Episode 48: What the neurodivergence? Sabine van Ditzhuizen puts me on the spot about neuro-inclusive desig
Published on 2 September 2025 • Hosted by Dr Lisa Colledge
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What if you could design just one inclusion strategy that worked for everyone, without needing data or relying on people to share a diagnosis?
That’s what I explored with Sabine van Ditzhuizen for her What the DEI? film project. She asked me direct, sometimes uncomfortable questions about neurodivergence, and why it is something that leaders should care about.
Why it matters:
Real strengths that benefit your business: ADHD is associated with a bias toward trying new things. Autistic people tend to excel at spotting patterns and making unbiased decisions. Dyslexics are big-picture thinkers who anticipate future trends.
The scale is bigger than you think: WHO says 15% of people are significantly neurodivergent. For dyslexia alone, estimates reach 20%. I work with a figure of 30%.
Neuro-inclusive design without disclosure: asking, “How do you like to work?” is more effective, and inclusive, than waiting for someone to tell you they’re autistic or dyslexic and then reacting after the fact.
Small changes, big returns: not an enormous extra project on top of your day job, but smart, integral adjustments to get more out of your already stretched team.
For me, this isn’t just theory. My son’s autism diagnosis showed me how small, intentional changes transform our whole family’s ability to thrive. My scientific background gave me the tools to connect that insight to hard data, and to make it work in the business world.
The result? Teams that people enjoy working in, and that solve problems faster and better.
This episode was recorded in 2024 for Sabine van Ditzhuizen’s project, What the DEI?
