It can be a lonely world in the workplace for those who have invisible or hidden disabilities, that is conditions that are mostly neurological in nature such as:  ADHD, autism, epilepsy, anxiety disorders, mental illnesses, fibromyalgia, migraines, diabetes, sleep disorders, asthma, allergies, Asperger Syndrome, Crohn’s Disease, other forms of chronic pain, etc. The Fast Company commentary “Why employers need to change how they onboard neurodivergent workers” introduces us to an autistic college professor whose introduction to her then-new employer left much to be desired because a condition such as hers was not taken into consideration when planning an off-campus orientation. That professor, Ludmila Praslova, visited “I Wanna Work There!” to discuss her experiences and the world that she would like to see for neurodivergent employees.

Here are your takeaways for episode 22:

1. You will walk a mile in Ludmila’s shoes, learning what it is like to be forced to fit into an employment structure that does not consider neurodiversity.
2. You will learn how to engage with neurodivergent colleagues.
3. You will find out how colleges and universities can work to ensure that neurodivergent employees enjoy a satisfactory work experience.

Guest Name: Ludmila Praslova

Guest Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ludmila-praslova/  

Guest Bio: Ludmila N. Praslova, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, is the author of “The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work'' (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, April 2024) and the member of the Thinkers50 Radar 2024 cohort of global management thinkers most likely to impact workplaces. She is a professor of graduate industrial-organizational psychology and an accreditation liaison officer at Vanguard University of Southern California. With over 25 years of experience in developing talent-rich organizations, Ludmila is a global inclusive talent strategy expert with deep knowledge of global diversity and neurodiversity. Her current consulting is focused on creating organizational systems for inclusion and wellbeing and providing neuroinclusion training and support to organizations such as Amazon, Bank of America, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ludmila is also the editor of “Evidence-Based Organizational Practices for Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Equity” (Cambridge Scholars, 2023) and the special issue of the Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, “Disability inclusion in the workplace: From ‘accommodation’ to inclusive organizational design.” Ludmila regularly writes for Fast Company, Harvard Business Review and Psychology Today, and she is the first person to have published in Harvard Business Review from an autistic perspective.

- - - -

Connect With Our Host:
Eddie Francis
https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddiefrancis/
https://twitter.com/eddiefrancis