What does an inclusive/neuropositive/neurodiverse workplace look like?

Heath here.  I'm an autistic person who presents as male and prefers the they/them pronouns.  I'm writing this from Wallumettagal lands of the Eora Nation in what you'll know as Sydney, Australia.  I have a diverse heritage of Biripi (Aboriginal), Finnish/Jewish and Southern USA (from German extraction) heritage.

An professional acquaintance and fellow autist, Ashlea McKay, was recently interviewed for a blog post by autistic recruiting firm Xceptional.  Author Rachel Worsley,  of Neurodiversity Media, interviewed seven autistics for this piece on Thriving and Masking at Work and they were asked two questions.

1. How do you thrive at work without feeling like you have to mask your autism?
2. On the flip side, if you are currently masking at work, what would you like in place to help you thrive at work? 

There are a few similarities that stand out for me in this. 

• Acceptance from the top and the acknowledgement that "you’re safe to be as much of yourself as you want to be". 
• Valuing one's strengths and perspective. 
• "Don’t force people to disclose autism or mental health or invisible physical health disabilities"
• Sensory friendly working environment
• Being clear and open about communications to minimise hurt in those times when we miss read each other 
• Flexibility.  Sometimes we all need to recover from face to face meetings and sometimes meltdowns
• Removing the social barriers to professional advancement.

They seem like things that everyone would benefit from in the workplace and I know that a lot of them are spoken about by most of us ND professionals from time to time.  If you have any thoughts or experiences, wins or wishes, I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

The sharing of needs between ND professionals and NT coworkers is always welcome

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The article: https://xceptional.io/employees/7-autistic-professionals-talk-thriving-masking-work/

Ashlea's original Linkedin Post: www.linkedin.com/.../