In his talk, he encourages his audience to challenge their own misconceptions surrounding the capabilities and strengths of autistic professionals, reiterating that these outdated ideas are not only causing autistic workers to face unfair challenges in the workplace, but they are also holding many organisations back from success.
The common understanding is autistic people are hard to work with because of social and communicative deficits, which create learning difficulties, social isolation and ultimately poor performance. Take it from me, people on the spectrum can not only be star performers, but they can also be fun, fiercely loyal and rally around a common purpose. Isn’t that everything you want in a team?
Geoff shares how ASA was borne from observing neurotypical teams struggling to keep up with the demands of the data services industry, often failing to think in lateral and creative ways – something that neurodivergent people excel at.
In just a few years, ASA has seen exponential success from hiring autistic professionals to create strong neurodiverse teams who are loyal, hardworking, skilled in the areas that data services roles – and indeed, many roles across different industries – demand.
For example, Joe has been working with us for more than two years now. He’s been promoted twice and is now a Lead Consultant working on infrastructure design for ASX300 clients. He’s happy leading a team of 8 and he’s moved out of home. He’s taken up cycling for god’s sake. Maybe golf will be next. And maybe he’ll be leading data programs at your company soon: the Dave Grohl of Data, the Bon Jovi of Business Intelligence. What I know for certain, is he’s already a rockstar.
Geoff’s TEDx talk is now available to view.
Check out the post on LinkedIn and share the success of neurodiverse teams with your network.