Our Neurodivergent Graduate’s Guide to Navigating the Workplace

In honour of Neurodiversity Celebration week, we’re sharing top tips from fellow neurodivergent York alumni on navigating the workplace: from self-care strategies to finding your community.

Rebecca, E-Learning Support Officer

• “Trying your hardest” doesn’t mean working to a point of burnout. It means working to a level that you are making progress and getting things done without pushing yourself too hard.
  
• It’s okay to ask lots of questions. Even if other people seem to know the answers, it is important for you to be clear in your understanding of your job, so don’t be embarrassed to clarify.
  
• Don’t be afraid of voicing your opinions and ideas. Being neurodivergent can give you different thought processes and insights that other people might not have and this can be really valuable to a team.

Fynn, ambassador for ADHD UK

• I think my best advice would be to advocate for yourself when possible and prioritise special interests and unmasking. This really helped me avoid burnout during and post university.

Fynn also posts about neurodivergence on their TikTok: @mywyrdways. Be sure to check it out!

Mandy, lecturer at York

• Be kind to yourself: There is a lot going on when you start a new job. Even when you settle in, being neurodivergent means often regular work tasks just take a bit more time and effort. Also, mistakes happen, you’re human – don’t beat yourself up about it.
  
• If you’re comfortable to, declare your disability: You can declare your disability at any stage from interview to any time during your employment. It is a personal choice and depends on lots of factors as to whether you decide to disclose or not and if you do when.
  
  But if you find yourself in a job where you feel comfortable sharing your disability, find out the employer’s processes for disclosing and how they implement reasonable adjustments and go for it. It can help make your work environment more accessible for you as well as providing you with some legal protection. 
  
• If you can, find your work people: While you need to ensure you have good working relationships with your immediate team, being neurodivergent can mean that even if you work well with those around you you still might feel like you don’t quite fit in. Depending on the size of your workplace, you may be able to take active steps to find others in the organisation like you. 
  
  It helps you feel less alone, you have others to learn from and share knowledge as well as a group of people who can help champion and support you. See if there is already a group running in the organisation that you could join – or maybe start a group yourself. 

Maya, Communications Support Officer

• Find ‘your process’ for meetings: Something I found really daunting when I started was the idea of meetings, especially over Zoom. The idea of not being able to keep up with what was being said, or remember what had been discussed felt pretty overwhelming – and reminded me of that feeling of being totally out of it while watching a lecture.
  
• Meetings became a million times easier to keep up with once I started keeping a pen and paper with me. It might sound obvious but anytime someone said something that I knew I might forget, or was an important point, I just wrote it down – it also helps prevent getting distracted in between speaking. I’ve heard from other neurodivergent friends who keep ‘fidget’ items on hand to help stay focused.

Kyle, Freelance writer

• I would definitely recommend reaching out to the disability team if you are studying a postgrad degree, as they were able to provide me with a Student Support Plan (SSP). As well as making assignment extensions more accessible, the SSP also provided financial support for a new laptop which had accessible features built-in.
  
• On a personal note, I think it’s important to avoid comparison with others. As someone with dyspraxia, I process and organise information differently to others. This would sometimes lead to self-scrutiny when I saw others performing tasks and assignments in more conventional ways. For those with learning disabilities, I can’t stress enough the importance of understanding and being empathetic to oneself, while avoiding – as difficult as it can be – self-comparison to your peers.

Victoria, Museum Assistant

• There will always be communities and people for you to find, and it’s never too late to connect with others in similar positions. After graduating from York, I have managed to land in the museums industry – which is a very neurodiverse and accepting workspace. I think my advice for other neurodiverse graduates would be that there are more of us out there, whether that’s your coworkers or others working in the same sector.

Rohan, former York SU Activities Officer

• Don’t be afraid to find the right opportunities. Identifying, applying for, and understanding the types of roles and the kinds of employers that are conducive to you might take time, but you will ultimately be happier (and probably more ‘successful’) if you undergo this process instead of jumping at the first chance/offer because of others’ expectations rather than your own personal and career needs. 
  
• It’s important to handle things step-by-step; research, talk to people, and be honest with yourself so that you can figure it all out. Trial and error is also okay. You may enter a particular workplace then realise more about how you operate and what works best for you. 
  
• You cannot know everything as a graduate, let alone if you’re neurodiverse (which is of course a broad term), so let yourself discover! If your first job isn’t the right fit for you – you haven’t failed, you’ve learnt.

Looking for further support?

Our careers team at York offers a range of support for disabled and neurodivergent alumni, including careers appointments and access to EmployAbility, for those who have graduated in the past 3 years.

EmployAbility is a careers service which provides free support and advice on which adjustments may be most helpful to you, and can even talk to an employer on your behalf to ensure you get the adjustments you need.

Find out more about the EmployAbility service and support from the Careers team.