This email in 30 seconds: This week I attended the inaugural Neurodiverse Business Awards during Neurodiversity Celebration Week. The room felt genuinely different – bigger brands, more ERGs, politicians, a TV presenter, a comedian. All sharing, all celebrating. This newsletter is about what that shift means, why echo chambers are still a real risk, and what it takes to actually get in the room.
Hello Reader,
This week is Neurodiversity Celebration Week. It has over the last few years been my most favourite week of the year. I love seeing my LinkedIn feed filled with stories, panels, awareness, and celebration. I had the pleasure of joining GAIN for their menopause and ADHD panel, where a collective group of females discovered they weren't alone. And on Wednesday night I attended the first Neurodiverse Business Awards. (The reason why this weeks email is late!!)
I have been to many neurodiversity conferences and events over the last few years, and often I have walked away thinking: brilliant event. But are the right people in the room? Being from a corporate environment I often missed the peers that I related too, others who have navigated the complexities of corporate. (I was in a matrix structured Partnership - I am not sure it gets more complex!). Understanding the challenges of internal politics; of leading a team under budget and resource pressures; of managing upwards and getting senior stakeholder buy in. I don't think you can understand this unless you have been there.
But standing in the room this week it felt different.
The room looked different
The inaugural Neurodiverse Business Awards was a brilliant evening, but what made it different was who was in the room.
For years, Neurodiversity events have had a habit of attracting the same faces from the same organisations. The already-converted, talking to each other. Important work - but limited reach.
This week felt like something shifted. There were bigger brand names. More ERGs. Politicians. An ITV news presenter and a comedian – both sharing their own neurodivergence, openly, in front of a room full of people.
When the presenter shared, the room applauded. And to me that said something important. Even in a space built for neurodivergent people, filled with neurodivergent people, there is still bravery in disclosure. We were still saying: we see you. You belong here.
That is not nothing. That is everything.
From “learn from us” to “look what we’ve done”
The energy in the room was different too. In the early days of neurodiversity at work, it was a handful of companies at the front saying: here is how we did it, come and learn from us. Which is valuable: someone has to go first.
But this week it was dozens of organisations saying: look what we have done. Look what our people have built. Look at the difference we are making.
That shift – from a few leading voices to many celebrating progress – is what a movement actually looks like when it starts to take hold.
And so much of that has been driven by employee resource groups. Internal groups working passionately, tirelessly, often off the side of their desks alongside their actual jobs. Doing it because they believe it matters. Rarely getting external recognition. Frequently doing it in organisations that haven’t yet made neurodiversity a strategic priority.
Seeing so many of them in that room, celebrated for what they have achieved – that meant something.
But here is the honest question
Change is rarely as fast as we need it to be. But sometimes it creeps up on you. You look back five years and think: just wow.
And yet - most organisations are still not in the room.
Not the awards room.
The room where neurodiversity is part of how you recruit, how you manage, how you design your processes.
The room where it is not a tick-box exercise or a week-in-March initiative.
The room where your neurodivergent employees don’t have to mask just to get through the working week.
Some organisations are still at the awareness stage. And that is a foundation, not a failure. Awareness matters. But it is not a destination.
Are you in the room yet? And if not - what would it take to get there?
Those are not rhetorical questions. They are the questions I help organisations answer every week.
Three actions you can take this week
The energy from Neurodiversity Celebration Week does not have to stop on Friday. Here are three things any organisation can do right now.
- Have one honest conversation - with your ERG leads, your neurodivergent employees, or your HR team - about what is actually working and what is not.
- Look at one process, and ask whether it creates unnecessary barriers for neurodivergent people. Job descriptions are a good place to start.
- Make a commitment that is specific enough to be held to account. Not "we will do more on neurodiversity." Something with a date and a name attached to it. Small steps taken consistently are what fill the room over time.
Progress doesn't require a strategy or being big or bold, sometimes it just about a small step that makes a start.
So what am I celebrating?
So I didn't win this week, but then I didn't expect to. To be in the room, as PegSquared, with some amazing organisations was a pinch-me moment in itself. It reminded me the work I do matters and not even two years into PegSquared it is making a difference.
The clients I am working with at the moment are moving from awareness to action - taking practical steps to make processes more neuro-inclusive, ensure understanding of those responsible for people systems get the challenges - and supporting line managers to support their teams. This is where neuro-inclusion starts to get embedded into the fabric of an organisation, and I am grateful to be part of their journey to make those changes.
If this week has made you think about where your organisation sits - whether you are just starting out or ready to go deeper - I would love to talk.
My focus is always on moving neurodiversity from intention to impact. Training. Consultancy. Strategy. Practical and grounded.
See you next week.
Tania
P.S. The first awards are always the ones people look back on and say: that is where it started. I think this might be one of those. Make sure your organisation is not still outside the room when the next chapter is written.
P.P.S. I built something - but I am still testing it. If you are a recruiter or hiring manager and would like to take a look, drop me an email and I will send you the link! Feedback always welcome!!
