[diversity] Neuro-diversity in tech & hackers community

That's awesome! The next deadline is September 6th, so if they're
interested in submitting... :)

On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 4:55 AM, Vesna Manojlovic <BECHA at ripe.net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> at the recent conference SHA2017 there was a very interesting presentation
> about "Managing Neurodiversity with Cognitive Empathy" :
>
> https://program.sha2017.org/events/324.html
>
> You can see the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fD2BvS3Aqw
>
> I enjoyed it very much, and I think it's relevant both for the RIPE
> community, and the organisations that employ nerds.
>
> My wish is to invite these presenters to give this or similar talk at the
> RIPE meeting.
>
> Below is the text, repeated, for the archives.
>
> Cheers,
> Vesna
>
> ===
>
> lecture: Nerd-Wrangling 101
>
> Managing Neurodiversity with Cognitive Empathy
>
> Neurodiversity is the concept that neurological conditions are variations in
> the human genome. Therefore Autism, ADHD, and mood- and personality
> disorders are considered social categories intersecting with other social
> categories.
>
> While "Nerd" is very broadly defined, the number of neurodiverse people
> within our social group is much higher than in the general population. Our
> social circles, our hackerspaces, our coworkers are assembled from this
> group. And due to these differences our groups behave differently and
> encounter different problems that cannot be solved with standard management
> 101.
>
> Working together with a team of amazing people, nearly all of whom have
> distinctive cognitive needs, we found that classical management and strict
> structures are impediments rather than support. So we hacked around them.
> Like you do.
>
> In this talk we introduce the concept of cognitive empathy: Being able to
> think into the brain of your peers even though you might lack affective
> ("classical") empathy. We will share how we came to new solutions in
> managing our team by figuring out each others' needs. This talk will be
> about superpowers and super weaknesses: how to manage them, utilize them,
> and create an interdependent band of superheroes for which the sum is
> greater than the parts.
>
> ~~~~
>
> Neurodiversity is an approach to learning and disability that argues diverse
> neurological conditions are results of normal variations in the human
> genome.This portmanteau of neurological and diversity originated in the late
> 1990s as a challenge to prevailing views of neurological diversity as
> inherently pathological, instead asserting that neurological differences
> should be recognized and respected as a social category on a par with
> gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability status.
>
> The term "Nerd" broadly describes very many of the quirks that come with
> neurodiversity. While not all nerds are neurologically diverse, many are.
> ADHD and Asperger's, as well as mood disorders such as depression, bipolar
> disorder, and anxiety, and personality disorders such as OCD are very common
> within the hacker scene.
>
> This talks aims at everybody who either is themselves among the above
> mentioned groups or deals with neurodiverse people on a daily basis. We are
> coming from this perspective because we are managing a team that is
> neurologically diverse, but also because we are ourselves neurodiverse and
> have had very frustrating experiences in the past being managed by others
> who didn't understand our peculiarities or couldn't appropriately respond to
> them due to company policy.
>
> After explaining the general concept the talk will take its time to dive
> into different diagnoses and pair explaining symptoms with real-world
> examples of how they can play out in a work setting. We will also explain
> why we consider some traits as superpowers in a very Marvel Comics-style
> sense ("The Hulk is very strong but he also smashes things to pieces"). On
> the other hand, we will go in-depth into what we call super-weaknesses and
> try to explain how to work around those or harness them for good.
>
> Finally we will talk about some general ideas of how to address neurological
> diversity in a work-like environment. These respecting peoples' sensory,
> metabolic, biological and bio-cognitive needs. We look for Pareto
> improvements, meaning that solutions should benefit everyone without
> disadvantaging a minority. This is especially important as only benefiting a
> plurality can produce devastating effects on minority groups. We will
> therefore explain how to make "harm reduction" the highest priority.
>
> All great ides, however, only work in an open environment where talking
> about such issues is accepted. Being unapologetically neurodiverse is a
> radical act. This talk will also explain why, and what the implications are
> when fostering a culture of vulnerability.
>
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