Neurodiversity and Legal Advocacy: Tying it All Together

Tying it all Together

Understanding neurodivergence is important if we are going to succeed as advocates. When we deal with colleagues and clients, when we mentor or teach students and associates, and even as we draft our briefs and make our arguments, we must recognize that we are dealing with people who may process information and think differently than we do. And we should be ok with that.

Even as a neurodivergent person myself, growing up dyslexic, this isn’t always easy for me to do. I fumble a bit even with my own family. 

My daughter (who gave me permission to share) is clearly intelligent. I have always had high expectations for her. When she entered middle school, her grades began to suffer and she was obviously unhappy. I couldn’t understand what had changed, and I made moral judgments about her work ethics. She was underperforming (a classic sign of neurodivergence) and clearly just needed to work harder.

Recently, she was diagnosed with ADD and level 1 autism. And as I dug into the research I’ve shared, I came to understand that her issues weren’t with laziness, but with attention, overstimulation, and organization. And that as these were addressed, and her strengths were recognized and grown, she could thrive.

You, your students, or your associates can too. It starts with awareness. Then we need to take action. But what if we are not given a diagnosis?

Disclosure 

At younger stages, it’s the responsibility of school administrators to make sure children with learning disabilities are assessed and identified, regardless of their desire for confidentiality. At college and in the workplace, it’s completely up to the individual to self-identify. As a result, over 94% of high school students with learning disabilities receive assistance, while just 17% of college students receive access to the same services. 

At work, accommodations are required when disabilities are disclosed. But again, there is a stigma to that disclosure. Studies show that persons with disclosed disabilities tend to make less than those who do not disclose. And by the time attorneys, in particular, enter the workforce, they likely have self-accommodated in many ways, and are hesitant to disclose any disability.

Fortunately, the current model of disclosure and accommodations isn’t the only way to address neurodivergence. We can, instead, modify the environment for students and attorneys alike in ways that work better for everyone using a model known as universal design.

Universal Design for Neurodivergent Success

Universal design started as an architectural concept. What if the physical environment people learned and worked in was more usable for everyone? Then the space would not need to be modified for a particular disability, and all users would find it accessible.

To do so, several objectives must be met:

1. all users must find the product or space useful;
2. the space should be flexible to accommodate differences (i.e., not just right hand desks but rather ambidextrous desks);
3. the facility must be simple and intuitive to use;
4. information must be perceptible to everyone;
5. there should be a high tolerance of error to minimize harm from accidents;
6. using the environment should require low physical effort; and,
7. there should be adequate size and space for all bodies to navigate.

Applying some of the lessons we’ve learned from looking at the strengths and weaknesses of ADD, dyslexia, and autism, there are several universal design considerations to make learning and working more successful. Noise should be reduced. Lighting should not be too harsh. Colors should be muted. Privacy should be given. Hours should be flexible. Working from home should be considered as an option.

Most of these environmental adjustments are good for everyone.  

Over half of high performing employees say their environments are too distracting. These changes largely help to reduce distraction and enhance productivity for everyone.

In academics, the two most common accommodations requested regardless of diagnosis are longer times for testing and a quiet place for that testing. These accommodations are relatively inexpensive, and if applied within the larger classroom setting, there would be no need for many students to self-identify. All would benefit.

Universal design also applies to teaching. Multiple teaching modalities help everyone. While most of us older lawyers learned audibly, through lectures, our new generation of students and associates are much more visual. They have learned to learn on the internet with videos and graphics. So using slides, videos, and electronically accessible information textually helps everyone.

This access to software and internet resources is particularly important for those with disabilities. If your information is accessible on the internet, they can use their own accommodation software, like readers, to better use that information. Allowing access to grammar and spellchecking features is particularly important for those with dyslexia. And scheduling and calendaring software (and training) is useful for everyone, but particularly those with executive function issues.

Finally, these tips from Haley Moss (in her book Great Minds Think Differently: Neurodiversity for Lawyers and Other Professionals (2010)) on managing a neurodiverse practice are useful for any classroom or firm: 

1. Believe when someone tells you something is difficult
2. Be considerate of sensory processing differences
3. Set clear timelines and deadlines and avoid surprises
4. Use different communication methods
5. Check in and encourage feedback, encourage breaks

Closing Thoughts

Hopefully, if you have followed this series of blogs, you have been encouraged to make your office, firm, or classroom more inviting for the neurodiverse. Recognizing that there are strengths alongside weaknesses, that numerous accommodations exist, and that there are strategies for helping the neurodiverse thrive is a big first step. Applying general principles of universal design will help make your practice, office, or classroom more equitable. And as more people become comfortable with disclosing -- perhaps in response to making these changes -- more custom-tailored accommodations can be developed, so that everyone can thrive, no matter how differently they think.

All prior posts with suggested readings:

Neurodiversity and Legal Advocacy - Introduction

Neurodiversity and Legal Advocacy - Dyslexia

Neurodiversity and Legal Advocacy - Autism

Neurodiversity and Legal Advocacy - ADD/ADHD

 

(Photo attribute: Bill Sanderson, 1997. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY 4.0)