise, is that: not everyone will have access to teachers or family members that are well educated on neurodiversity, and that will cause a lot of people to go under the radar. So I was really lucky in that. And it's so sad that so many people don't have this. And what I really hope is that these children, these young adults that have so much potential can actually realise that and they can reach their full potential.

Natalie Joyce  04:45
Now, I know one big thing you've done is you've educated yourself and informed yourself. Not just around your own condition, but the wider aspects of neurodiversity. So, tell me about some of the courses you've taken.

Abbie Davis  05:49
So, the first course I took was: Ellie Middleton's Nano Tips for Neurodiversity, which was a really amazing course. It's very inclusive, very accessible. There is just a range of 1-2 minute courses available on LinkedIn, through LinkedIn learning for free, that anyone has access to, and anyone can do. And they just give you a really good outline of how to approach neurodiversity in the workplace, and how different people with different types of neurodiversity need accessibility and what is going to be available to help them and things that we can do, and their employees can do, just to make their work experience flow a lot better and be a lot more enjoyable.

Natalie Joyce  06:37
Did you do any other training?

Abbie Davis  06:39
So, I also did Do-IT Solutions Neurodiversity Champions course. Again, that was a really great course, learnt a lot from it and it was one that was a lot more in depth. And it was a great opportunity for like-minded people to come together as well. So a lot of the people I was on the course with were also neurodiverse. And so it was great for us to bounce ideas off each other and to just speak, quite frankly, about experiences.

Natalie Joyce  07:10
You've given us a brilliant overview of those courses. Can you think of just one key takeaway that you've had, from all of your training?

Abbie Davis  07:16
I think one thing that I took away from it is: the learning never stops. If you meet one person with dyslexia, you've met one person with dyslexia. It's not the same for everyone, and the experiences and their needs and the accessibility that they require and their difficulties, will differ amongst people. You can have two people with the same diagnosis and there can be no parallels there. They could need accessibilities at almost the opposite ends of the spectrum. And so I think that's something I took away from it, is that learning and talking are of the utmost importance, especially when you're trying to support someone that's neurodiverse. Because you're not going to understand what their needs are without talking to them. So the worst thing you can do, and almost the most damaging thing you can do is just to put a blanket solution on for everyone, that's neurodiverse because the likelihood is 1) It's not going to help, and 2) It's going to make them feel very marginalised, and that you don't really care. So, yeah, if I've learned anything, it's just ask questions, carry on learning, keep on educating yourself, because you can't go wrong with that.

Natalie Joyce  08:33
That is wonderful. Thank you very much. So, let's move on to your fantastic idea you've had around the support for neurodivergent people here at RiskSTOP Group. How's it all going to work?

Abbie Davis  08:44
So, the basic idea behind it is that it's a group of people that can come together to discuss difficulties, to discuss any accommodations they might need. You know, I am there specifically, as a support person, you know, people can come to me with their problems, I can help them find solutions. I can just listen to them. I'm there to help in whatever way I can.

Natalie Joyce  09:14
And you don't need to have a diagnosis to come and see you in the neurodiversity support group, do you? So, it could be for anyone who's neurotypical, who wants to learn more, or somebody who might think they're neurodivergent?

Abbie Davis  09:24
Absolutely. So, absolutely no need for any sort of diagnosis to come speak to me. As I spoke about earlier, with my own lived experience, I went a very long time without having a diagnosis. And it would have been very helpful for me in that time to have been able to get some sort of support and to be able to talk to someone about my difficulties despite not having an official diagnosis. And what I would love is for anyone that wants to just be educated on it or anyone that has any suspicions or any thoughts or idea that there might be neurodivergent that they can come to me and ask questions and learn and just get any help that they might need. Similarly, I would love for, you know, parents of neurodivergent children, if they're having struggles, or if they want to talk about anything or learn anything. I'm there for them to support them as well.

Natalie Joyce  10:21
Excellent, thank you. So where will the group meet and how often? 

Abbie Davis  10:26
So I'm hoping that we will, as a whole group, we'll meet about once a quarter in the Oasis. But day to day, there doesn't have to be a specific meeting time. It's an as and when. We can't control when we are having difficulties, we can't control when our bad days are. So, if people are ever having a hard day, or they just want to come and talk to me to vent or to ask for advice and support, I'm there and I'm available during work hours. So there is no specific set times for this support group. It's whenever you need me, I'll be there.

Natalie Joyce  11:07
So how do people get in contact with you, Abbie? 

Abbie Davis  11:10
Just email me at my email address, which is Abbie.Davis@rebuildcostassessment.com. Or you can give me a TEAMS message, or a call. Whichever way you're most comfortable with contacting me. You can also come downstairs, I just sit by the kitchen in the RebuildCostASSESSMENT floor. So, if you just want to come down for an in person chat, that's where I am. The most important thing for me is that, everyone's just comfortable. So I'd love to meet wherever you're most comfortable. But something we've spoken about is the Hub on the RiskSTOP floor being, hoping for that to be our space. Somewhere that can be our set space to meet. But like I say, that doesn't have to be where we meet if you're more comfortable meeting in The Oasis or The Studio or anywhere else, I'm happy to meet you there.

Natalie Joyce  12:01
Thank you. So ultimately, what are you hoping to achieve from the group?

Abbie Davis  12:05
So really, I just want the neurodiversity support group to be a safe and secure place for everyone to learn about neurodiversity, and to get support, wherever that might be needed. Whether that's needed by managers, whether that's needed by employees. I just want it to be a space where people can feel comfortable talking about neurodiversity, because I think that's the most important step in inclusion is just talking about things first.

Natalie Joyce  12:44
Brilliant. Well, thank you, Abbie. Firstly for your openness, but most importantly for bringing forward this idea, and for thinking of all your colleagues here at RiskSTOP Group. And that's all for this episode of our People At The Heart podcast. Thank you everyone for listening in. I, along with one or two other presenters, will be back soon with all kinds of things to talk about, with different guests. So, keep your eyes peeled for more episode announcements on IRIS. And remember here at RiskSTOP Group it's all about keeping people safe and secure and believing in social responsibility and sustainability. Until the next time, everyone. Thanks for now!