Neurodiversity: the untapped competitive advantage
Presenter:
Andrew Pfeiffer
Time:
12:03
Summary
Neurodivergent people have profound strengths. However, they are much more likely to be unemployed. In his passionate talk, data leader and proud advocate for neurodiversity inclusion Andrew Pfeiffer shows the TEDxCanberra audience the positive impacts of being part of a truly inclusive workplace. Andrew is an enthusiastic data leader and a proud advocate for neurodiversity inclusion. In 2019, Andrew unexpectedly discovered that he is autistic. This revelation transformed Andrew's life by profoundly increasing his self-awareness of his strengths and areas of development.
Transcript
Have you ever tackled a problem where the solution seems so close and yet just out of reach, maybe you write code and you just can't quite get that program to work. For me, that problem was my life. There were certain things in life that I found so challenging compared to other people, networking events triggered crippling social anxiety. I often misunderstood my managers, and then in 2019 I discovered that I'm autistic. This was the answer, the common thread that I was looking for the trend line that explains the data about me.
After this revelation, I returned to my old job at the Tax Office as a data scientist, and I co founded their neuro diversity network, which grew to 400 members in one year, I shared with the network that organizations that become employers of choice for neurodivergent staff will have a profound competitive advantage. To unpack this idea some more, let's rewind to 2017 before my revelation. I just moved here to Canberra for a secondment, and four months later, I ended up bawling my eyes out in a senior executive's office.