Neurodiversity coaching

According to the ADHD Foundation, 1 in 5 people display different ways of thinking, finding expression in Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Autism, ADHD, and Dyspraxia. Different thinking is now recognised in 20% of the workforce who have, until now, remained largely invisible.

At gemm, we are passionate about augmenting the strengths of such diversity in the workplace, helping individuals to adapt to their working environments, and assisting managers and their teams to appreciate how best to support their neurodiverse colleagues and create an inclusive workplace.

The gemm coaching panel has two coaches, Jen Wood and Sheila Hamilton, who specialise in this field. They are both qualified and experienced in neurodiverse coaching and bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and tools that deliver a huge difference to the neurodiverse individual, and that help managers and colleagues learn how to capitalise on their strengths and differences.

A neurodivergent person may excel at some things and struggle with others, so the first step is to clarify their needs and goals, and on enabling understanding and acceptance. Every neurodivergent person is unique and when they understand their strengths and differences, and know that it’s okay and that it can be an advantage, they can give themselves permission to express their difference. The focus is on asking questions, identifying strengths and looking at coping strategies where helpful.

Our individual neurodiversity coaching gives the coachee the tools to:

• Identify strengths and areas that may benefit from support.
• Navigate situations that may cause them stress.
• Keep them in the present.
• Manage oscillating energy and activity levels.
• Cope with change and transitions.
• Identify triggers and how to manage them.
• Develop a soothing system to bring the system back into balance.
• Build self-compassion as a skill to self-regulate.
• Develop communication skills to improve work and personal relationships.
• Develop optimism and positive thoughts, and so create constructive outcomes.
• Develop wellbeing techniques in areas such as sleep hygiene, diet, rest, and exercise.

Coaching for neurodiversity uses a solution focused approach which helps develop a growth mindset and so helps the coachee to move away from being stuck.

Neuro-diverse coaching and workshops for managers and their teams helps them to:

• Appreciate the strengths of diversity in the workplace, as well as acknowledging the challenges.
• Understand how neurodivergent people contribute in different, yet equally valuable ways.
• Create a working environment in which their neurodiverse colleagues can thrive. For example, understanding the benefits to them of working when they feel most energised, and accepting that this may not be during the normal 9 to 5.
• Empowering neurodivergent people to ask questions and so help to protect them from burnout.
• Understand that the neurodiverse individual may have difficulty with the perception of time, which can impact working to deadlines. This can be combined by a strong desire to please others and fear of letting people down.
• Be more accepting of their colleagues and so create an environment where they can be more creative, more productive, and less distracted.
• Be open to learning from neurodiverse people and so create a democratised and inclusive learning environment.

Managers and colleagues also learn the importance of:

• Not making assumptions about neurodiversity and identifying and agreeing ways of working and solutions that best suit each individual.
• Creating a calm and comfortable environment – one where the person feels at ease and where any sensitivities that they have are not triggered.
• Knowing what matters to their neurodiverse colleagues – their routines and daily patterns.
• Communicating instructions, requests, and expectations clearly.
• Ensuring that people are working to their strengths and doing work they find interesting, and therefore more likely to succeed at.
• Encouraging them to share their coping strategies so that everyone understands how they work and what helps them work at their best.
• Enabling good two-way, open communication.

By doing so, they enable their colleague to spend less energy masking their behaviours to fit in, to be at ease just being themselves, and so be more productive.

“There’s no such thing as an unproductive neurodivergent adult. There are just unsupported neurodivergent adults.”

Professor James Brown

Our coaches create an environment of trust and acceptance, where differences are celebrated. They help their coachees to feel at ease, to play to their strengths, and to allow their special skills to flourish.