‘My interest in neurodiversity comes from a passionate place of including everybody’

Head of Arden University's School of Psychology and Occupational Psychologist Professor Gail Steptoe-Warren has developed a British Psychological Society webinar on neurodiversity in supervision. Ella Rhodes asked her about it.

What does your webinar cover?

It's an introduction to neurodiversity. What we're finding is a lot of supervisors haven't had experience of working with neurodivergent individuals, and the techniques we might put in place in supervision may be very different to those we use with neurotypical people. The webinar covers different conditions in terms of neurodiversity, and how we can support neurodivergent colleagues going through qualifications or in the workplace using different tools and techniques.

Where does your interest in this area come from?

I'm a big advocate of supporting neurodivergent colleagues. As Head of Psychology at Arden University I see a lot of students who come from non-traditional backgrounds, including those who are neurodivergent.

As a school we've been thinking about how we can support our students to attain their potential. We've developed a Postgraduate Certificate in Neurodiversity that we're offering to our own staff – including academic, professional and services staff – and to schools from primary schools to colleges. If the schools are in more disadvantaged areas and have high pupil premiums we offer this free of charge so they can better support the children, teachers and staff in providing an inclusive educational experience.

We recruit neurodivergent colleagues as well and we recognise the strengths that they have and
the different ideas that they bring to the school, so I'm keen on supporting those colleagues as well. It's about making sure there's a level playing field for everybody. My interest in neurodiversity really comes from a passionate place of including everybody, and that's what Arden's about as a university, it's about inclusivity.

What would you say still needs to change in this area?

A lot has changed over the years, and I think there's a growing recognition that neurodivergence is not negative, but there still is some of that perception. It's really about building on the strengths of those individuals because there's lots of strengths that come from neurodivergent colleagues and we should hone in on those. I think a lot of organisations don't see the value: they see problems and a need to put reasonable adjustments in place, but don't see the strengths.

I'd encourage every organisation to open their minds to these colleagues. We have a few neurodivergent colleagues within our school and they come up with some wonderful ideas and really add value to the school and to our students as well.

Could you tell us something that might surprise someone who isn't familiar with this area of work?

I think some people aren't aware of the strengths of neurodivergent individuals. One of the other things that might surprise people is a lot of individuals go undiagnosed. We've heard of quite a few colleagues and students that have been diagnosed with ADHD and autism later in life, and women are especially likely to go undiagnosed. People may grapple their way through school, college, university and in professional jobs without any support. There are issues in schools as well – there's not enough funding for diagnosing dyslexia, for example. I think that's a major issue. A lot of people are diagnosed at university, and they have to deal with that.

What do you hope people take away from your webinar?

I hope it will give people a basic understanding of neurodivergence and some of the tools and techniques that can be put into place to support individuals in a supervisory relationship. It's nothing ground-breaking and it's not difficult to put in place. It's about recognising that everybody's different, whether they're neurodivergent or neurotypical… we all have different approaches to supervision and we need to think about that.

View the pre-recorded webinar (price: £58.33 + VAT, or members £35 + VAT).