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The fear among neurodiverse employees about potential repercussions for disclosing their conditions could hold these employees back from asking for the kind of accommodation that could make their work lives easier. Around 64% of this group says they feel comfortable asking their employer for an accommodation, but around 76% of neurodiverse employees still say that there is stigma attached to doing so.
The current political climate around DEI is also causing workers to worry about what kind of options they will have in the future—inclusion for people with disabilities is considered an important part of many diversity policies. Around 64% of all workers—including both neurodiverse and neurotypical—believe that getting any kind of workplace accommodation moving forward will be more challenging because of how companies are rolling back DEI programs.
Ultimately, it comes down to each individual workplace to figure out how they can embrace neurodivergent workers and make them feel that they belong, no matter what’s happening in the world at large.
“The best way to work on reducing stigmas is by driving awareness, both overt and implicit,” says Friedman. “When you have advocacy, our data shows it comes with bottom-line growth for the organization.”
