Workplace Seminar Schedule

Disability Inclusion in the workplace allows organisations to play a leading role in changing attitudes for the better. They change behaviour and culture in their own businesses, networks and communities. If a business is confident on the subject of disability, it attracts a diverse workforce; it increases workplace productivity; it improves its customer experience hugely; it innovates. Learn how and why to embrace disability as talent.  

This talk will examine how organisations large and small can implement policies and use technologies to help people make the most of their abilities. Often corporate environments are tricky places for people with dyslexia through a combination of design, application of technology and understanding of individual needs we can enable people to perform.

Inclusion in the workplace is often preceded by diversity – but why? And, it is increasingly common to set-up exclusive groups within organisations – but this surely opposes inclusion? This discussion will explore the conflictions in organisational policies, challenge the status quo and provide some insight into developing inclusive workplace cultures and how this also creates opportunities to improve the ‘bottom line’.   

Nicola James is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and a neurodiverse individual. She will be discussing intersectionality, the hidden journey of neurodiversity and the future directions within the workplace. This will include a look at gender differences, issues around disclosure, socio-economic status and race. The discussion will include case studies around a person’s hidden journey from childhood, through to their work-life, as well as future directions and implications for the neurodiversity field.

A workplace dyslexia /neurodivergence consultant view of the current situation across a range of workplaces. Taking in different perspectives and considering what could be done, and what is being done, to encourage and guide more employers towards becoming dyslexia/neurodivergent-friendly workplaces.

Aims of the session: We will explore what neurodiversity is and related terminology, discuss how to best prepare students for times of change and for the next steps into employment including preparing for the hiring process, gaining adjustments and the concept of disclosure and have some practical tools that can be used to help prepare the students and those supporting them.

Darren Clark co-founded the Spotless Group nearly nine years ago, which today focuses on providing quality training support for businesses, and more recently co-founded the Global Dyslexia Group. The GDG enable and qualify employers globally to become SpLD inclusive and support their employees with learning differences. The Dyslexia Group also works with schools and parents all over the world to ensure that families from all countries get the support they deserve, with their engaging and educational schools programme, and parent pop up sessions. Alongside all of this, Darren is working with a film production company on a hard-hitting documentary that examines how dyslexia is perceived within different cultures. His story is unique, despite a difficult childhood of being the victim of vandals, criminals and bullies and unable to complete any significant schooling due to undiagnosed dyslexia, Darren will share how he rose from this adversity and the stereotyping of the estate he grew up on to become a successful, serial entrepreneur who is known worldwide for his charitable work and business. Darren will also share how his journey of undiagnosed dyslexia (until the age of 37) meant that he had to work even harder within his career and business, how due to this he fought constant stress and bouts of depression, but determination and perseverance continues to drive him forward in his life. Darren’s story inspires, motivates and educates, and you cannot fail but be moved by his truly personal account of success through adversity.

In 2020, Black Lives Matters refocused our attention on race inequality. Research has shown that if you are neurodivergent, being a member of a minority ethnicity group increases the difficulties you experience*. For this webinar, we address the elephant in the room and explore the impact at work when discrimination on the grounds of “disability” meets discrimination on the grounds of “race” at work. Drawing on her 20 years of experience, Jannett’s talk takes an intersectional approach to neurodiversity. You are invited to contribute to a colour brave conversation to identify ways to make the workplace more inclusive.

Guy will talk about his experience as a workplace coach for adults with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD and ASD.He will describe what underpins his approach and some of the tools he uses to explore the issues that adults with Neurodiversity experience. Guy will show some of the approaches that he uses to address these issues, and what it is that makes coaching effective.