And my name is Ashley. Um And I'll be talking a little bit about um the topic that I'm really is really plays a close role to my heart, which is about neurodiversity and accessibility within the workplace. So I'm gonna be talking a little bit about that.And the title of my talk is that we need to think differently about accessibility and there's many reasons why that is to it. And I'll go through into a little bit of detail about that as well. Um So once again, thank you so much for joining and thank you so much to women tech conference for um allowing me to be a part of this extraordinary event. Um And all virtual, which is incredible to see, to give so many women a chance to present and to share their knowledge um as well, which is incredible. OK. So, like I, like I said before, my name is Ashley Wilson. Um I'm based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and I am on many things. Um I'm an educator at Co Academy. So we run courses in web development. Um I care deeply about the community, especially the tech community that we have here in Brisbane, which is a really thriving tech community. And I'm also a neurodiversity advocate.

And part of my back story is um at the age of three years old, I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which is basically a developmental disorder, um which really hit hit accord with me a lot through my communication skills and my um personal skills, all that sort of thing, which really took a toll when I was first diagnosed in my childhood years.

And since growing up, um it's been um definitely such a roller coaster up and down. Um But it wasn't until July or June 2019 that I decided to speak up and let my workplace know about my diagnosis. And what led to that moment was, um I was going through a lot of, a lot of work commitments back then where I was adding a lot of pressure on myself. Um feeling like I had to always be always at 100% every time, but at the same time, you know, I was doubting myself so much and putting pressure on myself that I thought I had to be at that all the time. And that's not the case. And long story short, I had a mental breakdown at work because I was just overwhelmed with so much of work commitments happening that something came about and I just couldn't, I just couldn't work and I couldn't control it. So, um and it wasn't until the week after that, I decided to, I don't know what came, what came about, but something in my mind just wanted to let my work know that this is who I really am and this is um what I feel most comfortable with. And that was basically a turning point for me to also realize my true self and realize my full potential of what I can do. So, um neurodiversity is a term I've never heard of before um before disclosing my diagnosis with my work.

And it really, I wanted to look further into neurodiversity. So what does it mean? What's the history behind neurodiversity as well as the future of accessibility? Are there organizations embracing neurodiversity and what can we do to create more acceptance? And that's essentially what I wanted to talk about today for my talk. So, neurodiversity is essentially, it's a term and it was coined by Judy Singer in 1998 with her honors thesis. And today she still continues to be a leading pioneer in Australia on the autism spectrum. And this new category mapped out in emergence. But before that, it had no name. And how this came about was her thesis which was reproduced in 2017. And this was titled Neurodiversity, The Birth of an idea. And this work attempted a wider view of this new terrain from within a postmodern social feminist disability rights perspective. And what neurodiversity really means is that it's broken into two. Well, I consider it is that it's broken into two terms. You have neuro, which is the brain and diversity, which is a range of different kinds. And so that's essentially when you put those two together is that it's a range of different kinds of the brain. So, neurodiversity itself, it applies to those with neurological differences and its differences in the individual brain function and behavioral traits regarded as part of normal variation in the human population. So you have here um autistic spectrum which is essentially um my diagnosis.

Um you have dyslexia, you have a DH D. Um There's a couple of others. I um haven't added on the slides but um intellectual disability Tourette's syndrome, there's a lot out there. These are just some of them that are considered neurodiversity, but there's, there's lots out there as well and I wanted to um bring the slide up as well, which essentially covers um neurodiversity. And this is from genius within which was created by Dr Nancy Doyle, which is based on the work of Mary Collie. So um this is what she produced. Their focus is on neurodiversity but also focuses on essentially what is covered within that neurodiversity side of things from there as well. So I wanted to talk about neurodiversity today and there's a lot happening within neurodiversity today. Um There's a lot of really amazing pioneers within that space such as um Bob Cook, who's one of the pioneers of neurodiversity leaders in Australia who's written some amazing articles and books, um and great blogs and everything like that. Um There's another amazing female I look up to called Elizabeth Wicklander who's in the UK, and she was diagnosed, I believe at the age of 28. And now she is a musician for the London Youth Symphony orchestra, which is incredible to see.

Um And then of course, you've got Greta Thunberg who, she is also diagnosed with Asperger's and she does some incredible work within the climate change and the future of climate. And another one is there's some really great programs within the workplaces, particularly one in particular is BHP.

Um And they have a great neurodiversity program which allows those that are neuro diverse to showcase their skill sets and to do so much more within that space. OK. So some statistics I've gathered is neurodiversity in workplaces which is essentially um and this is from 2016 study by Curtin University. They have an autism research group there. And what it is is that they did some research where 80% of unemployed adults with autism are around the world and 40.8% of Australian adults are employed with autism. Those numbers are considered to be quite small, especially 40.8%. But to us that's huge. It is massive and there needs to be more work around it. And what I like to consider is that the neuro diverse pool of talent is so substantial. And, but at the same time, there's a huge underemployment problem that's happening and there needs to be more work to be able to fix that solution, but also allow workplaces to be more accepting and more inclusive. And this is another statistic I've popped up as well and this is from the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2017. And this is that 31.6% of unemployed adults have autism in Australia. And so, like I said before, even though that is a small percentage, to me, that's huge.

And that's more than three times the rate for people with disability, which is around about 10% and almost six times the rate of people without a disability, which is 5.3%. And the thing that I wanted to mention is that neuro diverse individuals, they want to be employed. And there's many reasons why is because they bring so much benefits and so much, you know, incredible talent and knowledge to their skill sets and also what they can bring forward to the workplaces. And like I said before is that they possess incredible talents that companies need.

There needs to be a more inclusivity in the hiring process and it needs to happen now. It can't happen, you know, in two weeks, time or tomorrow or the next week, it needs to happen now because if you ha if it happens now, then there's gonna be more change that's gonna come through it from there. But the good thing is that there's a lot of change happening. Um and some really incredible changes, especially with some really known workplaces, um you know, within Australia, for example. So these are three of just some of the incredible workplaces that are accepting neurodiversity individuals you have SAP um which is a technology company and they've hired more than 100 people with a SD and have set the target that in 20 21% of its workforce will be people with this diagnosis.

And they also have an autism at work program which focuses on hiring employees that are on the autism spectrum. And this has started in 2013. IBM is a really well known um again, same as SAP, a fantastic technology company. And they also have a neurodiversity program and they have a client innovation center in Ballarat. And they, every year, they always look to hire about 10 employees with autism where they get to join and increase that skill set from there. Uh DXC Technology, they have a really great program called the Dandelion Program and they've placed €29 diverse people in software testing roles at the Department of Human Services. And they reported that 30% more productive than other teams doing the same work. So the benefits of neurodiversity in workplaces is that they are capable of contributing powerfully to society in positive ways. And I always like to consider that every kind of mind is equally deserving of respect and value. The other thing is exceptional concentration, logic, and imagination and visual thought and the ability to think outside the box. So for example, with a DH D, they're great at holding routine tasks which then equals to creating a productive workforce and being able to approach situations differently and thinking outside the box.

But also as a whole for everyone is that the strong abilities with systems and you know, such areas as computer programming and mathematics and also above average to detail and strong visual spatial skills. The other thing is flexibility, workplace to play to their strengths.

So, neuro diverse people such as myself, we have to have special needs that have to be addressed to boost our productivity. So for example, with autistic employees, we may need specific equipment such as headphones to reduce auditory overstimulation and also most importantly is producing standard good practices which most workplaces should have as well and then finally adaptive functioning. So rather focusing on what people struggle to do, focus on what people can do well and their ability to grow to reach full potential of a desired skill, key takeaways. OK. This is my favorite part. So number one is to reconsider the interview proc process. So consider whether a face to face interview is essential or if there's an alternative that could work such as um Skype Zoom hangouts, that sort of thing, train managers to recognize and support those strengths. So plan an unconscious bias and awareness programs for colleagues to help them understand how to work better together. And this is a challenge I want to throw out to companies and managers and employees that you know, are considering implementing those changes as well, empower through advocacy this way that neuro diverse people, maybe more comfortable sharing their perspectives and feel confident that the organization will not look down on them and organize regular one on one catch ups.

I consider this to be very, very important. Um for me, especially because I love having those regular catch ups so that I can understand, maybe there's some areas I need to improve on or maybe there's something that I'm really good at, but I might not be aware of. So having those regular one on one catch ups will be really beneficial. So last thing I wanted to talk about is that this is my idea of what I would like to see in a perfect world. And that is that it's about how diverse we are as humans. It's about acceptance and inclusion and it's about equal treatment. And the fact is is that we don't come in a one size fits all package. We are all unique in some way. It's about knowing who we are as an individual, but most importantly, as a human. And you can see here that if you put those together, this is what I would love to see inclusivity. It's about finding means to better implement these programs for everyone, diversity. It's about organizations inviting those organizations to embrace neurodiversity, equality. Every mind is equally deserving your perspective value.

And then finally, acceptance, it means that developing continued pathways for new and diverse people to thrive and develop. Lastly, I wanted to um finish off with this quote um by Greta, we need people who think outside the box and who aren't like everyone else. And to this day, I still stand by this quote because it is very relevant. Um you know, to bring forward that acceptance and that inclusivity at hand as well. And that's my talk. That's it. So, um I'm so glad I was able to continue presenting um my talk, but also sharing my knowledge, it's been an amazing experience and I wanted to thank Women Tech conference for putting together this incredible conference um virtually, which is fantastic. You see, and if you are interested, you can follow me on linkedin and Twitter. And I've also um added my details in the chat. Thank you all so much. OK. So I'll head over now to the chat. Oh, wow. I'm saying, I'm just saying a lot of comments. Thank you all so much. Fantastic. Wow. I'm seeing so many people join now. I've just finished the questions, I've finished my slides. Does anyone have any questions that you'd like to ask me more than happy to help? I'll be here for another three minutes you can ask questions.

Yes. Any questions you'd like to ask, please let me know you can start typing in your questions there. But thank you all so much. I'm looking at um, your comments on here. It's really heartwarming to see. But other than that, how is everyone enjoying the session? Everyone enjoying women tech conference? Awesome. Oh, we've got a question coming through. Hi, Maha. I was lately diagnosed as well and I'm out of work switching and a bit lost on how to prove my confidence. Any advice at all. It's a really great question and thank you so much for sharing as well. Um Definitely what's helped me a lot from my personal experience is the fact that I was um I can talk about it, which at first is not the easiest thing to do. Um In fact, it was really hard for me to do to do that. Um What I would, what I would do is to talk to someone that's near and dear to me. Um So for example, my previous colleague, um they she has a um a son and daughter, one of them is also diagnosed. So having those conversations with them really helped me a lot, but it also allowed me to understand my true self and where I can go from there as well.

So um yeah, definitely reaching out to someone that's near and dear to you that understands um that can really help me out as well. Kate Johnson. Hi, Kate. Are there any online resources for this we can provide to our hr Yes. Um Thank you so much for mentioning this. There is a fantastic article. Um I will find it um because this is, this has really helped me out a lot um as well. Um Give me one second because I know where a ha here it is. I found the link. Um It should, hopefully it's still available. Uh Yes, it's still available. Yes. So, um, universal Music in the UK, they've put together an incredible handbook called Creative Differences. And I've just put this in the chat. Um, this is um such an incredible handbook.

Um You can print it, you can bind it, you can, um, it's, it's free, it's a free PDF. So they've made it free and it's designed for so you can share it with your workplaces and everything else like that. So, um, definitely check that out and if you scroll down, you can download the PDF. So, yeah, it's probably one of my favorite favorite reads that I've ever looked through so far. Um, but there's also some other really great websites, I don't know off the top of my head, unfortunately. Um, but I think there's one called Neurodiversity Hub. Um There's one in Australia, which is called Neurodiversity Media, um, which they have a lot of great resources as well.

Um, but, um, you can put together as well and share that with you, your employees. But other than that Universal Music UK is a fantastic one, highly recommend it as well. Ok. Um It's now my time has finished. Um I think that wraps it up. So thank you all so much for coming along and for joining, really appreciate it. Um Like I said, if you do have any questions or if you wish to connect with me, um I've put my details on the top of the chat. Um and other than that, I will um be off now and thank you all so much for joining. Have an amazing time at women tech conference and I will see you all soon. Take care everyone. Bye bye.