Neurodistinct™

For those of you familiar with the Autism at Work, you have most likely heard the name Uptimize. For those of you who are new to the movement to offer the neurodiverse the same opportunities as the neurotypical worker, Uptimize may be a resource you need.

Uptimize is the world's premier source for just in time, micro training modules on integrating the neurodiverse and autistic into the workplace. Their training is packaged into "toolkits" which focus on specific roles and what they need to know to work with or lead the neurodiverse. While others including myself offer a range of digital training, Uptimize has done a tremendous job creating well balanced training in the micro learning style which is now in vogue. Their training is a perfect solution for both the organization looking to develop and retain talent as well as groups wanting to create an end to end neurodiverse employment process.

I was recently asked to join Uptimize as a Subject Matter Expert on their advisor...

Very nice and informative article about integrating the autistic and neurodiverse into the workplace by Susanne M. Bruyère, Ph.D., CRC who is the director of the illustrious ILR College of Cornell University.

https://blog.hrps.org/blogpost/Disability-and-HR-Strategy-Targeting-Neurodiversity-for-Your-Talent-Pool

It is not that long and very much worth the time to read it.

Great work Susanne!!

Karen, my wife, and I had the opportunity to join Roger Love on stage at his Voice of Success Event event. We primarily spoke about how Roger's training has helped us, particularly in our relationship. With me having Asperger's and Karen being a neurotypical, autistic traits were a major focus as they amplify all the common relationship problems and add many additional challenges.

While I focus on Autism at Work and bridging the tech/business communication gap, as a Neurodiverse Communication Specialist and with the experience of our 3+ decade marriage, relationship questions frequently come up. The most frequent question is "I think my spouse has ASD/Autism/Asperger's and I don't know what to do." Funny thing is the person asking assumes this is an unusual question. I can assure you, it is a very common question so don't think you are facing a unique situation.

 At this event I was again asked this questions. I figured it was about time I put together a post explaining a...

An Employers Guide to Managing Professionals on the Autism Spectrum

Book by: Marcia Scheiner of Integrate with Joan Bogden

For anyone managing a logic leaning, frequently neurodiverse technical worker, this book is required reading. For anyone else, it is an excellent lesson in good old fashion, face to face management techniques plus a training about the neurodiverse rolled into one. What I learned from Marcia’s straight forward explanations and examples amazed me. This is particularly surprising considering I have Asperger’s and over 20 years of management experience. I applaud Marcia for the body of knowledge she has taken the effort to compile in an easy to read book.

 Marcia begins by pointing out that 1/3 of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) graduate college and the vast majority are unable to find a job. The problem isn’t these individuals’ skills, but the employers lack of understanding of the neurodiverse worker. While these...

Contrary to recent coverage, autism already is at work in technology and I am proof. I have decades in both software and hardware engineering and I am autistic. I wasn’t diagnosed until well into my working life at age 54.

Once I learned the traits of Asperger’s, a mild form of autism, I began recognizing it in virtually every tech group I have worked with. Many undiagnosed adults in tech fields struggling with fitting their unique thinking into the rigid structure of most companies. The same approaches which help my autism spectrum companions land a job work just as well with us the hidden, maybe undiagnosed autistic workers.

Maybe if I had been understood, I might have made less of those “Honey, I just got fired” calls.

I had the great fortune to be introduced to Ed Thomson from Uptimize. Ed was in Denver and we got the chance to talk about Autism and Neurodiversity in the workplace.

Uptimize provides digital delivered training to help integrate the neurodiverse into the workplace. They have had great success with their materials being used by Microsoft, Google, JPMorgan Chase and more.

Ed and I discussed a number of areas where we deliver a better customer experience if we collaborate. Ed's a great guy and I am looking forward to working with him much closer.

Got a wonderful thank you note as well as some very nice little gifts for teaching a class session of Cornell's ILR College first Neurodiversity course. With receiving thank you notes from Ivy league colleges being a new experience, I thought I would share a picture of the card.

Feedback has been tremendous. What really blows me away is the longterm effect this one class session will have. The students will be taking a new perspective on Neurodiversity to the companies that hire them. But, the teaching assistants and professor are now armed with a refined view of neurodiversity from the viewpoint of the neurodiverse.

When I started down this path almost 3 years ago, I didn't see teaching a class at Cornell. That is the amazing part of heading in new directions. It always seems the things that drew you in and got you going are only a tiny part of all it can be. The opportunities which appear are impossible to see before they happen.

Make that new commitment and work on it...

 Through a crazy chain of connections, I was introduced to Amy Williams. Besides being brilliant, caring, and attractive, she is a born networker and connector.

Amy decided there were a number of people she knows who needed to meet each other. That was her impetus to host what came to be called "Amy's Networking Event." To give everyone a chance to talk about what they do, Amy chose to have everyone present in the PechaKucha format of 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide.

This was a challenging format for me. I have been trained to speak using few slides. Was challenging to speak about each slide 20 seconds whether it should have been shorter or longer. But it was a challenge and after calculating how many words I speak in 20 seconds I created my script.

Enjoy the video as I push through 20 slides, 20 seconds each!

Amazing what can happen when you start down a path on nothing but faith. When Karen, my wife, and I started down this path to become part of the information/education business we had no idea where it would lead. The path has been more rugged and the commitments and opportunity grow every day. 

This is something I never imagined. I grew up not too far from Cornell so it was always a big name. I am also a community college dropout. Being able to teach a class and share my life experiences with a new generation was a privilege. 

My dad valued education highly even though he never had the option of pursuing it himself. I think the opportunity I was given would make him proud.

Tim gives an overview of his experience in the tech workforce having Aspergers, quickly summarizes Autism, Aspergers, ASD, and HFA, then explains how this all fits under the concept of Neurodiversity.

Tim also describes "A"SD Listers. They are the tech equivalent of Hollywood A Listers. Temperamental babies who can be difficult, but without them, movies fail. Tim will help you recognize these key players in your organization.

Tim then teaches 3 points which can help you to connect with your "A"SD Lister employees.