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From YouTube: Neuro-Inclusivity: The Future of the Tech Industry - Kiran "Rin" Oliver, Independent & Leena Haque
Description
Don’t miss out! Join us at our upcoming events: EnvoyCon Virtual on October 15 and KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2020 Virtual from November 17-20. Learn more at https://kubecon.io. The conferences feature presentations from developers and end users of Kubernetes, Prometheus, Envoy, and all of the other CNCF-hosted projects.
Neuro-Inclusivity: The Future of the Tech Industry - Kiran "Rin" Oliver, Independent & Leena Haque, BBC
According to a 2018 report from Tech Nation, 83% of the tech community in the UK believe their biggest challenge is accessing skilled workers. Too many talented people are going unnoticed by recruiters. As a result, there’s been much focus on attracting talent of all ethnicities and genders, but there’s a growing view emerging that more needs to be done in the area of neurodiversity. Many cloud native companies are answering this issue by creating initiatives to hire neurodivergent people. Often, an entire division of recruiting/HR is dedicated to sourcing these individuals. There’s just one problem: They don't actually know what to do next. This panel will go into those next steps, in particular, focusing on on-boarding, retaining, and creating a welcoming work environment for neurodivergent individuals in today’s Kubernetes-based, cloud-native landscape.
https://sched.co/ZekX
B
A
A
This
umbrella
term
includes
autism,
edd,
adhd,
dyspraxia,
dyslexia,
sensory
processing
and
much
more
and
for
a
long
time,
there's
been
a
lot
of
misconceptions
about
neurodiverse
conditions
and
neurodivergence
in
general,
but
gradually
people
have
become
to
un
have
come
to
understand
that
it's
a
community
that
includes
a
lot
of
the
most
influential
people
in
tech,
for
example,
steve
jobs
was
dyslexic,
the
father
of
modern
computing
and
artificial
intelligence.
Alan
turing
was
autistic
and
greta
thurmburg
has
asperger's,
and
even
albert
einstein
was
autistic
and
dyslexic.
A
B
Thanks
man,
so
basically
here's
some
statistics
and
showcasing
the
potential
of
neurodiversity.
So
there
are
a
lot
of
studies
happening
and
have
happened,
and
these
are
basically
estimates.
We,
we
figure,
it
could
be
higher.
So
around
20
to
30
percent
of
the
world
population
is
estimated
to
be
neurodivergent
or
another
study
says
one
in
seven
people,
but
we
believe
it
could
be
more
based
on.
B
You
know:
undiagnosed
people,
so
there's
a
lot
of
miseducation
and
unemployment
of
neurodivergent
individuals
and
and
it
has
and
the
fact
that
it's
impacted
on
companies,
whether
they
realize
it
or
not.
Those
are
considered
neurodivergent
possess,
unique
skills
that
others
may
lack,
such
as
strong
creative
analytical
skills,
pattern,
recognition,
critical
thinking
and
information
processing.
So
there's
a
lot
of
potential
there,
and
these
are
all
skills
that
are
high
in
demand
when
it
comes
to
careers
in
robotics
process,
automation,
artificial
intelligence,
other
fields
of
technology,
science,
engineering
and
math.
B
You
know
basically
stem
related
roles
and
also
creative,
the
creative
industry,
especially
with
myself
being
in
design.
So
many
companies
struggle
to
find
qualified
candidates
for
these
positions
because
they
continue
to
look
into
a
depleted
pool
of
conventional
candidates
and
are
overlooking
those
who
think
differently.
B
A
A
So
when
you're
hiring
for
neurodivergent
talent,
you've
got
to
understand
that
the
traditional
interviewing
process
is
significantly
more
challenging
and
retaining
your
divergent
talent
is
something
that
a
lot
of
companies
struggle
with.
Once
you
get
somebody
hired,
how
do
you
keep
them
there?
That's
a
big
problem
too,
and
as
more
and
more
open
source
organizations
are
constructing
neurodivergent
hiring
initiatives.
They
need
to
remember
to
please
do
have
these
processes
and
procedures
in
place
that'll
ensure
smooth
and
successful
onboarding
and
retain
long-term
protection
of
your
nerd
and
urgent
talent.
A
This
can
look
like
the
ability
to
work
from
home
having
flexible
working
hours,
limiting
required
or
in-person
or
virtual
meeting
attendance
having
an
accommodating
sensory
office
environment,
for
whenever
we
can
go
back
to
the
office
again
understanding
that
some
neurodivergent
people
may
come
across
as
antisocial.
This
is
often
not
true.
We
like
to
hang
out
with
our
friends
and
be
with
other
people
just
as
much
as
anybody
else.
We
just
really
like
to
have
flexibility
in
how
and
where,
and
we
interact
with
people-
and
I
think
that's
really
important.
A
To
actually
focus
on
also
is
that
there
needs
to
be
flexibility
in
how
we
interact
with
others
and
team
building
events
and
all
of
those
social
situations.
There
need
to
be
flexibility
for
allowing
for
people
that
are
neurodivergent
to
have
control
over
that
situation
versus
being
forced
to
conform
to
what
the
group
wants.
A
I
also
have
the
next
slide
so
recruiting
and
interviewing
neurodivergent
talent
is
a
challenge,
as
many
of
you
know
that
have
followed
me
on
twitter.
Up
until
recently,
I
have
been
job
searching
and
I've
found
that
job
descriptions
have
not
been
very
welcoming
for
those
that
are
nervous
virgin.
I'm
happy
to
say
that
by
the
time
this
talk
goes,
live
I'll,
have
some
exciting
job
news
for
you
all,
but
for
now
it's
a
secret
mystery.
A
So
first
things
first,
you've
got
to
ask:
are
your
job
descriptions,
breakdown
of
tasks
and
work-life
balance,
welcoming
to
those
people
that
are
never
divergent?
We've
got
to
make
sure
that
recruiters
and
interviewing
and
hiring
managers
are
aware
of
not
only
what
neurodiversity
is,
but
what
challenges
are
present
for
neurodivergent
job
candidates
when
interviewing?
A
It's
not
enough
to
say,
ask
us
for
accommodations.
You've
got
to
do
some
research
and
say
what
accommodations
are
people
going
to
need
from
us,
and
then
you
need
to
actually
act
on
that.
You
can
give
people
more
time
to
answer
questions.
You
can
refam
revamp
your
interview
process
so
that
it
does
away
with
things
like
smart
style
questions
and
also
interviewing
for
culture
fit
in
my
opinion
is
a
biased,
hiring
practice
that
allows
companies
to
continue
only
hiring
neurotypical
talent.
A
So
if
you're
interviewing
for
culture
fit,
maybe
consider
not
for
neurodivergent
talent
in
particular,
and
a
lot
of
neurodivergent
individuals
are
made
extremely
uncomfortable
by
smart
style
interview,
questions
that
I'm
sure
everyone
has
had
or
overly
personal
interview
questions.
If
it's
possible
try
to
avoid
those
and
get
to
know
us
as
individuals
get
to
know
us
on
a
personal
level.
A
So
there's
a
lot
of
organizational
barriers
that
are
present
to
neurodivergent
talent
and
accessible
company
policies
and
procedures
are
the
first
place.
You
need
to
start
if
your
company
has
an
entirely
online
handbook
that
they
expect
people
to
read
to
understand
how
to
do
their
job.
That's
completely
unaccessible
to
neurodivergent
talent.
If
you
have
an
online,
only
handbook
that
you
require
people
update,
maintain
and
have
to
read
to
understand
the
basics
of
how
to
do
their
job.
You're,
limiting
the
success
of
your
neurodivergent
talent
pool
beyond.
In
my
comprehension,
I've
I've
been.
A
And
so
you
should
probably
make
important
information
available.
You
should
probably
you
should
definitely
make
important
information
available
in
a
variety
of
formats
other
than
just
an
online
handbook.
This
can
include
making
information
available
via
video,
audio
github
or
gitlab
issues.
Google
docs
transcripts
on
the
web
and
via
email
or
slack,
and
if
you
send
instructions
to
people,
consider
how
they
prefer
to
digest
information
and
how
they
learn
best
having
a
25
paragraph,
email
can
really
be
difficult
to
parse.
A
B
Thank
you.
So,
in
the
last
decade,
large
companies,
particularly
tech
companies,
realized
that
they
had
neurodivergent
talent
on
their
staff.
Many
of
these
employees
have
demonstrated
special
skills
again,
like
I
said
in
pattern,
recognition,
memory,
mathematics
and
tech,
related
skills
and
teams
working
to
solve
highly
complex
problems.
B
Neurodiversity
is
gradually
being
recognized
as
an
opportunity
and
also
as
a
competitive
advantage.
A
small
but
grown
number
of
companies
such
as
microsoft,
sap
and
ibm,
for
example,
have
hiring
programs
designed
explicitly
around
neurodiversity,
so
they're,
very
pro
neurodiversity
they're,
making
changes
in
hiring
retention
and
management
practices
to
make
more
opportunities
available.
B
Unfortunately,
the
majority
of
employers,
according
to
a
study
conducted
around
seven
in
ten
employers
to
be
precise,
do
not
include
neurodiversity
in
their
people
management
practices.
More
needs
to
be
done.
Employers
ready
to
make
changes
to
their
hiring
processes
are
already
reaping
the
substantial
rewards
that
come
from
bringing
neurodiverse
talents
into
their
teams,
and
I
have
the
next.
B
B
Thank
you
so
I
mentioned
a
lot
of
companies
are
starting
to
recognize
neurodiversity
one
such
organization
is
my
own
employer.
At
the
bbc
we
created
a
neurodiversity
initiative
called
cape
which
stands
for
creating
a
positive
environment
and
basically,
as
rin
spoke
about
culture,
fit
we're
about
culture
change.
How
can
we
change
as
an
organization
to
be
more
inclusive
towards
neurodivergent
talent?
One
of
the
big
things
that
we
achieved
was
in
our
diversity
and
inclusion
statement
of
intent.
B
We
have
incorporated
neurodiversity
as
a
separate
category,
along
with
all
the
other
categories
which
we're
looking
at
ethnicity,
lgbtq,
disability,
gender
diversity.
We
we
have
had
neurodiversity
recognized
in
its
own
right
and
we
are
about
creating
an
environment
that
empowers
an
individual
to
bring
their
authentic
selves
into
into
work.
B
So
neurodiversity
awareness
training
so
historically
due
to
a
lack
of
understanding
from
management.
Neurodivergent
talent
often
had
issues
adjusting
to
the
corporate
work
culture
again
due
to
the
whole
culture
fit
so
for
us
for
bbc
cape
and
the
initiative
that
we
have
neurodiverse
neurodiversity
awareness,
training
in
the
workplace
was
something
that
we
wanted
to
do
and
highlight,
because
it's
a
beneficial
way
to
bridge
the
gap
between
the
professional
workforce
and
neurodivergent
individuals.
B
We,
you
know
we
created
a
few
things.
This
is
like
a
virtual
swag
alert
in
a
way.
One
of
them
was
a
video
called
nd
mode,
which
we
used
gamification
techniques
to
create
this
training,
video
about
what
it's
like
to
spend
a
few
minutes
or
what
what
it's
like
to
be
in
someone
who
is
who's
identifies
as
a
neurodivergent,
what's
like
to
be
in
their
shoes.
In
the
workplace,
so
we
created
a
gamified
version
of
that
because,
again
we're
looking
at
how
do
we?
B
How
do
we
train
people
and
what's
more
engaging,
especially
if
you
apply
the
neurodiversity
lens
on
creating
content?
You
come
out
with
some
pretty
amazing
things
as
this
video
is
nd
mode,
which
is
freely
available
on
youtube,
and
it
takes
the
perspective
of
someone
who
is
neurodivergent
and
allows
the
viewer
to
experience.
B
B
B
Awesome
so
workplace
adjustments.
What
can
a
company
do
to
create
a
positive
environment
for
neurodivergent
individuals
in
the
workplace?
So
there
are
many
an
organization
can
make
with
minimal
or
no
financial
cost.
Some
of
these
adjustments
are
explore.
Flexible
working
arrangements
such
as
start
and
finish
times
or
promote
remote
working
to
avoid
rush
hour,
for
example,
or
people
are
vote
overwhelmed
by
open
plan
offices
in
terms
of
environmental
flexibility.
B
Consider
how
to
adapt
the
office
to
better
suit
working
purpose
preferences,
quiet
spaces
when
needing
to
concentrate
on
an
important
report,
for
example,
or
to
overcome
the
drawbacks
of
open
plan
offices
and
also
offer
options
to
work
from
home.
Especially
you
know,
we've
all
realized-
and
you
know
postcovide,
that
working
from
home
it
doesn't
just
benefit
neurodivergent
individuals,
it
benefits
a
lot
of
people
and
can
it
can
be
super
helpful
feedback,
flexibility,
spending,
additional
time
on
instructions
and
understanding,
different
communication
process
processes.
B
So
this
may
seem
unreasonable
as
it
requires
some
extra
time,
but
consider
would
you
consider
it
reasonable
to
spend
additional
time
figuring
out
access
into
a
building
or
an
individual
for
an
individual
in
a
wheelchair?
It's
basically
the
same
kind
of
situation,
and
you
know
it's
just
that.
Unfortunately,
organizations
don't
consider
all
accessibility
needs,
especially
cognitive
accessibility
needs.
Training,
fixability
is
giving
out
handouts,
for
example,
in
advance,
letting
people
know
the
structure
of
the
training
in
advance.
B
Ensuring
there
are
plenty
of
breaks,
provide
assistive
technology
such
as
speech
to
text,
or
vice
versa,
and
when
also
when
team
culture
demonstrates
psychological
safety,
which
is
another
important
part,
and
that
organizations
need
to
consider
team
members
can
bring
their
authentic
cells
to
the
workplace
and
flourish.
So
environment
and
culture
plays
a
big
part
in
this,
and
so
the
you
know,
the
working
environment,
for
example,
can
make
a
huge
difference
to
someone's
ability
to
succeed.
B
So,
for
example,
we
have
the
bbc's
cardiff
hq
building.
It
considers
neurodiversity
in
the
working
environment
by
creating
an
inclusive
workplace,
we're
taking
this
seriously,
and
we
now
have
a
building
that
has
included
cognitive
accessibility
in
its
design
brief,
and
it
may
be
just
it
may
be
a
world
first,
but
it's
a
huge
step
towards
building
a
workplace
of
the
future.
B
So,
in
this
design
project
we
thought
about
how
people
with
neurodivergent
con
can
experience
this
space
with
different
perceptions,
memory
processes
and
judgments
of
time
and
distance.
This
is
the
trajectory
for
the
project
that
was
based
on
our
understanding
of
the
physical
and
neurological
diverse
needs
of
individuals,
many
of
which
had
not
been
fully
addressed.
B
So
these
elements
are
complemented
by
a
thoughtful
range
of
spaces
that
recognize
open
plan.
Environments
cannot
work
for
everyone
all
of
the
time.
Hot
desking
is
not
ideal
for
a
lot
of
neurodivergent
people,
I'm
guessing
most
people.
So
in
this
building
we'll
have
we
have
these
quiet
and
calm
spaces
which
are
throughout
the
different
floor
levels
folk.
You
know
to
use
for
focus,
work,
allowing
people
to
get
away
from
the
noise
and
the
business
that
work
settings
can
have.
B
Just
because
a
pc
is
not
running,
windows
doesn't
mean
it's
broken,
so
that's
his
perception
of
how
neurodiversity
is
and
basically
saying,
neurodivergent
people
are
assets,
they're,
not
problems,
and
we
have
to
realize
our
future
is
in
harnessing
our
creativity,
our
diversity
of
thought,
our
ability
to
consider
the
impossible,
our
creative
imagination
dreams.
You
know,
aspirations,
conventional,
doesn't
work
anymore.
We
know
that
now
and
even
more
so
postcoded,
it's
not
just
about
change.
A
A
Alltogetherautism.Org.Nc
and
that's
all
together
with
1l
highly
recommend
you
check
it
out.
Takeawaytonga
is
a
really
wonderful
way
to
encompass
neurodivergence
and
that
people
that
are
neurodivergent
will
get
there
in
their
own
time.
It
might
take
us
longer
than
neurotypical
people,
but
we'll
get
there,
and
when
we
do
we're
going
to
bring
our
all
to
that
project
and
we're
going
to
bring
our
all
to
your
company.
A
A
Thank
you
all
right,
and
I
chose
this
quote
here,
because
I
really
I
really
like
it.
Autistic
people
are
individuals,
we're
not
all
math
geniuses.
We
don't
all
like
trains,
I'm
hopeless
with
technology
and
much
prefer
painting,
there's
no
typical
autistic,
but
I
think
we
all,
probably
probably
all
like,
being
respected
and
validated
that's
by
jeanette
perkis,
and
it's
so
true.
We
all
like
being
respected
as
individuals,
we
all
like
being
validated
for
our
own
unique
talents,
and
I
think
that
you
can
start
by
being
more
accepting
of
different
communication.
Styles
do
mentoring.
B
B
And
I
also
feel
that
if
we
do
cater
for
the
neurodivergent
community,
everyone
will
benefit
because
I've
I've
had
like
people
say.
Oh,
you
know
what
some
of
these
ideas
work
also
for
for
me,
because,
even
though
I
don't
identify
as
neurodivergent,
so
it's
funny
how
it
benefits
everybody.
So
that's
what
is
special
about
this
and
think
about
wider
impact.
B
You
know,
especially
if
you're,
creating
products
and
stuff,
because
it's
likely
that
a
lot
of
your
you
know-
clients,
customers,
users,
for
example-
will
be
neurodivergent
too,
so
think
about
accessibility
of
content.
Think
about
your
processes,
you
know:
are
we
unintentionally
excluding
a
group
of
people?
You
know
a
large
number
of
people
so
think
about
that
yeah,
so
yeah
and
also
you
know,
talk
to
us.
B
A
A
A
A
A
A
B
Yes
see
what
tips
can
we
help
to
build
a
neurodiversity
community
at
work?
In
my
experience,
I
try
to
find
as
many
people
as
possible
via
different
mediums,
to
create
a
group
and
it's
kind
of
grown
in
my
own
organization.
So
it's
about
reaching
out
and
letting
people
know
that
they
exist
and
neurodiversity
is
a
thing
also
trying
to
gain.
B
It's
what
approach
would
you
suggest
for
creating
learning
materials
for
neurodivergent
talent
on
the
web
and
my
my
answer
for
that
would
be
work
with
neurodivergent
users,
especially
if
you're
designing
learning
materials
for
neurodivergent
talent,
because
a
lot
a
lot
of
the
time
the
users
get
asked
after
the
product's
been
created,
for
example.
So
if
you
involve
neurodevelopment
users
from
the
end-to-end
process,
you're
likely
to
create
a
neurodiverse
friendly
product
or
learning
learning
material,
so
that's
how
I
would
go
about
creating
learning
materials
range.
You
want
to
add
to
that.
A
A
I
will
link
that
guide
and
I
really
think
that
having
an
open
dialogue
around
these
sort
of
things
and
making
sure
that
that
discussion
is
continued
through
learning
materials
such
as
guides,
videos
and
podcasts,
even
having
accessible
forms
of
learning
material,
are
really
important
and
making
sure
that
everybody
can
contribute
to
the
conversation
and
everybody
feels
like
valued
and
respected
and
that
their
time
is
appreciated.
For
what
they're
doing
in
terms
of
contributing
to
those
resources
would
be
great.