NEURODIVERGENCE: Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD and me
“You’re away the fairies” a woman chimed at me in the changing area of a spa I’d visited recently.
Her tone may have been unpleasant but she’s probably right too as at any one moment I have tens of tabs of webpages up when at the screen as well as going on in my head like a lot of neurodiverse people.
For me my lateral thinking brain is officially diagnosed by dyslexia and dyspraxia which enables me to acquire a range of skills and juggle a number of diverse creative projects.
When it comes to logical processing, housework and jigsaws however, I am lacking, but I have learned to love and harness my busy mind, career and life. I learn to focus on my ‘genius’ skills where I can drill down and really focus, providing I am in the right environment to do this. With more people working from home and spending time isolated, we may have become ‘hyper-aware,’ of ourselves which is the perfect time to start navigating your own journey.
I may not think in the box but I can always think out of it and I am from a family of many neurodiverse people as well as working with some of the top entrepreneurs who are also neurodivergent.
Even a family road trip to Wales to ZipWorld and climb Snowden is an achievement (the latter challenges of us swinging a long Europe’s highest zip wire and climbing a huge mountain are easy to us in comparison with our navigation skills to get ourselves to the right country.
In one moment you would have seen an entrepreneur, a journalist, a runner and an artist in our family car listening to BBC Radio 4, in another second you’d see a dyspraxic spilling her Greggs coffee on her crotch screaming, a young man with autism using the lid of said coffee cup to play with in his finger tips, a dyslexic man trying to navigate and a creative woman musing over some pink elephant artwork as my family and I arrive into Wales for our mini adventure. Meet my step-dad, mum and step-brother and I.
We have achieved great feats and yet the so-called simplest of tasks are a challenge. It makes life a lot more of an adventure but I can see the positives these days after developing coping mechanisms to harness my ‘genius mode’ and to be more patient if daily tasks take longer.
With Dyslexia you tend to have a spiked profile so whilst my logical processing is not strong, I am told that my lateral thinking brain is, which is why some recruiters now look for neurodiverse people.
Dyspraxia, a developmental co-ordination disorder doesn’t have the same spiked profile. But I am optimistic however, because fitting together simple child-friendly jigsaws may be too challenging for me or navigating post-pandemic signage but I am definitely more relatable to people and by adopting these coping mechanisms have helped me to thrive in work and life even when the world is largely inaccessible at times.
Whatever your background or brain, jot down your strengths and briefly journal when you felt in your ‘genius mode’ vs when you felt overwhelmed. Then try and incorporate more space in your schedule to incorporate your genius moments. The more we focus on what we can do rather than what we can’t, the more you will appreciate your straights and unique qualities rather than feeling ‘friction.’
This is the start to being kinder to ourselves which is so important because I know how much I beat myself up as a youngster struggling to process information and getting lost, I over-compensated by making myself ill when revising for exams, and even avoiding certain situations or not saying when I didn’t understand something. It used to knock my confidence at school, university and I must have done a decade of work experience in the media because I didn’t feel ‘good enough’ to demand pay like my colleagues.
The biggest help for me was getting an official diagnoses and report to understand what conditions I had and to test my straights and ‘weaknesses.’ This empowered me personally, to discover more, join peer groups online and find out positive coping mechanisms. One of those was to get support to adapt my work environment with assistive technology and most of all funding to get a tutor to help me use the software and learn specific study skills for my personal needs. That said, I was fortunate to get a free test when doing an MA in Journalism whereas I had avoided paying the heavy fee in the past.
Whatever your neurodivergence, ‘officially diagnosed’ or not, a lot of us on the spectrum so it is important to assert your own needs in staying well at home, work and in the world.
Just like my exams would allow for ‘extra time,’ I too have had to adjust my life to allow myself extra time or the space to create because the more I have tried to fit in the keyhole of the ‘norm,’ the more I have knocked my own self-esteem.
I have now harnessed my creative brain by setting up my own magazines, enterprises and I have adapted my home and life to reduce the tension I can often feel in the world. But most of all, to focus on those genius streaks whether that’s the enthusiasm to climb huge mountains despite not being able to complete a Duke Of Edinburgh Award at school or my ability to communicate care-free to millions of people through my blogs and vlogs online yet, not being able to navigate my way to a coffee date around the corner or even out of the cafe toilets.
I can kindly laugh at myself and my self-proclaimed ‘dizzy moments,’ but also to feel grateful for my brain because if I had followed the crowd as I used to try to but often get lost, I can create my own exciting path from the mountains of opportunities available now I have discovered my peak. I invite you to navigate your own way too.
Coping mechanisms:
– Focus on your strengths and ‘genius’ moments. Just because you don’t feel you fit in doesn’t mean what you’re doing is wrong.
– Diagnosis
– Support networks of peers who understand
– Assert your needs
– Look at the opportunities
– Get funding School as Access to Work and from (if) you have an employer for specialist equipment and support.
Anyone else neurodivergent? I love my creative brain but love my team more helping me show up online whilst I’m often quietly making documentaries, writing my newspaper columns, writing blogs for clients, creating content for them, vlogging, coaching community journalism and digital skills and dance.. oh and running magazines/businesses Oh and training for broadcasters we work with and personal development. lol … as well as finishing my yoga, face yoga and fitness studies. Not to mention all my personal passions of dance, Community, women, well-being and my unwavering focus on family (all my blood relatives sad lots of friends are family too). And big news with our new HQ I’ll share tomorrow! I love having a colourful brain which loves doing lots but sometimes social media can be overwhelming which is why I often don’t see personal messages as I can’t focus on deadlines with notifications. My dyslexic and dyspraxic brain enjoys juggling my busy work life but personal group /personal messages it can’t keep up with! Not being rude but when I’m not working it’s full on personally too ?. But I still love u all. I’m just better in person on a walk and talk with u (I hope) but not good at chit chat on message. I’m here working hard and loving life’s whirlwind. Ps, health is now much better but still awaiting surgery and all underhand thanks to an awesome female consultant (sadly not cosmetic but much more life changing so I’m so grateful… hence my gratitude for having a team of people personally and professional and often both!).
Tabs open articles ongoing – I’ll just start closing
Family cup lid spillage on crotch. Late. Finding our own flow. Navigating out own flow.
Any wway here’s
Neurodivergent? Coping tips & trips!
Neurodivergent? Coping tips & trips! I’m Sophie and being diagnosed with #dyslexia and #dyspraxia was one of the best things to understand the beauty of my brain. I can do really complex work and lots of projects… but can I cook without injury or walk without falling? Nope! But I live, love , laugh and thrive of my sparkly bubbles in my brain. What’s your experience? ??? @sparkleupnorth @yorkshirefamilies @thesparklecoach @dyspraxichelp4u @dyspraxialife @dyspraxiafoundation @dyslexia.uk @bdadyslexia @armitage1985
Neurodivergent? Coping tips & trips! I’m Sophie and being diagnosed with #dyslexia and #dyspraxia was one of the best things to understand the beauty of my brain. I can do really complex work and lots of projects… but can I cook without injury or walk without falling? Nope! But I live, love , laugh and thrive of my sparkly bubbles in my brain. What’s your experience? ??? @sparkleupnorth @yorkshirefamilies @thesparklecoach @dyspraxichelp4u @dyspraxialife @dyspraxiafoundation @dyslexia.uk @bdadyslexia @armitage1985
Any other neurodivergent minds? I wonder how many of us run our own brands, businesses and/or create content? How does it help or hinder you? Writing my next newspaper column (and yes I’m Dyslexic and dyspraxic and u still write, vlog and run magazines not ‘despite’ but because of my beautiful sometimes annoying mind. I can do many complex work projects but can I tell my Left and Right… nope!) ???Living life laterally…
And it’s estimated 25 per cent of CEOs are dyslexic and a study of self-made millionaires in the U.K. found that 40 percent were dyslexic.
How have you identified that your solution to address the social/environmental problem has a realistic chance for success?
From Mental Health problems to Autism and Epilepsy there are an estimated 14.1 million people with a disability in the UK, it is thought that 96 per cent of illnesses are ‘invisible,’ yet they are still too often misunderstood which leads to shame stigma and further isolation, as well as the individual themselves not identifying their health problem.
As Mencap states:
Approximately 8 out of 10 working age people with a learning disability have a mild or moderate learning disability, but less than 2 in 10 are in employment.
When we consider people with a more severe learning disability who are known to social services’ then only 6 in 100 are in work. In comparison 49% of the wider disability community and 79% of the general population are in work.
The many barriers faced by people with a learning disability to access employment include:
a lack of good quality support to get and maintain employment
a lack of support to build confidence and skills
employers’ attitudes
lack of understanding as to what people with a learning disability can do with the right support.
The good news is that with the right training and support so-called ‘disabilities’ can be transformed into “superpowers.” Our focus is creatively harnessing people’s digital skills in social media, content creation, enterprise and technology.
A surprising number of entrepreneurs are dyslexic: Richard Branson, Charles Schwab, Barbara Corcoran, Daymond John, John Chambers, Ingvar Kamprad. And this is only the short list. A study of self-made millionaires in the U.K. found that 40 percent were dyslexic. Former Cisco CEO Chambers estimates that “25 percent of CEOs are dyslexic, but many don’t want to talk about it.”
Presenteeism Costs Business 10 Times More than Absenteeism
(Presenteeism where employees turn up to work but aren’t fully productive)
Employees take an average of four days off per year for sick time, but admitted to being unproductive an average of 57.5 days a year.
25 per cent of CEOs are dyslexic
Your learning difference can make you more resilient in the long run
Mencap fact:
Approximately 8 out of 10 working age people with a learning disability have a mild or moderate learning disability, but less than 2 in 10 are in employment.
When we consider people with a more severe learning disability who are known to social services’ then only 6 in 100 are in work. In comparison 49% of the wider disability community and 79% of the general population are in work.
The many barriers faced by people with a learning disability to access employment include:
a lack of good quality support to get and maintain employment
a lack of support to build confidence and skills
employers’ attitudes
lack of understanding as to what people with a learning disability can do with the right support.
“Just 21% of people with a long-term mental health condition are in employment.”
(Office for National Statistics. Social and Vital Statistics Division, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Central Survey Unit. (2014). Quarterly Labour Force Survey, October – December, 2006. [data collection]. 5th Edition.)
Presenti-ism vs absenteeism
ADVENTURE DISABILITY BLOG 3 – FINAL DISABILITIES
hello lovely,
Here’s the first draft – be a good one when you post this month to drive engagement through sharing stories (no rush though, amend and add and I can also make any necessary changes when you’re ready).
Much peace x
DEALING WITH ILLNESS AND DISABILITY AS AN ENTREPRENEUR TRANSFORMING DISABILITIES INTO OUR BUSINESS SUPERPOWERS: “Let’s focus on someone’s skills not situation.”
How do you ‘be authentic’ yet ‘professional’? Should I work through illness? What do I say as a business owner with a disability? “I need to explain how I work so I can perform at my peak…
It can be hard enough navigating work and life as an entrepreneur. Not to mention the two popular buzzwords of ‘needing’ to be authentic yet professional! Surely they are in conflict?! But with the right support your set-back can be your leap forward into creating a better business community for all.
The choice really is yours, primarily, whether you disclose your own ‘disability’ or ‘illness,’ you have a right to privacy because authenticity as a leader doesn’t have to be declaring ‘everything.’ Authenticity is about being an open and ethical leader because not only can it ensure your organisation is sustainable, it can mean that you set a positive culture for your team and yourself, as professionalism is about integrity and can be individually defined by the culture you set.
Authenticity and professionalism is subjective and as we finally evolve into a more inclusive world, we look at the skills that disabled entrepreneurs can offer, with a comparatively large percentage of entrepreneurs thriving with a ‘disability.’
Did you Know?
* The UK has one of the highest rates of ‘disabled entrepreneurs’ with many people starting a business as the ‘workplace’ isn’t appropriate (Enterprise Times)
* Many millennials search for ethical businesses to work for with ‘purpose not pay check’ (Forbes)
* Work as humans-to-humans rather than ‘faceless brands’ just transacting with one another
* Hoping for a healthier more holistic future for entrepreneurship and indeed, the workplace…
Entrepreneurial spirit has always been present within AD:VENTURE ambassador, Freelance Journalist and Communications professional Sophie Mei Lan, who set up a documentary and story-telling multi-media company Evoke Media Group Ltd (http://evokemediagroup.co.uk) with her film-making colleague with the dynamic support of AD:VENTURE, utilising their diverse skills to flourish in business and life. Sophie (https://sparklecommunications), who has a range of ‘hidden disabilities,’ has since worked with Channel 4 News, ITV and BBC News. In her latest blog, she shares (from a “celbrious” hospital bed) how she navigates a communications business, life and so-called ‘disabilities…’
“I would love to see a more inclusive world, where we are seen for our skills rather than labels… Let’s unlock our superpowers… “
The Power is in Your Hands
“Power” as a leader is not about exerting ourselves over others, it’s knowing our own power and what is important for you and what values in which you want to build a business.
For me, it’s all about maintaining your own dignity, whatever that means to you.
We have the choice to choose what we want to share.
It has always been important for me to be fairly open about my “hidden disabilities,” because ironically they have helped me to harness and hone my own success story, especially as I began to to really build my profile in the media and win international enterprise, communications, digital and journalism awards.
The more my personal brand accelerated, some of my more corporate-looking enterprises, merged into this brand as I represented them all as a leader, evolving into the ethical entrepreneur that I had aspired to become.
That said, over time I have told my ‘story’ but just parts at a time as and when i feel comfortable to do so and think it will help others. I still not choose to disclose everything.
I consciously have chosen, however, that my core values in business and life are to showcase the fact that despite our challenges, we can use these to our advantage… with the right support! I wanted to demonstrate that even what other entrepreneurs and clients may deem as the ‘ultimate’ success such as me appearing regularly in the press, on national TV and Radio. The more I felt inclined to use my profile as a personal brand to talk about disabilities and inclusivity, because not only am I surrounded by other neurodiverse and so-called ‘disabled’ entrepreneurs, the more I realised that I wanted to share about my invisible disabilities and how they have enabled me rather than disabled me. And anyway the media thrives off powerful personal stories and it’s much easier to connect with people as humans not ‘corporations,’ so ideally in terms of your own business (as long as you’re aware of any possible repercussions of sharing any personal story), it is much more powerful getting press coverage and better coverage as editorials and feature pieces rather than relying on clear adverts. As they say…
Facts tell… stories tell.
“How should I treat someone I am working with if they are undergoing an illness or have a disability?”
My own “disabilities”which I see as my “superpowers” help me in business and life and I am proud of them. But whilst I view my neurodiverse mind and even my own current physical ailments as strengths, some may still hold bias (consciously or subconsciously) and judge what tasks someone can or cannot perform.
Whereas, for me personally, I find that by always managing my ‘hurdles,’ I am hyper-aware of what my ‘genius’ skills are (in writing, creating powerful communications content for brands which tells stories, digital training and empowering personal brands with a purpose to get heard by their desired audiences worldwide) and my own coping mechanisms with the right support.
That said, I won’t pretend that everything is ‘easy’ to navigate, as I candidly share on my personal blog and vlog. I can at times feel ‘awkward’ when my personal world has leaked into my business communications online. But I choose to blog and vlog openly about mental health and wellbeing and disabilities which is becoming more prevalent and even ‘on trend’ in the business world. But most of all, it is part of my values as an ethical business that I am relatable and open about my ‘diversity,’ to empower others thinking of building their own personal brands.
As I say in the not-so very corporate quote of ‘Flashdance: The Musical’: Take your Passion and Make it Happen!
Hopefully one day, I am seen beyond a diversity champion and that we foster a truly inclusive transformation.
Changing the face of ‘work’ and ‘productivity’
The beauty of this challenging yet transformational period of the Pandemic, I believe, has been the fact that working has changed. What it looks like, what it involves and what it is, as it’s finally becoming more respected and a holistic future for those running businesses, leading teams and employees.
That’s said, no one model fits all which is why it’s important for all of us to focus on how to untap someone’s strengths whether that be through ‘agile working’ or ‘flexible working’ or being part of a physical team… or a hybrid approach. But again we return to the power of ‘choice’ and working with our team as individuals because not only does this make sense to boost productivity and for everyone to perform at their peak at work but it also means that everyone feels happier, healthier and prospers.
We do however need to make a conscious effort to improve internal communication so people still feel connected.
Fostering communication, empowering people and creating spaces for all to HEAR, SEE and hyper-focus on the human… because: “Together, one gives each other energy to live – to create health for life.” A quote from the international Microsystems Festival which I delivered a speech at, as a ‘multi-platform Journalist and ‘multi-faceted’ person. Microsystems are a way of transforming huge healthcare systems, breaking them down into their smallest fun
ctioning form to cultivate growth within teams and exploring solutions so that everyone’s voice is carefully heard and accepted at the ‘metaphorical’ table.
Here’s How I would like us to support one another to unlock all of our superpowers…My Top Tips:
We have a choice over what we share about others but most of all, we can decide how we act in the face of ‘adversity’ or when you’re unsure what’s best to do…
1. Let’s change our language so it is positive and uplifting around a more inclusive and fruitful working environment for all. There’s a lot of power in language.
From diversity to inclusivity, from disability to accessibility, from tick boxes to human communication, From social mobility to levelling up, From divide and rule to Kinship…
2. Human-centered support for each other… no one size fits all – see beyond someone’s hurdles respect one another’s wishes, as autonomous humans!
3. If someone does disclose an illness or disability..The worst thing we can do to entrepreneurs who are unwell is to assume it’s ‘best’ NOT work with them or consider not offering them a job…because we know best. Whether it be physical health and visible or they choose to disclose a mental or invisible disability or illness… Why? “But you genuinely care?” “you don’t want to bother them” they look poorly you’re concerned?”
4I) So you either don’t work with them, stop contacting them or you try to turn a professional meeting into a therapy session because you want to help …
5) Instead, if you’re in a position to support them in some way… Ask them if, how and what you can do to best support them?
Whilst I don’t personally face as many barriers as some, as a mixed-race single mum who doesn’t have a car, works freelance from home, whilst running magazines and a city centre company based at Wakefield University Business Centre, all whilst thriving with an array
of invisible disabilities and having derived from a richly diverse yet low-income background. I have definitely experienced some of the roadblocks faced by many since childhood but I am so relieved to see that we are joining together to stride forward as a sport-tive community! Not to mention a vast array of self-love and life needs from dancing to Disney films, from threaded brows to treading the earth on my running pursuits fuelled by a love of nutritious foods and fresh shakes to proper coffee and a proper brew! Whatever suits you step back inside this flourishing fountain of community spirit which is welcome to all.
