Living in a neurotypical world when you are not a neurotypical girl series.
It has been Neurodiversity Celebration week 2024 (March 18-24) this week which is all about educating and promoting worldwide neurodiversity acceptance, equality and inclusion in schools and workplaces.
I, Michelle Shavdia, was late diagnosed with ADHD, dyspraxia and dyscalculia at 37 years old, and ever since have been on a mission to raise awareness into the misunderstood condition of ADHD as well as shining a lens on the overlapping neurodivergent conditions so that we are all better informed and getting better support.
This blog is going to focus on neurodivergence at work. Did you know that 20% of employees are neurodivergent?! And that 1 in 5 people have experienced harassment or discrimination due to this?! ADHD people for example are often excluded or dismissed, on the receiving end of negative comments/jokes; demoralised, humiliated or degraded. ADHD adults are 30% more likely to have ongoing employment issues, 3x more likely to impulsively quit and 60% more likely to be fired. 24% of adults on long term sick leave due to stress exhibit ADHD symptoms!!
Clearly this is not okay or acceptable and is something that needs to change. Similar issues can be found in schools as well. This is why we need to celebrate neurodiversity and learn how best to support it (please see picture). And given the world of work is zooming forward at fast speed we need fast ADHD brains that can keep up with this rate of constant change and thinking outside the box. This therefore may be the most valuable skill a business can have in 2024!
Find Your Spark supports children, their parents and adults with ADHD. With my professional background and Masters qualification in coaching psychology and from my lived experience, I get just how difficult it can be to live in a world that is not set up for your brain and the problems that come with that so am able to effectively listen to and understand the experience. I am therefore able to provide brilliant bespoke support to people in how best to look after your needs pre and post assessment. These services include psychoeducation, pre assessment for ADHD and ADHD coaching post diagnostic support. These services can be delivered one to one or in a public group and either online or in person as well as in schools and to organisations.
WE are running our ADHD Awareness session once again on 15 April for adults to learn more about ADHD and how it applies not only to the world of work but also life generally. Currently there is an early bird discount till the 26 March where you can buy one ticket for £50 and get one ticket half price.
A testimonial received from the last sold-out group in January: ‘We attended the awareness session, and it was so informative, and we have now come away more confident and knowledgeable. Thank you so much, it was amazing and such a lovely bunch of people.’
We are also running the ‘Let’s talk about Neurodiversity’ group again with autism assessor, Rhiann Marchant, on 15 May. Please get in touch by email [email protected] and she can send the Eventbrite link for both groups plus expression of interest form for future coaching groups for adults and teens.
If you require further details these can be found at www.findyourspark.co.uk and via Eventbrite. You can also follow us on @FindYourSparkADHD on Instagram and @FindYourSparkUK on Facebook. We look forward to hearing from you in due course.
