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As leaders in organizations see embracing diversity as enriching the talent pool, they become increasingly interested in welcoming neurodivergent and, specifically, autistic talent. But well-meaning company leaders may find that their intentions don't match their impact, because the messaging of traditional "autism awareness" efforts can actually alienate autistic people and strengthen the fear they may feel about "coming out."
People outside of the autism community often receive contradictory information about which "awareness" efforts are welcomed, with the mainstream media, parents of autistic children and adult autistic self-advocates presenting very different perspectives. The confusion over the language and symbolism reflects the philosophical divide between the medical perspective on autism that has primarily dominated the awareness conversation in the mainstream and the neurodiversity perspective. Leaders need to understand the origins of these mixed and changing messages, then take steps to celebrate and include the autistic community meaningfully.
The traditional medical model views psychological characteristics associated with autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other developmental differences as deficits, or pathologies situated within individuals. An alternative view is the neurodiversity perspective. In the late 1990s, Judy Singer and Harvey Blume independently defined autism as a form of diversity — a variation of the norm that's beneficial on the societal level (think biodiversity), yet might be stigmatized on the individual level. Soon, the neurodiversity perspective included other developmental differences. The neurodiversity perspective is primarily aligned with the social model of disability, where disablement results largely from the mismatch between individuals' needs and their environments.
Many autistic...