Throughout June and July, we are taking a ‘deep dive’ into diversity, equity and inclusion. We asked Elysium’s Laura Helps about her role as Co-Chair of the newly formed neurodiversity ERG.
How are you involved in the neurodiversity employee resource group, Laura? 
I’m actually involved with three different ERGs! There’s a lot of intersectionality in life, and three of the groups are relevant for me. However, I’m only Co-Chair of one of them as I do have my day job too!
How did the neurodiversity ERG come into being?
The neurodiversity ERG was a ‘splinter’ of the disability group. That was because it depends on which model of disability you use as to where neurodiversity is considered a disability. It’s down to individuals if they feel they are disabled.
What work is the group doing?
We work with the disability group because they’re working on a reasonable adjustment policy, parts of which also apply to our group, so items such as screen readers for dyslexia, timers for ADHD, noise-cancelling headphones, etc. The neurodiversity ERG is working on policies focused on staff needs and also on one focused on patient and service user needs, particularly the impact of sensory issues.
And is the group raising awareness of neurodiversity?
I feel like in the past, with various diagnostic criteria, the term neurodiversity was more focused on boys, but also focused on the more disruptive end. If you didn’t present in the way that a boy presented or you weren’t particularly disruptive, then your neurodiversity didn’t get noticed.
Now we have a whole raft of people, and a lot of women aged 30-40, saying ‘hang on a minute’….. There are a lot of people realising that they are neurodiverse, but they have lower support needs than what we previously would have considered a person with neurodiversity to have.
When thinking about neurodiversity, the temptation was probably to think about a non-verbal young boy. That is one presentation, of course, but there are so many other presentations of neurodiversity. That’s something the group understands – and we want to share that.
