“It is so much more effective both as parents and as coworkers to embrace people’s neurodivergence and simply let them be who they are. When you do this, you’ll get to see their true strengths come out. And even better than that—you’re going to show them that you care about them as a human."

As service providers, we work with a wide variety of people from diverse backgrounds, age groups, and locations. Our jobs are heavily reliant on cultivating relationships, which means it’s critical that we’re continually improving our EQ (emotional intelligence) and taking the time to understand how to better collaborate with those we’re serving. 

When we make the effort to understand the people we work with, and have compassion and appreciation for the ways in which we’re different, it increases the enjoyment of the work we’re doing and it leads to better outcomes for long-term business and for relationships as a whole. 

In this episode, we are exploring the term Neurodiversity—what it means, how it shows up in our families and workplaces, and how we can compassionately work with someone who may fall under this umbrella. We also discuss resources for those of us who may identify as neurodivergent. 

Neurodiversity refers to the natural variation in the human brain regarding sociability, learning, attention, mood and other mental functions. And while neurodiversity encompasses all cognitive differences (which we all have), the term “neurodivergent” tends to be used for those with specific differences like ADHD, autism, Tourette's, dyslexia, dyspraxia, synesthesia and specific learning disorders. Others who may identify as neurodivergent are those who are gifted, and those with sensory processing disorder, bipolar disorder, or obsessive compulsive disorder. 

To walk us through this complex topic, we invited Dawn Mortensen to the pod—a neurodiversity advocate, Gaming Marketing Manager at Meta, and Tiffany’s Aunt!

Across 25 years of working and parenting, Dawn has learned a lot about how to tap into the strengths of those who think and work differently. In her workplace and community, she's an advocate for those of us who are neurodivergent. 

This episode is for you if: 

- You want to deepen your emotional intelligence and improve your communication & collaboration skills with your clients and anyone else you work with.

- You’re curious what the term “neurodiversity” means and how workplaces are evolving to embrace people who think differently. 

- You want to learn how to get the best out of the people you work with by understanding and appreciating their unique strengths and gifts. 

- You have children who are neurodivergent and you want to learn how to best advocate for them and support them on their journey. 

About Our Guest 

Dawn Mortensen is a wife, mom of two teenage girls, a Gaming Marketing Manager at Meta, and a neurodiversity advocate. Across 25 years of working and parenting, Dawn has learned a lot about how to tap into the strengths of those who think and work differently. She’s also leading the charge at Meta to advocate for those of us who are neurodivergent. 

Links Mentioned + Other Helpful Resources

Connect with Dawn on Instagram 

Connect with Dawn on Twitter

Grab your copy of Differently Wired

Learn more about REEL

Check out the Stanford Neurodiversity Project

Connect with Neurodivergent Activist, NeuroCla