Neurodiversity Talent Solutions Promise to Be Game-changing
Despite the progress of the Neurodiversity @ Work Movement and the relentless work of neurodistinct self-advocates, the fact remains that 80% of autistic adults and 30-40% of neurodistinct adults overall face unemployment or underemployment.
In response to these egregious inequities, an ecosystem of neurodiversity technology solutions providers has recently begun to emerge. This ecosystem of scalable, tech-enabled solutions offers a very promising means of closing the neurodistinct unemployment and underemployment gap.
Simplify Workforce is proud to be a member of this neurodiversity technology solutions ecosystem. We embrace the fact that we are not alone in this mission to develop solutions that will support neurodistinct job seekers and allow businesses to unlock the value and unique contributions of the neurodiverse workforce.
Accordingly, this article seeks to help enterprises understand the emerging ecosystem of neurodiversity technology solutions and how it can grow their talent pools and create a more productive, innovative, and inclusive workforce.
Introducing the Neurodiversity Talent Solution Ecosystem
Here’s an overview of just some of the types of solutions that are appearing in the ecosystem.
1. Hiring Solutions
Neurodiversity-affirming hiring solutions increasingly play a pivotal role in closing the unemployment gap for the neurodiverse workforce by helping companies hire and retain neurodistinct talent. Simplify’s contribution in this space – including the development and early success of the Neurodiversity Career Connector – has been to bridge the gap between neurodiverse talent pools and employers through universal design, the latest technology stack, cutting-edge AI capabilities, and lastly a trained concierge team. The open architecture of our platform enables Simplify to integrate with other neurodiversity solutions in the emerging ecosystem.
2. E-learning Solutions
E-learning platforms are one of the most scalable and impactful solutions for driving awareness and acceptance of neurodiversity in your company is . Uptimize – the premiere neurodiversity E-learning solution trusted by brands like IBM, Microsoft, and Salesforce – has worked with neurodistinct self-advocates to distill their lived experiences into concise, actionable strategies for designing neuroinclusive work cultures. Before launching a neurodiversity hiring program, employers should invest in e-learning solutions to establish a baseline of awareness and acceptance at the enterprise. That way, your neurodistinct hires are more likely to enter a supportive and psychologically safe environment where they are more likely to perform well and be retained.
3. Neurodiversity Profilers
Neurodiversity profiler solutions are one of the best means of increasing your entire workforce’s awareness and understanding of the benefits of neuroinclusion and how to work well with neurodiverse teams. In doing so, organizations enable their teams to understand how to support neurodistinct employees and help maximize their potential. But just as important and impactful, neurotypical colleagues also benefit from the culture of empathy and flexibility achieved by looking at themselves and each other through the lens of a neurodiversity profiler.
For example, the Do-IT Profiler illustrates each user’s ‘Spiky Profile’ of relative strengths and support needs in the context of employment. This profile is then distilled into a ‘Work With Me Passport’ that sets the stage for employees to have informed conversations about capitalizing on their strengths and addressing support needs with their managers. With such capabilities, tools like the Do-IT Profiler are unique in their ability to address barriers many neurodistinct people face regarding disclosure, diagnosis, accommodation, interviewing, onboarding, and being retained.
4. Accessibility Solutions
The catalog of neurodiversity-affirming accessibility solutions is increasing rapidly. Plug-in options like Recite Me offer an intuitive toolbar of accessibility tools that address a variety of use cases. Tools like Bionic Reading help users interact with text more fluently and with better comprehension, limiting costly miscommunication. More broadly, established neurodiversity champions like Microsoft have revamped their product offerings to ensure they are natively accessible for neurodistinct users.
5. AI-enabled Solutions
Cutting-edge researchers – like the team at the Frist Center for Autism & Innovation – are developing comprehensive AI-powered solutions to better understand neurodivergent strengths and how employers can adapt processes to leverage the full potential of neuro-diverse workers. AI-enabled job description software is helping employers understand how they are accidentally prompting qualified neurodistinct candidates to self-select out of viable opportunities. In the near future, chatbots will have the requisite capabilities to function like neurodiversity-affirming job coaches who shepherd candidates through neuroinclusive hiring and onboarding processes.
In conclusion, the neurodiverse talent solution ecosystem is growing. Every solution in the ecosystem will have its own positive impact on closing the neurodistinct unemployment and underemployment gap. Correspondingly, the integration of the solutions a company chooses to use will be essential to achieving maximum impact and value.