Part 1: When More Explaining Leaves Less Time for Practice

Teachers are already working hard to plan meaningful lessons and support all learners. Chunking makes that work more effective by breaking instruction into smaller, purposeful sections that give students more chances to process, practice, and succeed.

Teachers ask me all the time, “How can I make lesson planning faster?”

My answer is usually not what they expect.

I don’t tell them to find a shortcut that waters down the lesson. I don’t tell them to lower the bar. I don’t tell them to create three completely different lesson plans for one class period. Who has time for that?

Instead, I ask them to look at the structure of the lesson.

Because often the problem is not the teacher’s work ethic. It is not that the teacher does not care enough, plan enough, or try enough.

The problem is that the lesson is planned as one long teach instead of a series of smaller, purposeful chunks.

And that matters.

When I work with teachers in inclusive classrooms, I see the same pattern again and again.

A Typical Scenario

A teacher starts with a clear objective. The lesson begins well. The teacher explains the concept, gives examples, asks questions, and checks faces around the room.

Then the teacher sees it.

Jessica has that glazed look in her eyes. David is looking puzzled. Rob, who is on an IEP, is just kind of “out there” at this point.

So, being a caring teacher, the teacher keeps teaching.

They give another example. Then another one. They ask more questions, hoping to pull students in. They try to get participation going, but it feels like pulling teeth because the same students are answering over and over again.

By now, 20 minutes of class time has gone by and they still are direct teaching. Maybe they’ve included visuals or used dramatic role-play to engage. Maybe they’re doing outstanding direct teaching.

Still, some students are lost.

So they keep going.

Now 25 minutes are gone. In a 45-minute class, that leaves only 20 minutes for practice, application, grouping, reteaching, enrichment, closure, or whatever else was supposed to happen.

So, here is the question that stopped me in my tracks when I first started thinking deeply about Chunking Lesson Plans™:

Probably thinking, “Oh, geez. I’m bored.”

And who knows? They may have even begun to act out their boredom and frustration.

At the same time, after 25 minutes of direct teaching, there are probably still students who need more practice. There may still be a handful of students who have no clue what the concept means.

So, weren’t we in almost the same place after 10 minutes of direct teaching?

Why did we spend 25 minutes only to be at the same place we were in after ten?

What an epiphany this was for me.

That realization is the heart of Chunking Lesson Plans™.

The goal is not to teach less. The goal is to use whole-group teaching where it helps most, then give students time to process, practice, and apply.

Direct teaching is a best practice technique. Ten minutes, done well, is powerful. But after that, we need to do something different.

We need to chunk the lesson.

Why Lesson Planning Feels So Overwhelming in Inclusive Classrooms

Inclusive classrooms are complex.

In one room, a teacher may have students who are reading above grade level, students reading two or three years below grade level, students with IEPs, students with ADHD, students with auditory processing difficulties, English learners, anxious students, gifted students, students who need movement, students who need visuals, and students who need time to think before responding.

Teachers are expected to teach the grade-level standards, provide accommodations, keep students engaged, manage behavior, assess understanding, provide intervention, enrich advanced learners, and document what is happening.

No wonder lesson planning feels overwhelming.

Teachers do not need one more complicated form to fill out. They need something that visually cues them into remembering the methods they might use to meet the needs of all learners in the classroom.

That is where a planning tool matters.

The goal is not to make teaching mechanical. The goal is to reduce the mental load.

Instead of sitting there thinking, “What am I forgetting?” the teacher can glance at a visual planning reminder and ask:

• How will students access the information?
• How will they practice?
• How will they show understanding?
• What supports will help students who struggle?
• What options will keep students engaged?

That saves time.

Not because the teacher is doing less thinking, but because the teacher is not starting from scratch every time.

What Often Happens: Direct Instruction Expands, and Practice Time Shrinks

This is where lesson planning can get tricky:

A whole-class lesson often assumes that everyone needs the same amount of direct instruction, even when students are starting from different places.

Then, when some students do not get it, the teacher gives the whole class more direct instruction.

That feels responsible. It feels caring. It feels like we are not leaving anyone behind.

But in reality, we may be holding some students back while still not giving struggling students the kind of support they actually need.

Some students do not need another whole-class example. They need a smaller group. They need a different modality. They need to talk it through with a partner. They need to manipulate something. They need vocabulary clarified. They need the steps color-coded. They need to see the concept mapped out. They need guided practice.

Other students already have it. They need acceleration, enrichment, application, or an opportunity to go deeper.

When we keep reteaching the whole class, we often create two problems at once:

• The students who understand become bored.
• The students who do not understand still do not get enough targeted support.

That is why chunking matters.

What Chunking Lesson Plans™ Solves

Chunking Lesson Plans™ helps teachers use class time differently.

Instead of thinking, “I have to explain until everyone gets it,” the teacher thinks, “I am going to teach the core concept clearly and briefly, then use the rest of the lesson to find out who needs what.”

That one shift changes everything.

Let’s use the example from my book: teaching genre.

If I have five on-grade-level capable students with no learning disabilities in a small group, and I want to teach them the concept of genre, not to be experts on it, but to know what genre is and identify three types, most teachers would agree that I could teach that concept in about ten minutes.

So why do we often take 25 minutes in a whole-class lesson?

Chunking helps us stop doing that.

Instead, how about we teach the core instruction for about ten minutes and then stop. No matter how many glazed looks we see, we stop.

Not because we are abandoning students.

But, because we are moving them into a structure where we can actually help them better.

The Takeaway for Part 1

Faster lesson planning should not mean weaker instruction.

It should not mean copying a worksheet and hoping for the best.

It should not mean lowering expectations for students who struggle.

It means designing the lesson so that the teacher is not trapped in 25 minutes of direct instruction when 10 minutes would have been enough to launch the learning.

My whole philosophy is built around the idea that strategies can be good for all and critical for different learners.

Chunking Lesson Plans™ is one of those strategies.

It helps the teacher stop reteaching the whole class longer and longer and start using class time more intentionally.

In Part 2, we will look at how to plan the 10-minute core teach, what to do after that first chunk of instruction, and how to use the Lesson Planner Idea Jogger to make differentiated planning faster and more manageable.

Podcast: Stop Overexplaining with Ten Minute Chunks

Source note: Adapted from Susan Gingras Fitzell, Special Needs in the General Classroom: 500+ Teaching Strategies for Differentiating Instruction, especially the sections on Chunking Lesson Plans™ and the Differentiated Planning – Lesson Planner Idea Jogger.

FAQ

How can teachers make lesson planning faster without lowering expectations?
Teachers can make lesson planning faster by changing the structure of the lesson, not the rigor of the content. When instruction is chunked into smaller, purposeful sections, teachers can spend less time overexplaining and more time giving students opportunities to process, practice, and apply what they are learning.

Why does direct instruction sometimes take too much class time?
Direct instruction often stretches too long because teachers are trying to meet individual learning needs through whole-class teaching. When some students look confused, teachers naturally keep explaining. The problem is that this can reduce time for practice and still fail to provide the targeted support struggling learners actually need.

What is the benefit of chunking lesson plans in inclusive classrooms?
Chunking lesson plans helps teachers use class time more intentionally. A short, focused core teach gives students the foundation they need, and the rest of the lesson can be used to identify who needs practice, reteaching, enrichment, or a different way to access the content. This makes differentiated instruction more manageable in inclusive classrooms.

CLICK HERE to discover a wealth of teaching strategies and resources for maximizing student success!. Bring Susan to your campus! Featured seminar – Differentiation Strategies to Reach ALL Learners in the Inclusive Classroom

The post How to Make Lesson Planning Faster Without Watering Down Instruction appeared first on Susan Fitzell.

Historically, people have viewed neurodivergence from a deficit model point of view. Unfortunately, I’d say that this is the prevailing view. The world is still very much neurotypical-centric. Consider that neurodivergent brains are the other side of the same human neurological coin.

Humans tend to categorize, sort, and normalize information. In short, we do this to facilitate our understanding of a complex world. This tendency to categorize makes things manageable so we can focus on what we need to do. Unfortunately, this approach fails us when attempting to understand humans. We desperately want human interaction to be simple, but it isn’t.

The double-edged sword: Medicine and mental health diagnoses

Medicine has done a fantastic job of defining medical pathologies that can be addressed and cured. How do we know when we have gone too far? For example, when does a trait become a pathology? Yet, humans must deal with the reality that what is not diagnosed and labeled is not supported or accommodated in most countries.

As humans, we pride ourselves on being unique. We show compassion that counters the survival of the fittest idea. We take care of each other, even to our detriment. We are charitable. We love and mourn in a way that we don’t see among other creatures. We see this most clearly in families and small communities. However, as the group grows, we see how people create divisions among themselves. This division happens when some interpersonal conflict has the potential to threaten the group’s status quo. The result is an us-vs-them mindset.

This situation can stabilize if the conflicting groups are well-matched in number and strengths. However, it can become a vastly different situation when there is a clear social minority. Without a proper understanding of differences, this approach can cause harmless traits to be pathologized, and those possessing those traits become marginalized.

Moving from a deficit mindset to a gifts mindset

This fact is evident if we consider the ideas behind the deficit vs. a Gifts Mindset. As mentioned earlier, medical diagnoses are inherently based on a deficit mindset, and that’s appropriate since the goal of medicine is to heal a problem. When does this go too far, though?

Do ALL aspects of a learning or sensory processing difference need to be viewed from a deficit point of view? No. They do not.

“In education, a deficit mindset is when teachers or school leaders focus on problems rather than potential.” I prefer to focus on strengths or a Gifts Mindset. A Gifts Mindset focuses on a person’s strengths first and teaches how to utilize a learner’s gifts while using specific strategies to overcome obstacles that get in the way of maximizing talent.

One can extend the experience of learners to the modern workplace. How do employers view neurodiversity in the workplace? Does it seem too much effort to accommodate so much “deficit?” Suppose an employer views neurodiversity through the limiting view of the deficit mindset. In that case, it can seem like “more effort than it’s worth.”

The Double Empathy Theory

Like so much of life, the viewpoint we choose matters. The double empathy theory purports that deficits in communication between autistics and non-autistics are a two-way street. In other words, the deficit in communication must be accounted for by both parties — instead of laying the “blame” on the autistic alone. An extension of the theory holds that the “problem” is not precisely the pathology of a neurodivergent individual but rather the setting or the environment. Consider this:

This (double empathy problem) model “suggests that a disability is more about external circumstances that impact a person, [and] less a set of personal attributes. So, the person with ADHD is disabled by a busy, loud office apartment. They themselves are not the problem.” Source: https://www.jazzhr.com/blog/neurodiversity-in-the-workplace/

The idea that the entire problem does not belong to the autistic individual is a significant change in mindset. Yet, consider the possible advantages of reviewing how we think about the communication challenge.

How the deficits model fails us in the workplace

Think of an octopus that ventured out of the water onto the seashore. It happens under some exceptional circumstances. The octopus will do OK for a few minutes. It has nine brains and eight legs, so it can make do and persist for a time, but not for long. Does this mean that the octopus has an inherent deficit or pathology? No, the environment limits the octopus’s ability to thrive in that situation.

OK, let’s take a classroom example I have seen firsthand many times through the years. Jayden is a first-grader who is doing exceptionally well in school. His parents had been concerned because he had so much energy and could barely sit still in kindergarten. In first grade, everything was coming together for Jayden. He was thriving. He loved his teacher.

Then in second grade, everything changed. Jayden’s teacher called home multiple times to complain that Jayden was distracted, bored, and exhibiting challenging behaviors. Finally, the second-grade teacher referred Jayden to special education for an evaluation. Jayden is now diagnosed and labeled. This is the same kid who thrived in first grade with a teacher who understood how he learned. Then, he went to the second grade and had a different teacher who was less tolerant of Jayden’s energy level and struggled to engage him in learning.

Is Jayden like the octopus?

Over the past four decades, countless stories and studies show how students who fail in one learning environment may thrive in a different one. So why is the child pathologized?

The child is pathologized because it’s easier to blame the children or parents than to fix a broken system. The system is broken for many reasons; however, it starts with an educational system that views children through a deficit model instead of a Gifts Mindset. A Gifts Mindset would focus on the child’s strengths instead of their deficits.

Environment plays a huge role, from microscopic to plant life, and without a doubt, humans’ ability to thrive. If the deficit point of view is maintained, accommodating neurodivergent talent in the workplace can seem impossible.

If we are to create conducive and kind classrooms and workspaces, we need to replace the deficit model thinking and embrace a ‘Gifts Mindset’ and Inclusive Dynamic Workplace Design™.

In schools, this is called Universal Design for Learning. In autistic humans, a standard defining feature is that an individual has deficits in social interaction and communication. In looking at this deficit, consider the double empathy model again. The theory holds that the communication deficit comes from both directions, autistic and non-autistic.

While this might be uncomfortable, it bears consideration. Consider marriage relationships; both parties hold some responsibility in a disagreement. It gets ugly when one party puts itself on a perfection pedestal, and the other one is always to blame.

In his article, The Double Empathy Problem, Dr. Damian Milton states, “… these issues are not due to autistic cognition alone, but a breakdown in reciprocity and mutual understanding that can happen between people with very different ways of experiencing the world.”

Why does this change in perspective matter?

Imagine a world where we lead with reciprocity and mutual understanding. Is it possible? I’d like to believe that it is possible for those who strive for it in their corner of the world — one human light at a time.

We are experiencing a world where an us-versus-them mindset leads to striations and conflict. The result is chilling. It’s tearing apart families, friendships, and countries. So, how can we be the light? Let’s start with inclusion: workplaces, like classrooms, are based on an implicit hierarchy. At the school, the teacher can implicitly and unconsciously influence the culture of the classroom. The same goes for management in the workplace.

What can management do to improve inclusivity in their workplace cultures? Work toward a company culture that includes Inclusive Dynamic Workplace Design™. Inclusive Dynamic Workplace Design™ does not only consider physical space, corporate policies, and options for individual employee success; it makes inclusion and diversity the norm.

FAQ

What is the deficit model of neurodiversity?
The deficit model of neurodiversity views differences in thinking, learning, communication, or sensory processing primarily as problems to be fixed. This mindset focuses on what a person cannot do instead of recognizing strengths, supports, and environmental factors that influence success.

What is a Gifts Mindset in education and the workplace?
A Gifts Mindset focuses on a person’s strengths first. Instead of defining students or employees by deficits, it looks at how to use their natural abilities while providing strategies and support to address challenges. This approach helps create more inclusive classrooms and workplaces.

Why does the environment matter for neurodivergent people?
The environment matters because many challenges are not caused only by the individual. Noise, lighting, communication styles, rigid expectations, and poor system design can all create barriers. When schools and workplaces change the environment, neurodivergent people are more likely to thrive.

References:

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/professional-practice/double-empathy

https://www.achievementnetwork.org/anetblog/eduspeak/deficit-mindset

Neurodiversity Definition

Neurodiversity: this term refers to a general diversity of minds. It includes people who are neurotypical and neurodivergent. When I talk about promoting neurodiversity in the workplace, for example, I am referring to creating a diverse workforce representative of the broad spectrum that exists when it comes to ways of thinking, processing information, communication, and learning. Some employees may be “normal” or neurotypical while others may have ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism, or trauma impacted ways of thinking. I am not referring to any particular label or diagnosis, but rather, the concept of an environment where a diversity of minds coexist.

Neurodiverse: This word is pretty much the same as neurodiversity, but should be used as an adjective. You can say, for example, that your workplace is neurodiverse.

Be careful though, because you should never describe a person as being neurodiverse. Individual people should be described as neurodivergent.

Neurodivergent: This word describes an individual whose way of thinking falls outside of society’s defined version of normal. Oftentimes you will see it abbreviated as ND.

Many times, neurodivergent people will have a diagnosis or label you may recognize, like autism, dyslexia, or ADHD. But neurodivergent people are also those with epilepsy, different kinds of brain trauma, or simply a unique way of thinking that may not have a specific diagnosis.

Photo Credits:
Andrea Migliarini /iStockphoto Standard License
Top Neurodiversity Speaker and Expert, Susan Fitzell, M.Ed., CSP

FREE DOWNLOAD: Neurodiversity in the Workplace: Things to Consider Before You Jump On the Bandwagon

Neurodiverse hiring practices can benefit any company in any industry and in more areas than most people realize. The investment has yielded greater patenting, innovation, process improvement, efficiency, and creativity not only in technology industries but also in industries that include investment banking, insurance, and mortgage banking.

This resource explains the term “neurodiversity” and describes the potential positive impact on your business that can come from including neurodivergent individuals in your workplace.

The post Why the Neurodiversity Mindset Needs to Evolve appeared first on Susan Fitzell.

There’s one approach to neurodiverse hiring that has not received much notice in the United States: apprenticeships. Data from the United Kingdom (UK)(HM Government, 2020), where renewed interest in apprenticeships has spurred relevant research, indicates that 89% of employers said apprenticeships helped companies develop skills pertinent to their organization. Over 74% of employers said apprenticeships helped them improve productivity and the quality of their product or service.

I remember a time when teens who weren’t into academics and preferred to work with their hands had the option of becoming an apprentice. Starting in secondary school or after graduation, they worked side-by-side with a plumber, electrician, carpenter, etc. They learned the trade hands-on. These opportunities are almost non-existent today. Now, they must (usually) go to a tech school. More school!

One out of five apprentices may be neurodivergent. (Kirby, 2021) Consequently, it’s essential to discover and maximize their strengths.

Any two individuals with neurodivergent attributes have different combinations of strengths. For example, “One person with Dyslexia may have predominant challenges with spelling and another with reading comprehension. The first person may also have difficulties communicating verbally, and the second person may have additional challenges relating to ADHD traits such as time management.” Consequently, their training and support must be tailored to meet their needs.

If that seems daunting, consider that this is true of over 50% of your workers, whether identified as neurodivergent or not! Most corporate learning initiatives reap minimal engagement and success because they are canned learning modules that do not consider individual learning preferences. By providing individualized options for learning and training, ALL employees benefit, which means the company benefits from their corporate learning investment.

One of the challenges both companies and apprentice candidates face is the lack of confidence that has evolved during the school years for neurodivergent adults. Most were labeled learning disabled during their school years. Some were labeled lazy, slow, or unmotivated. Sadly, because schools operate with a deficit mindset instead of a gifts mindset, neurodivergent students go through the school years believing they are not intelligent. This reality exists even though many are not only smart but talented in unique ways. They just don’t learn and thrive the way schools dictate learning should happen.

So, for the best chance of success with apprenticeship programs, the workplace culture must support brain diversity — or neurodiversity.

“Apprentices who received support over the three-month period increased in confidence by 14% on average, and their motivation increased by 16% on average. Crucially, learners who did not have identified learning needs and, therefore, did not receive support experienced no increase in confidence or motivation over the same period.”(Cecile, 2020)

This study is critical because, as previous scientific research has revealed, “Measures of confidence have the highest correlation with academic achievement.”(Sanchez-Ruiz et al., 2016)

Seven companies that have established tech apprenticeships for professionals from diverse backgrounds stand out:

• IBM- Apprenticeship program
• Google- Tech Apprenticeship Program
• Airbnb Connect Software Engineering Apprenticeship
• Accenture- Apprenticeship Program
• LinkedIn- REACH Engineering apprenticeship program
• Microsoft- LEAP Apprenticeship Program
• Pinterest- Tech Apprenticeship Program

What can companies do to facilitate successful apprenticeships?

World bank listed three ways companies can successfully implement apprenticeships (Datta et al., 2020):

1. Create a consortium where businesses can collaborate to design apprenticeship programs. For instance, in France, Sodexo, a food service enterprise; Adecco Group, a staffing firm; Accor, a hospitality company; and Korian, a nursing facility company, collaborated to establish an apprenticeship training center that focuses on culinary arts.
2. Work with local universities and colleges. In Costa Rica, Intel is leveraging a student-worker model to recruit students part-time so they can gain work experience.
3. Introduce work contracts and certifications. A contract guarantees fair wages for all, while certification injects elements of formality to the experience. In the Republic of Benin, craftspeople partnered with the local government to secure government-issued certificates for apprentices. Every apprentice goes through a practical and supervised exam by the local trade association when they ‘graduate’ from the program.

Skill-based interviews

When screening candidates for apprenticeships, interviewers need to customize the interview process to meet the needs of neurodivergent candidates. Companies can embrace this process by

• providing clear instructions for locating assessment tools. One way to do that is to enhance instructions with visual cues or icons.
• Clarifying expectations of the interview process. Lack of clarity causes increased anxiety and undermines a candidate’s ability to prepare appropriately for the interview experience. Let the candidate know what interviewees should expect, the length and format of the interview, and items the candidate should bring. Examples might include portfolios with work samples, a resume copy, pen, notebook, etc.
• Ensuring the candidate has information about whom they will meet and how to contact them in an emergency.
• Securing a suitable interview space that is quiet space devoid of distractions.
• Ensure that the online application portal is not assessing web page navigation instead of job skills. If the user interface is unfriendly, skilled candidates may be lost; Not because they are not viable, but because they can’t navigate the web portal properly.

In my years as a teacher, I saw this same problem with many test questions and instructions — poor wording of questions and unclear instructions caused students (and me) to misunderstand what was being asked or required.

The failure of the test (or web page) creator was the problem. Not the neurodivergent’s ability and skill.

Conclusion

There are significant benefits for companies that embark on an apprenticeship program. An apprenticeship program allows companies to recruit from a broader, more diverse base of candidates. Companies have the opportunity to train employees to meet the specific requirements of their business. The mindset of the candidate and employer is different than when a person is hired in a traditional interview: It’s expected that training is needed, and growth will take some time. This expectation of necessary training is not always the case in conventional hiring practices. Often, candidates are hired, quickly onboarded, and expected to perform with minimal support or training. This process often fails at a high cost to the employer. Apprenticeships are inherently more successful. Most importantly, employees who start through an apprenticeship program will likely stay and grow with the company.

FAQ

How can apprenticeships support a neurodiverse workforce?
Apprenticeships can support a neurodiverse workforce by creating hands-on, skill-based pathways into employment. Instead of relying only on traditional interviews or academic credentials, apprenticeships allow candidates to learn on the job, build confidence, and demonstrate their strengths in real work settings.

Why are apprenticeships a strong hiring strategy for neurodivergent candidates?
Apprenticeships are a strong hiring strategy for neurodivergent candidates because they focus on growth, training, and practical skill development. This can reduce some of the barriers created by traditional hiring processes, especially for candidates whose strengths are not always visible in a standard interview or online application system.

What makes an apprenticeship program more inclusive for neurodivergent learners?
An inclusive apprenticeship program offers clear instructions, flexible training methods, quiet and low-distraction environments, transparent interview expectations, and support tailored to individual learning needs. These adjustments help neurodivergent apprentices build skills, confidence, and long-term success.

Resources:

Apprenticeships.gov.uk resource hubhttps://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/influencers/resource hub

Apprenticeship.gov (USA) https://www.apprenticeship.gov

References:

Cecile. (2020). Improve Apprenticeship Retention Rates — Cognassist. Cognassist Blog. https://cognassist.com/insights/improve-apprenticeship-retention-rates/

Datta, N., Krishnamurthy, A., & Mannie, N. (2020). 3 ways to build lasting apprenticeship programs. World Bank Blogs. https://blogs.worldbank.org/jobs/3-ways-build-lasting-apprenticeship-programs

Fritsch, S. (2022). Land Your Dream Job Through Volunteering? It Happens More Than You Think. Forbes2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2022/05/01/land-your-dream-job-through-volunteering-it-happens-more-than-you-think/?sh=78794e49a435

HM Government. (2020). What are the benefits of hiring an apprentice? Apprenticeships.Gov.Uk. https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/employers/benefits-of-hiring-apprentice#

IBM Newsroom. (2021). IBM Newsroom — Neurodiversity @ IBM. IBM Newsroom2. https://newsroom.ibm.com/Neurodiversity-IBM

Kirby, A. (2021). Apprenticeship and Neurodiversity — recognising intrapreneurship — FE News. FeNews. https://www.fenews.co.uk/exclusive/apprenticeship-and-neurodiversity-recognising-intrapreneurship/

Quickfall, C. (2022). Supporting neurodiverse apprentices | Training Journal. Training Journal. https://www.trainingjournal.com/articles/features/supporting-neurodiverse-apprentices

Sanchez-Ruiz, M.-J., Khoury, J. El, Saadé, G., & Salkhanian, M. (2016). Non-Cognitive Variables and Academic Achievement. Non-Cognitive Skills and Factors in Educational Attainment, 65–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-591-3_4

Williams, A. (2021). (2) Top companies who are engaging their Neurodivergence in 2021 | LinkedIn. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-companies-who-engaging-neurodivergence-2021-andrew-williams/

Neurodiversity Definition

Neurodiversity: this term refers to a general diversity of minds. It includes people who are neurotypical and neurodivergent. When I talk about promoting neurodiversity in the workplace, for example, I am referring to creating a diverse workforce representative of the broad spectrum that exists when it comes to ways of thinking, processing information, communication, and learning. Some employees may be “normal” or neurotypical while others may have ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism, or trauma impacted ways of thinking. I am not referring to any particular label or diagnosis, but rather, the concept of an environment where a diversity of minds coexist.

Neurodiverse: This word is pretty much the same as neurodiversity, but should be used as an adjective. You can say, for example, that your workplace is neurodiverse.

Be careful though, because you should never describe a person as being neurodiverse. Individual people should be described as neurodivergent.

Neurodivergent: This word describes an individual whose way of thinking falls outside of society’s defined version of normal. Oftentimes you will see it abbreviated as ND.

Many times, neurodivergent people will have a diagnosis or label you may recognize, like autism, dyslexia, or ADHD. But neurodivergent people are also those with epilepsy, different kinds of brain trauma, or simply a unique way of thinking that may not have a specific diagnosis.

Photo Credits: ThisisEngineering RAEng, Sepp Rutz, and Mimi Thian on Unsplash

FREE DOWNLOAD: Neurodiversity in the Workplace: Things to Consider Before You Jump On the Bandwagon

Neurodiverse hiring practices can benefit any company in any industry and in more areas than most people realize. The investment has yielded greater patenting, innovation, process improvement, efficiency, and creativity not only in technology industries but also in industries that include investment banking, insurance, and mortgage banking.

This resource explains the term “neurodiversity” and describes the potential positive impact on your business that can come from including neurodivergent individuals in your workplace.

The post How Apprenticeships Support Neurodiverse Hiring and Workforce Development appeared first on Susan Fitzell.

For all the acceptance that neurodivergence has been receiving, including workplace initiatives to recruit and train neurodivergent talent, we still have a long way to go to achieve equity and full inclusion. Stereotypes still shape hiring patterns, and too many hiring practices are built around those stereotypes.

I have often spoken about neurodiversity as a competitive advantage. I have cited workplace research and employer case studies showing that neurodiverse teams can strengthen innovation, problem-solving, and performance when people are supported well. But there is another side of this conversation that deserves equal attention.

I also believe that every human being has unique gifts. Yet there is growing concern about the “superpower” stereotype in neurodiversity conversations. This language shows up especially often in discussions of autism. It is time to bring those concerns into the open.

When neurodiversity hiring initiatives are introduced, there is often an assumption that the candidates will primarily be autistic, and that they will be savants or extraordinary outliers. At the same time, those same candidates are often expected to assimilate into a neurotypical work environment that was never designed with neurodiversity in mind. They are expected to exceed expectations while also adapting seamlessly to systems that may be actively working against them.

This superhuman expectation is especially common in workplace conversations about autism. Our tendency to rely on stereotypes about people who are different from us weakens hiring initiatives before they begin. Despite growing awareness, the autism employment gap remains significant. In the UK, ONS-linked reporting highlighted by the National Autistic Society found that only 22% of autistic adults were in any kind of employment. That is not a talent problem. It is a systems problem.

At a time when highly visible public figures are often used as shorthand for neurodivergent success, it is worth asking what that idealization has done to the broader picture of neurodivergence. More than one autistic colleague has asked me not to use celebrity examples as proof points. Stereotypes that suggest neurodivergent people must be geniuses, savants, or exceptional outliers can be deeply harmful. They affect self-worth, distort public understanding, and raise the bar so high that ordinary human strengths are ignored.

At its worst, this pressure contributes to masking. Masking, or camouflaging, is a coping strategy in which autistic people suppress or alter natural traits in order to fit social expectations. Research continues to show that masking is associated with emotional distress, exhaustion, anxiety, depression, and burnout.

What counts as acceptable neurodivergence – and who decides?

Organizations often try to define what an acceptable presentation of neurodivergence looks like. When neurodivergent people are not included in those discussions, the result is often arbitrary. Presumed exceptional attributes become the standard. Corporate narratives end up rooted in social misconceptions rather than lived experience. Inclusion becomes tokenized.

Well-known workplace platforms often describe neurodivergence as a competitive advantage, but too often they do so by spotlighting extraordinary mathematical ability, software brilliance, or unusual memory. That focus on “superpowers” sets unrealistic expectations. Instead of creating equity, it flips reality on its head. It can leave people believing that neurodivergent employees are somehow privileged because of unusual gifts, while ignoring the real barriers they face.

This pattern is not new. It has deep roots in pop culture. Research on autism stereotypes has long noted that media portrayals disproportionately emphasize savant abilities and exceptionalism.

Movies like Rain Man helped bring autism into public conversation, but they also reinforced a narrow image by centering savant syndrome. More recent examples have continued that pattern. Characters like Sheldon Cooper and Shaun Murphy are often portrayed through the lens of extraordinary intelligence, eccentricity, and exceptional skill. The result is a damaging question that hovers beneath the surface:

Is neurodivergence only considered legitimate when it comes with exceptional talent?

Revamping our hiring practices

Generalizing the entire neurodivergent population under one umbrella does very little to dismantle the stereotypes that guide many human resource decisions. Hiring systems that see neurodivergence in black and white leave candidates facing the same recurring problem: to be accepted into a neurotypical workplace, they must either camouflage their neurodivergence through masking or somehow prove themselves extraordinary enough to compensate for it.

Pop culture continues to promote the idea that exceptional talent is the only acceptable version of neurodivergence. Hiring practices often mirror that belief.

This critique of the savant stereotype is not a call to lower expectations. It is a call to raise awareness. Employers need to become aware of the stereotypes that do not serve organizations seeking to build truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces.

If companies want neurodiversity hiring initiatives to succeed, they need to move beyond the search for brilliance wrapped in conformity. They need to stop asking whether a candidate seems exceptional enough to justify support. They need to ask whether the hiring process is actually measuring job capability or simply rewarding the people who best match a narrow social norm.

A neuroinclusive workplace does not assume every neurodivergent person is a genius. It does not expect people to be superhuman. It creates conditions where a wide range of minds can contribute, grow, and succeed.

References

Austin, R.D., and Pisano, G.P. “Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage.” Harvard Business Review, 2017.

Draaisma, D. “Stereotypes of Autism.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2009.

Heasman, B. “Employers may discriminate against autism without realising.” London School of Economics Blogs, 2017.

Pearson, A. and Rose, K. “A Conceptual Analysis of Autistic Masking: Understanding the Narrative of Stigma and the Illusion of Choice.” Autism in Adulthood, 2021.

Neurodiversity Definition

Neurodiversity: This term refers to the natural diversity of human minds. It includes people who are neurotypical and neurodivergent. When I talk about promoting neurodiversity in the workplace, I am referring to creating a workforce that reflects the broad spectrum of ways people think, process information, communicate, and learn. Some employees may be neurotypical, while others may have ADHD, dyslexia, autism, trauma-impacted ways of thinking, or other differences in how they move through the world.

Neurodiverse: This word is best used as an adjective to describe a group, team, or workplace. For example, you can say that a workplace is neurodiverse.

Be careful, though, because you should not describe one person as neurodiverse. An individual person should be described as neurodivergent.

Neurodivergent: This word describes an individual whose way of thinking, processing, or learning differs from what is considered neurotypical. You may also see it abbreviated as ND.

Many neurodivergent people may have a diagnosis or label you recognize, such as autism, dyslexia, or ADHD. Neurodivergence may also include epilepsy, brain injury, or other differences in how a person processes the world.

FAQ

What is the “superpower” stereotype in neurodivergent hiring?
The “superpower” stereotype is the idea that neurodivergent candidates, especially autistic candidates, are valuable only if they bring extraordinary or savant-level abilities. This stereotype can distort hiring decisions by creating unrealistic expectations and overlooking capable people whose strengths are real but not sensationalized.

Why is the savant stereotype harmful in the workplace?
The savant stereotype is harmful because it narrows how employers define value. Instead of recognizing a wide range of strengths, employers may expect neurodivergent candidates to be exceptional outliers. That can lead to tokenism, biased hiring, masking, and missed opportunities to build truly inclusive teams.

How can companies make neurodivergent hiring more inclusive?
Companies can improve neurodivergent hiring by focusing on actual job skills rather than stereotypes, involving neurodivergent voices in decision-making, using skills-based assessments, and designing workplaces that do not require people to mask or conform to narrow social norms in order to succeed.

Photo by Michelle Cassar on Unsplash

CLICK HERE to learn how to Maximize Success in YOUR workplace!. Bring Susan to your organization!

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One thing I often stress in my programs is the importance of making sure the people we work with know they are appreciated. Teachers make a difference every day. They educate, inspire, guide, counsel, encourage, and help students take the next step.

These quotes were personally chosen by me because they express my appreciation for the important work educators do throughout the school year. Use them in a card, note, email, school newsletter, staff meeting, or celebration.

To every educator who works with young people: thank you for making a difference.

Teacher Appreciation Quotes You Can Use

“A good teacher may never know the full impact of a kind word, a patient explanation, or one moment of believing in a student.”
~ Susan Fitzell

“Teacher appreciation makes the world of education go around.”
~ Helen Peters

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
~ William A. Ward

“A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself to light the way for others.”
~ Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
~ Albert Einstein

“None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody – a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns – bent down and helped us pick up our boots.”
~ Thurgood Marshall

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”
~ Henry Adams

“I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.”
~ Lily Tomlin as “Edith Ann”

“The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called “truth.”
~ Dan Rather

“If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn’t want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher’s job.”
~ Donald D. Quinn

“In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day’s work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.”
~ Jacques Barzun

“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.”
~ Carl Jung

How to Use Teacher Appreciation Quotes in a Meaningful Way

Teacher appreciation often starts with good intentions. We want teachers to feel seen, but it is not always easy to find the right words or the right way to say them.

That is where a quote can help.

A quote gives people a place to begin. It can set the tone, open the note, or give shape to what someone already feels but may not know how to express. The key is to connect the quote to something real.

• What did you notice?
• What did the teacher do that made a difference?
• How did that effort support a student, a family, or the school community?

Here are some practical ways to use teacher appreciation quotes in a way that feels personal and meaningful.

1. Write a note that sounds like you noticed

A handwritten note does not have to be long. In fact, it is often better when it is short and specific.

Choose a quote that fits the teacher. Maybe it is a teacher who stays after school to help students finish a project. Maybe it is the teacher who quietly checks on the child who rarely asks for help. Maybe it is the one who reworks a lesson three different ways until the students finally get it.

1. Write the quote at the top of the card.
2. Then add a few honest sentences.
3. What did you see?
4. Why did it matter?
5. How did it help a student, a family, or the school?

That is the part teachers save. Not the fancy card. Not the perfect wording. They save the note that reminds them someone saw the work they were doing when no one was making a fuss about it.

2. Use a quote to start a staff meeting with purpose

A quote on a slide can feel like filler. We have all seen that happen. It goes up on the screen, people glance at it, and then the meeting moves on to schedules, testing, coverage, and paperwork. Instead, use the quote as a quick conversation starter.

1. Read it aloud. Then ask staff to turn to a person nearby and answer one simple question:
2. Where did you see this happen in our school this week?
3. Give them a minute or two.
4. That is enough.

Someone may mention a teacher who helped a student through a rough morning. Someone else may talk about a colleague who shared materials, covered a duty, or stayed calm when the day got messy. Now the quote is not decoration. It is connected to real people doing real work.

3. Make principal emails specific

A mass email with a quote at the bottom usually does not feel like recognition. It feels like a signature line. Try opening with the quote instead. Then name the work.

For example, mention the teacher who adjusted an assessment so students could show what they actually knew. Mention the team that changed the schedule to support a struggling group. Mention the teacher who started a lunch group for students who needed a safe place to land.

Keep it simple. Keep it true. The power is in the connection between the words and the work.

When appropriate, copy or forward that recognition to someone beyond the building. A superintendent, a director, or a school board member does not always see the day-to-day care that happens in classrooms. Help them see it. Recognition carries more weight when it is witnessed.

4. Give parents a way to say thank you

Many parents appreciate teachers deeply, but they do not always know what to write. “Thank you for everything” is sincere, but it can feel too general. Make it easier. Send families a short note during Teacher Appreciation Week with a quote and a simple prompt.

For example:

“This week, we are celebrating the educators who show up for our children every day. If you would like to send a note to your child’s teacher, here is one way to begin.”

Then give them a sentence starter.

“My child is better because you…”

“I noticed the way you…”

“Thank you for helping my child…”

Some parents will use the quote. Some will ignore it and write their own words. That is fine. The goal is not to control the message. The goal is to open the door so gratitude has somewhere to go.

5. Use newsletters to make teaching visible

Most school newsletters are full of reminders. Picture day. Early dismissal. Testing dates. Field trip forms. Those things matter, but they do not tell families much about the thinking and care that go into teaching. Add a small Teacher Spotlight section.

Choose one teacher. Include a quote that connects to that teacher’s work. Then write a few sentences about what is happening in that classroom right now.

Maybe students are working on a project.

• Maybe the teacher changed a routine to help students become more independent.
• Maybe the class is using a new strategy to support reading, writing, collaboration, or problem-solving.
• Keep it concrete.

Families build trust when they understand the work behind the classroom door.

The quote is not the point

The point is not to find the perfect quote. The point is to notice. Notice the teacher who keeps trying when a student shuts down. Notice the teacher who builds structure so students can succeed. Notice the teacher who helps a child feel capable again.

Words without action are just words.

But when we use those words to name what matters, to start a conversation, or to make good work visible, appreciation becomes real.

Want more practical support for teachers?

I offer professional development for schools on co-teaching, collaboration, learning strategies, and supporting students who learn differently.

Education Programs & Workshops
Co-Teaching Training / Consulting
Free educator download
Substack sign-up

If you are here because you care about supporting teachers, you may also like:

Co-Teaching Support for Schools
Practical Learning Strategies for Struggling Students
Paraprofessionals and Teachers Working Together – Unlocking the Power of Collaboration for Student Success

The post A Dozen Quotes of Appreciation For Teachers appeared first on Susan Fitzell.

Teachers, I see you. 

Classrooms today are not easy to manage. Many students are coming to school with greater needs: inattention, low frustration tolerance, and weak social skills. They seem to be worse than what teachers were seeing a few years ago. Unfortunately, these issues often result in misbehavior. 

When students are distracted, impulsive, or quick to push back, traditional classroom management is often not enough. That doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong. It means we need practical, proactive systems that reduce power struggles, increase structure, and help students function more successfully at school. 

This article offers strategies you can use to support behavior, strengthen focus, and make the classroom feel more workable again.

Setting the Stage for Success

Each of us has our own preference for class structure, consistency, and management. I believe it is important to understand that we need to be free to be ourselves and have our own styles of running our classrooms. Yet, some teaching styles seem to lend themselves well to today’s inclusive populations, where others are more challenging for both students and teachers.

Consider these approaches for a successful classroom environment:

• Consistency without rigidity

• Firm discipline without power struggles

• Reasonable flexibility without lax standards

• The goal of the lesson rather than the specifics of the process

• Learning as the goal, rather than focusing on just that test grade

Physical Structure and Environmental Variables

Before we address behavior directly, I always suggest looking at the physical environment.

Consider Classroom Seating Options

Can we change student seating? I try to move students who struggle to self-regulate closer to the center of instruction, closer to me, or away from distractions. Consider allowing a student to choose a new seat as part of a win-win behavior plan. This ensures the student owns the behavior and the solution. 

The Personal Office Solution

I’ve also found DIY study carrels to be valuable.

I first saw them in use in a fifth grade classroom. I wasn’t sure they would be well received when I introduced them to my high school students, yet some of the students loved them. They provide a space free of distractions as well as a secure personal space. I did not force these on students. It was an option I provided. 

For example, I might say, “You can choose a different seat as well as a ‘personal office’ or you can choose to stay where you are sitting. However, that seat does not appear to be working for you. Make a good choice for yourself.” 

The Spacing Solution

Increase the distance between desks and provide more space if possible. Scan the room frequently and stay alert to what students are engaged in at all times. Okay, I know you don’t have eyes in the back of your head and there are times when you can’t see everything. Try to stay with me. You may find these ideas are worth considering. Some of the classrooms I’ve observed in the past few years are crowded. I’m empathetic to the challenge educators face when they are trying to teach thirty students all at once, often in a multi-ability classroom. 

The Grouping Solution – Mixed Ability Groups with Role Models

Finally, we should avoid seating students who struggle academically together as a permanent seating arrangement. It singles them out for stigmatization and creates a situation where they may feed off each other behaviorally.

The Technique that Changed My Teacher Life: Proactive Behavior Plans

I have found this approach to be highly effective with adolescents. It is based on a proactive choice model, and the goal is to teach young people how to take control of their own lives, make more effective choices, and develop the strength to handle daily problems. 

At its foundation is the belief that all humans choose behaviors in an attempt to fulfill basic needs like belonging, freedom, fun, power, and survival. Because human behavior is internally motivated, the only person’s behavior we can control is our own. Each of us fulfills these needs differently. 

Our goal as educators is to get students to evaluate their present behavior and determine whether it is actually meeting their needs.

In one example, we might ask a student if their behavior is getting them what they want. If the student is talking constantly in class and loses a privilege, the student who wants belonging or fun is not getting what he wants through their behavior. 

On the contrary, they are losing the thing they want and need. If the student is not getting what they need with their present behavior, making a specific plan for change is required. They must make a plan and a commitment to follow through with that plan. In my experience, students would prefer to be kicked out of class to sit in the office (which many find more entertaining than being in class) than sit with me and make a plan for better behavior!

As an adult, I do not do the choosing for the student. I may offer suggestions to help the student come up with solutions. Ultimately, the student must make the choice and commit to it. In this way, the student owns his behavior.

Guidelines for Discussion: The Win-Win Discipline Plan

*My work in this area was significantly influenced by Glasser’s Control Theory and Choice Theory philosophy and Kagan’s Win-Win Discipline framework. 

When having these discussions, I find there are four key questions we need to address: 

What were you doing that was unacceptable? 

I found that asking “What is the problem?”  which was how I learned the approach from Glasser’s work, often led to an answer like “I don’t know. I wasn’t doing anything wrong!” For me, “What were you doing that was unacceptable?” is a more direct, less vague, and more productive question. The purpose here is to focus on the specific behavior that’s causing the problem. Try to avoid confronting values or attitudes and just stick to the behavior.

Whose expectations are not being met? 

This needs to be a part of the discussion. If it is the student’s own expectations, I might start with, “I am concerned”. If it is my expectation regarding rules, I simply state, “Part of my job as a teacher is to keep you safe” or “to create a safe environment. When you poke the student in front of you with scissors, that’s not safe.” 

What do you want as a result of the conversation? 

State what you want and word it in the form of a solution. Tell them, “I want to figure out a way that we both win”. Do not get sucked into arguing about the problem. Students are often skilled at avoiding responsibility. They resort to bantering, badgering, and blaming to get out of trouble. 

What will the resolution include? 

The resolution might include a plan for the future or logical consequences. Most importantly, the plan must include a commitment. If it does not, a new plan must be worked out that the student can commit to. When children are resistant to planning, I simply tell them that they will continue meeting with me after school (or another time) until we work it out and create a plan that we both feel comfortable with. 

Yes, this took a lot of my time in the beginning. By January, Students knew that if they didn’t follow the rules we created and agreed to as a class, they would be stuck sitting with me to make a behavior plan. They felt that was worse than other consequences. I realize that some children are so attention starved they may want that time with you. That’s where you get to be creative in how you implement the framework. 

Conclusion

I believe one of the most important things we can do is stop thinking about behavior only in terms of consequences and start thinking more proactively. When we make small changes to the environment, stay consistent without turning everything into a power struggle, and help students take ownership of their choices, we set everyone up for more success. This does not mean students should not be accountable. It means we address behavior in a way that is more likely to teach, support, and actually change it.If you are looking for more practical strategies you can use right away, I invite you to visit my free download page. I’ve put together additional tools and ideas to help you support struggling learners and make your classroom feel more workable again.

FAQ

What are proactive behavior supports in the classroom?
Proactive behavior supports are classroom strategies designed to prevent behavior problems before they escalate. Instead of reacting only after a student misbehaves, teachers use structure, consistency, seating adjustments, clear expectations, and problem-solving routines to help students stay regulated and successful.

How can classroom management support struggling learners?
Classroom management supports struggling learners when it reduces distractions, avoids unnecessary power struggles, and gives students tools to make better choices. Small environmental changes, flexible seating options, consistent routines, and behavior plans can help students focus, participate, and take more ownership of their behavior.

What is a win-win discipline plan?
A win-win discipline plan is a proactive problem-solving approach that helps students reflect on their behavior, identify what is not working, and commit to a better plan. The goal is not just punishment. The goal is to help the student make choices that meet their needs while also protecting the learning environment.

CLICK HERE to discover a wealth of teaching strategies and resources for maximizing student success!. Bring Susan to your campus! Featured seminar – Differentiation Strategies to Reach ALL Learners in the Inclusive Classroom

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We survived a global crisis only to voluntarily drag our best talent back into environments guaranteed to break them. Think about that for a second.

For a brief period during the pandemic lockdowns, people who process the world differently finally had control over their workspace. They thrived. Now we are forcing them back into the sensory nightmare of the open plan office. And company leaders are genuinely baffled as to why their people are disengaged.

Return-to-office mandates and rigid workplace systems often undermine neurodivergent employees by prioritizing conformity over capability.

This profound disconnect was the focus of a recent feature by Cath Everett for Diginomica. She examined a startling new report by City and Guilds that exposed a massive gap in the modern workplace. Senior leaders are highly confident they are providing excellent support for their workforce. But the employees on the ground report a completely different reality. There is a widening chasm between corporate intent and lived experience.

I spoke with Cath for the feature, and I pointed out one of the biggest drivers of this gap. Awareness moves faster than implementation. But there are other factors too, one of which is tech companies’ widespread return to office mandates. As I explained in the article:

“During COVID, people started working from home and many neurodiverse people found life became easier as they didn’t have someone sitting on either side of them and could do things like adjust the lighting to suit themselves. Even when they had to return to the office for one or two days a week, it was bearable. But many employers are now forcing people back full-time, which can be a nightmare if you have ADHD or autism.”

What Employers Still Get Wrong

Organizations confuse activity with results. You can hold all the inclusion seminars you want. You can write sweeping corporate policies and celebrate your diversity initiatives in marketing brochures. But if you demand absolute conformity in how work gets done on a Tuesday afternoon, your policies are useless.

Employers are still operating from a deficit mindset. They look at someone who struggles with harsh fluorescent lights or the constant chatter of an open floor plan and they see a broken employee. They see a problem to fix.

We are essentially pulling an octopus out of the ocean and dropping it onto the beach. On the sand, the octopus looks clumsy. It struggles to move. Through a deficit lens, you might conclude the octopus lacks mobility skills. You might even put it on a performance improvement plan to teach it how to walk. The reality is the octopus is a marvel of engineering. The environment is just wrong. Put it back in the water and watch what it can do.

We do this constantly in the corporate world. We recruit divergent thinkers for their exceptional cognitive skills. Then we drop them into loud, bright, chaotic spaces and expect them to seamlessly assimilate. When they struggle, we blame the employee. We fail to recognize that our own systems are the barrier. We expect people to be superhuman in their output while ignoring their basic human biology.

This obsession with conformity starts before a person is even hired. What employers still get wrong is relying on the traditional job interview. Standard interviews are just mini performances. They test how well a candidate makes small talk, holds eye contact, and mirrors the interviewer. They do not test how well a person can actually do the job. A brilliant software developer might freeze when forced to answer multi part verbal questions on the spot. If you reject them for a lack of social polish, you are filtering out your most innovative thinkers. You are actively choosing conformity over capability.

Why Return-to-Office Policies Hurt Neurodivergent Employees

This is not about making people feel warm and fuzzy. This is a conversation about business survival and the staggering cost of lost potential.

When you force people to work in ways that fight their natural wiring, they have to compensate. They spend massive amounts of energy just trying to look normal. They hide their struggles. Every ounce of energy a person spends trying to block out background noise or navigate unwritten social rules is energy stolen from problem solving.

It leads straight to burnout. Your top performers become exhausted. Output drops. Eventually, they leave and take decades of institutional knowledge straight to your competitors.

This loss of talent is entirely preventable. Consider a top performing sales representative I worked with. Let us call him Ben. Ben was brilliant at connecting with clients. He understood his product inside and out. But Ben is a divergent thinker who struggles with dense, text heavy reading. He successfully hid his dyslexia for decades. Then his company rolled out a new learning management system requiring timed written tests to earn product certifications.

When Ben took the tests, the letters flipped on the screen. He begged senior management for an alternative way to prove his product knowledge. They refused. The rules were the rules. Ben left the company. They lost their best salesperson because they prioritized a rigid testing system over actual job capability. The cruel irony is that his company had a highly publicized hiring initiative for different thinkers. They celebrated inclusion in theory but refused to offer a simple adjustment in practice.

The impact is even more severe for women in middle management. Society teaches girls to hide their differences from birth. They learn to turn their distress inward to avoid making waves. By the time a neurodivergent employees reaches middle management, she is completely depleted from a lifetime of masking. If she asks direct questions to understand a project, she is labeled difficult. If she concentrates hard, her intense facial expression is misread as anger. Workplaces operating on traditional power based norms marginalize these brilliant minds every single day.

We see this frequently in the tech sector with the superpower stereotype. Companies want to hire a brilliant coder, but they expect a savant. They expect superhuman capabilities combined with seamless social assimilation into a fast paced culture. When the employee inevitably struggles with the sensory environment, the company is entirely unprepared to support them. We are leaving performance on the table. We are stifling innovation because we are too stubborn to rethink how work gets done.

Moving Beyond Labels and Designing for Capability

The solution is not to create special categories or stick clinical labels on people. In fact, labels often do more harm than good. They trigger unconscious bias. They make people feel othered. Most of your divergent thinkers will never disclose their struggles because they fear being stereotyped. They do not want to be the office poster child for an inclusion initiative. They just want to do their jobs.

When I speak with leaders about making changes, they almost always bring up fairness. They tell me they cannot let one person wear headphones or work from home because it would not be fair to everyone else. They fundamentally misunderstand what fairness actually means.

Imagine you are on a flight for a solo business trip. You are stuck in a middle seat. The air is hot. The person behind you is kicking your chair. A baby is crying non stop. The smell of fast food is wafting through the cabin. You have a critical report to finish before you land. You have two choices. You can grit your teeth, suffer through sensory assault, and produce terrible work. Or you can put on a pair of noise canceling headphones so you can focus.

If you put those headphones on, is that favoritism? Are you getting a special perk? No. You are using a tool to function. True equity means giving people the specific tools they need to do their best work. Forcing everyone to work under the exact same conditions is not fair. It is destructive.

Why Inclusive Workplace Design Works Better

We need to stop trying to fix the people and start fixing the environment. I call this Inclusive Dynamic Workplace Design™. It is a philosophy built on common sense and flexibility.

Make adjustments universally. If flexible hours help one person, offer them to everyone. If someone needs to sit in a dimly lit work area to be productive, give them the go ahead. Create quiet chill spaces in the office where anyone can escape sensory overload. When you make flexibility the standard, nobody has to out themselves just to get the tools they need. You eliminate the whispers about favoritism entirely.

This design shift must extend to how we share information and collaborate. Not everyone learns by listening to a manager speak at the front of a room. I once worked with a vice president who had a lead developer on her team. During a critical Zoom meeting to solve a complex issue, the developer kept her head down the entire time. She barely spoke. The vice president could have assumed she was disengaged and called her out. Instead, she waited. Near the end of the meeting, she asked the developer if she had anything to add.

The developer looked up and said she had been mapping out the conversation. She held up a hand drawn flowchart she created while listening. She had successfully identified the break in the process by visually mapping out the problem. That is the kind of capability we unlock when we stop forcing people to look and act like traditional employees.

How to Design for Capability Instead of Compliance

If you want to bring different minds into your company, switch to skills based assessments instead of traditional interviews. Give candidates the interview questions in advance. Allow them to process the information so you get their best answers, not just their fastest ones. Partner with candidates to discover their natural strengths rather than searching for their flaws.

The ground beneath us will always shift. We cannot control that. But we can absolutely control the environments we build on top of it. The future belongs to organizations that let go of forced conformity. When you shift from a deficit mindset to a gifts mindset, you clear the path for raw talent to thrive. You build a high performance culture where every mind can contribute. Get the octopus back in the water. Let your people do what they do best.

FAQ

Why do return-to-office policies affect neurodivergent employees differently?
Return-to-office policies can create added barriers for neurodivergent employees because many office environments include sensory overload, constant interruptions, bright lighting, noise, and social demands that make concentration and regulation more difficult. Remote or flexible work often gives people more control over their environment and working conditions.

What is inclusive workplace design?
Inclusive workplace design is the practice of creating work environments, policies, and communication systems that support different ways of thinking, processing, and working. This can include flexible schedules, quiet spaces, alternative ways to share information, and options that reduce unnecessary barriers to performance.

Why is forced conformity bad for business?
Forced conformity can lead to burnout, disengagement, lower productivity, and higher turnover. When companies prioritize looking like a “traditional employee” over actual capability, they risk losing highly skilled people who could otherwise make strong contributions.

References

https://diginomica.com/employers-are-convinced-they-provide-effective-support-neurodivergent-employees-lived-experiences

https://neurodiversityintheworkplace.guru

CLICK HERE to learn how to Maximize Success in YOUR workplace!. Bring Susan to your organization!

The post What Employers Still Get Wrong About Neurodiversity and Return-to-Office Policies appeared first on Susan Fitzell.

So let me ask you.

Have you ever taught a lesson that you know you taught well? You had the materials ready. Your explanation was clear. Your pacing was on point.

But then you looked at the assessment results and realized half the class still did not get it.

I have been there. It is one of the most common frustrations in teaching. We often think the problem is student capability, but it is not.

The students can learn.

The issue is that we taught the lesson in one way. When we use a single delivery method, we only reach the kids who match that specific way of thinking.

How do we fix this?

We vary the access points.

We are measuring compliance, not learning

Back when I first started teaching, we leaned heavily on talk and text instruction. You say it. You assign it. You test it. That method works for some students, but it does not work for most.

If we only teach and assess in one way, we are not actually seeing what every student knows. We are only seeing which students can handle our specific method of delivery. That is a hard truth, but it is the reality of the classroom.

When we stick to one path, we miss the potential of students who need a different entrance into the content. We end up prioritizing the process over the actual understanding of the material.

When we teach and assess in only one way, we do not measure learning. We measure compliance with that method.

Behavior is a clue, not a problem

You already know these kids. I am just going to name them.

You have the movers. They are tapping their pencils. They are shifting in their seats. They might be driving you a little bit crazy.

They are not trying to be off task. They are moving because that is how they process information.

Then you have the visual kids. They are doodling while you are talking. You might think they are not paying attention, but they are still with you. They visualize everything. If you explain an idea, they might get nothing. If you draw that same idea, the light goes on.

We also have the big picture thinkers. These kids are always asking why we are learning this or what it matters in the real world. If they do not see the purpose, they disengage.

When we reframe these behaviors as clues about how students learn, everything changes. Management gets easier. Student confidence goes up because they no longer feel like their natural way of thinking is a problem.

The silent strength of the independent processor

Then we have the quiet processors.

These are the independent learners who prefer to think first and talk later. They are reflective and self aware, but they often get overlooked because they are not the first ones to raise their hands.

In a fast paced classroom, these students can fall behind. It is not because they lack the answer. It is because they lack the time to formulate it. They are just not ready the moment you ask.

A simple shift in pacing can change their entire performance. Give them 10 seconds of wait time. They become a whole different kid. When we respect their need for quiet processing, we allow them to show us their true strength.

It is not about 27 lesson plans

I know what you are thinking. You are worried about burnout.

You think differentiated instruction means creating a different lesson plan for every child in the room. That is not what this is.

We are not looking for chaos. We are looking for structured choice.

Instead of changing the content, we change the access. We keep the same standard but provide different paths to reach it.

You can do this on Monday by offering three or four concrete ways to show learning.

You want to write it? Write it.

You want to explain it? Teach it.

You need to see it? Draw it.

You need to do it? Build it.

Instead of asking: “Which students can handle my lesson?” Ask: “How many ways can students access this idea?”

The gift of language and self awareness

Part of our job is to help students figure out what works for them.

We need to give them the language to describe their own learning patterns. When a student has the awareness to say, “I need to draw this to understand it,” the game changes. That is the goal.

This builds independence that lasts long after they leave your classroom. They stop fighting the task and start accessing it.

Once you see that immediate shift in engagement, you cannot go back to the old way of teaching. You realize that the goal was never for them to follow your path. The goal was for them to find their own way to the idea.

The Monday morning shift

You do not need to overhaul your entire curriculum by tomorrow. Start small.

Pick one lesson. Add one new way to present the content. Add one new way for students to show what they have learned. That is it.

When students finally access the content in a way that fits their strengths, the shift is immediate. They stop feeling like they cannot learn and start realizing they just needed a different door.

Do you see how this builds a student’s confidence for the long haul?

Once they realize they can succeed, they are all in. And once you see that happen, you will never want to teach any other way.

FAQ

Why are some students not getting a lesson even when it is taught clearly?
Sometimes students are not missing the lesson because of ability. They are missing it because the lesson is delivered through only one access point. When teachers vary how content is presented and how students can respond, more learners can connect to the material. That idea is consistent with differentiated instruction and UDL principles that emphasize multiple means of representation and expression.

What does differentiated instruction actually look like in the classroom?
Differentiated instruction does not mean creating a different lesson plan for every student. It means keeping the learning goal the same while offering different paths to access the content or show understanding. Education Week describes differentiation as tailoring instruction to give students what they need in diverse classrooms.

Why does wait time matter for some students?
Some students need more time to process a question before they respond. A fast-paced classroom can make reflective learners look unprepared when they actually just need more time to formulate an answer. Giving even a short pause can help students show what they really know and improve confidence and participation. This fits the broader UDL principle of offering multiple ways for students to engage and express learning.

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Most companies say they want to hire the best person for the job, but then they run an interview process that rewards the best performer in the interview room. There is a big difference between hiring the best person for the job and the best actor in the interview process. The two are not the same thing.

Traditional interviews often reward social performance over job competence, which can disadvantage neurodivergent candidates and cause employers to miss top talent. They also reward people who can think out loud in real time with a perfect stranger, under pressure, while being judged. If that sounds like a mini performance, it sounds that way because that is exactly what it is. And that is where many neurodivergent candidates get filtered out of the hiring process.

What Traditional Interviews Actually Measure

When we call an interview a conversation, we are not being honest. A typical interview has its own hidden rules. Candidates must be able to make small talk. They must be able to read the room, which is challenging, especially when most interviews in this hybrid world are happening via Zoom. Candidates must show the right enthusiasm, answer questions quickly, and not pause too long. 

It is often considered a ding on someone’s performance if they ask for a question to be repeated or do not answer the interviewer “correctly.” They also cannot be too direct or too detailed in their response. And depending on the person doing the interviewing, these rules can change.

None of those social requirements fit the typical job requirements. Unless it is a sales job, or a job where the candidate will be interfacing with clients or the public, these social skills may have nothing to do with job requirements or job performance.

The interview is an audition. For neurodivergent candidates, that audition can be a barrier even when their actual work is excellent.

Why Neurodivergent Candidates Struggle in Standard Interviews

The acting barrier is real

Many autistic candidates, for example, are not flat or emotionless. They are regulated. They may not display emotion in the way an interviewer expects them to. If your hiring team equates warm and animated with competent, you are going to miss people who have the right qualities to do a job but communicate in a way that is different than social norms would expect.

Processing speed gets mistaken for capability (or lack of)

Some people need a moment to think before they can answer a question. Some need to hear the full question and then organize their response before they speak. When interviews reward speed, they are not selecting people for expertise. They are selecting verbal agility under pressure. That can disadvantage people with ADHD, auditory processing differences, or anxiety, even when they know the material well..

Confidence is not competence

We all know there are candidates who can sell anything, including themselves. Heck, I was one of them. I was very good at interviewing because I have always been verbally adept. Unfortunately, not everyone has that skill. Interviews reward candidates who are verbally adept at selling themselves.

Meanwhile, many neurodivergent candidates are very literal and honest. Now I am also literal and honest, but somehow that did not hinder me in an interview. I was really good at putting on the confidence hat. Entering an interview feeling like you know everything can sometimes be an advantage. As an undiagnosed autistic woman, I had no doubts about the knowledge that I had hyperfocused on and gained over years of study.

I remember telling an interviewer that I would be an asset in the job I was interviewing for. In this case, the interviewer was offended that I would claim I was an asset and said he would make that decision. But then he hired me.

I may have been literal and honest, but I was also overly confident. Confidence does well in an interview. On the contrary, if an interview candidate says things like “it depends,” because it does, and they do not oversell their talents, they may come across as less than stellar for the job.

If your team has a bias toward confidence, you will regularly hire the best storyteller, maybe not the best contributor.

Here is the hard truth: companies often confuse “I feel good about this person” with “this person will do the job well.”

The Writer I almost Lost to “Culture Fit”

I recently interviewed a writer over Zoom. She had a flat affect. No animation. Slow, deliberate responses. Under standard corporate interview scoring, she would have been labeled “low energy,” “not engaging,” or “not a fit.”

But I have learned the hard way that those labels are often meaningless. They tell you whether someone can perform in an interview. They do not tell you whether someone can do the job.

So I ignored the social performance and gave her a skills-based assessment. Her writing was excellent.

Later she told me she is autistic and that she communicates far better in writing than speaking. That was not a surprise. It was a confirmation.

She is now one of my top-performing writers. Most organizations would have filtered her out because she did not “act” the part in a video call. That is not a talent problem. That is a process problem.

Why Fair Hiring Does Not Mean Identical Hiring

A common reason companies resist adjustments is the belief that fairness means treating everyone exactly the same. In real life, fairness means giving everyone a clear chance to show what they can do.

In my work, I talk a lot about structure. When roles, expectations, and communication are clear, people perform better. When things are vague, people guess. And guesswork causes problems. The same is true in hiring.

If your interview process is built on ambiguity and social decoding, you are not being neutral. You are selecting for one communication style.

Reasonable adjustments that actually work

You do not need a complicated program. You need a smarter design.

Here are changes that raise the signal and reduce the noise.

Provide questions in advance

This is one of the simplest fixes and one of the most powerful. It reduces anxiety and lets candidates organize their thinking. You learn what they know, not just how quickly they can retrieve it under stress.

How to Make Interviews More Skills-Based and Inclusive

If you are hiring a writer, look at writing. If you are hiring an analyst, look at analysis. If you are hiring a project manager, give them a realistic planning scenario.

The secret is simple: test the job, not the performance.

Use working sessions instead of interrogation-style interviews

Some companies do “hangouts” or working sessions instead of formal interviews. That can be a better environment for many candidates, especially if it allows them to demonstrate skill in context. Less theater. More reality.

Offer multiple response formats

Let candidates answer in writing for part of the process. Let them take notes. Let them ask to hear the question again. These are not special favors. They are basic supports that improve the quality of information you get.

The Risk of Automated Screening in Hiring

Resume filters that penalize spelling can screen out dyslexic talent. Tools that judge facial expression can penalize autistic candidates. Even if a tool is marketed as “objective,” it can quietly bake in bias.

If you want fewer bad hires, do not hand the first cut to an opaque system that was not designed for neurodivergent variance.

The Cost of Getting This Wrong

When companies filter for social performance, they lose strong technical talent. They lose original problem-solvers. They lose people who are direct, accurate, and consistent. They lose employees who often thrive with clear expectations and good systems.

They also create a workplace where people feel pressure to mask. That leads to burnout, lower engagement, and higher turnover. And they miss an opportunity that is sitting right in front of them.

Because the goal is not to “accommodate” people into the job. The goal is to build a process that measures the right things.

A Better Question for Hiring Teams

Instead of asking, “Would I like to work with this person?” ask, “What would I need to put in place so this person can do their best work?”

That shift is leadership. It is also good business.

FAQ

Why do traditional interviews disadvantage some neurodivergent candidates?
Traditional interviews often reward eye contact, fast responses, social ease, and confident delivery. Those traits may reflect interview performance rather than actual job ability, which can disadvantage neurodivergent candidates who communicate or process information differently. Guidance from CIPD and SHRM supports more neuroinclusive recruitment practices that reduce these barriers.

What is a better alternative to a standard interview?
A better alternative is to add skills-based assessments, work samples, realistic scenarios, or structured working sessions that let candidates demonstrate the job itself. SHRM and other HR guidance note that exercise-based assessments and work simulations can provide a clearer picture of talent than interview performance alone.

Can automated hiring tools create bias for neurodivergent candidates?
Yes. Automated screening tools can create or amplify bias if they penalize differences in spelling, facial expression, communication style, or response patterns. The EEOC has specifically warned that AI and related technologies used in employment decisions can create discrimination risks if not carefully designed and monitored.

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The Big Shift in Learning

Have you ever taken a course and did everything you were told to do and yet still didn’t get it? It is not because you can’t learn.

Traditional instruction has relied on a “talk and test” model:
Say it. Assign it. Test it.

This approach works for some learners, but it fails many others.

When instruction is delivered in only one format, it does not measure true learning. It measures how well someone can comply with that specific teaching method.

Real learning happens when there are multiple ways to access and process information.

The first step toward becoming a more effective learner is understanding your learning strengths and information processing style.

Learning Styles vs. Reality: How People Actually Learn

Traditional Model:

• One path for everyone
• Measures compliance
• Leaves many learners behind

Effective Learning Model:

• Multiple access points
• Based on individual strengths
• Measures true understanding
• Reaches nearly all learners

Common Learning Styles and Strategies

These are not labels meant to box you in. They are tools to help you find your own way into a subject. You have permission to learn differently.

• Word Learners. These people like reading, writing, and storytelling. They remember what they hear or read.
  
  Strategy: If you learn this way, do not just stare at a page. Take control by writing a script or an article to explain the concept.

• Pattern and System Thinkers. They ask “how does this work” a lot. They need a problem to solve or a strategy to build. They notice problem solving through cause and effect.
  
  Strategy: Use logic to your advantage. If a lesson feels random, find the system or the code behind it.

• Movers and Doers. These people are hands on. They might fidget, tap, or shift while thinking. That is not a behavior problem. It is a clue. They show understanding through action.
  
  Strategy: You are allowed to move to focus. Build a model or act it out to make the lesson stick.

• Visual Thinkers. You explain it and they get nothing. You draw it and boom. They might doodle while you speak, but they are still with you. They are visualizing the concept.
  
  Strategy: Use diagrams, maps, and color. It is your way in.

• Sound and Rhythm Connectors. They pick up patterns in sound. They may hum, tap, or create beats while working. They use rhythm to store information.
  
  Strategy: Use audio or verbal repetition to master hard facts.

• Social Processors. They learn by talking and collaborating. If you make them sit silently, they do not learn as well.
  
  Strategy: You need interaction to think. Find a partner and talk the idea out to prove you get it.

• Independent Processors. They are reflecting on learning before they speak. They need quiet time to make deep sense of things.
  
  Strategy: Your need for quiet is a strength. Take the time you need to process before you respond.

• Real-World Thinkers. They ask “When am I ever going to use this?” It is a fair question. They like sorting and notice details others miss.
  
  Strategy: Connect the lesson to your environment. If the work is practical, you will master it faster.

• Big Picture Thinkers. They want meaning and purpose. They ask deep “why” questions. If they do not see a point, they are done.
  
  The So What: Always look for the purpose first. Once you see the “why,” your focus will follow.

How to Identify Your Learning Strengths

Once you know how you learn, you can choose better ways to work. That is how you build independence. Use this checklist to find your top two or three strengths.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• [  ] Do I understand an idea faster when someone draws a map or diagram? (Visual)
  
• [  ] Do I find myself fidgeting or tapping when I am trying to focus? (Mover)
  
• [  ] Would I rather talk an idea through with a friend than write it down? (Social)
  
• [  ] Do I frequently ask why we are learning a specific topic or what it matters? (Big Picture)
  
• [  ] Do I need a few minutes of silence before I feel ready to answer a question? (Independent)
  
• [  ] Do I like to take things apart or build models to see how they work? (Pattern/Mover)
  
• [  ] Do I notice details in the environment that others seem to miss? (Real-World)

Learning Strategies That Match Your Strengths

Effective learning happens when your strategy matches your processing style.

To process information:

• Visual → diagrams and mapping
• Auditory → repetition and discussion
• Logical → cause-and-effect analysis
• Practical → sorting and real-world application

To demonstrate learning:

• Verbal → writing or explaining
• Kinesthetic → building or demonstrating
• Independent → journaling
• Logical → designing systems or timelines

To stay engaged:

• Social → collaboration
• Big Picture → connect to purpose
• Kinesthetic → movement
• Independent → solo work before sharing

Final Thought: Start Small and Build Momentum

You do not need to change everything at once.

Start with one adjustment. One new strategy. One new way to access information.

When learning aligns with how your brain processes information, your confidence increases and your results improve.

Once you experience that shift, you will not go back.

Frequently Asked Questions About Learning Styles

What are learning strengths or learning styles?
Learning strengths refer to the ways individuals most effectively process and understand information, such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or verbal learning styles.

How can I identify how I learn best?
You can identify your learning style by noticing how you naturally process information – whether through visuals, discussion, movement, reflection, or real-world application.

Do learning styles actually improve learning outcomes?
Yes. When learning strategies align with how a person processes information, comprehension improves, retention increases, and engagement becomes more consistent.

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