Aaron Baer sent me an invitation to speak at the Authentic Legal Professionals Summit. He said, and I quote, “I’m going to gamble and say that you’re able to speak about one of those (autism, ADHD, Tourettes, or other neurodivergences.)”
All of this was a bit of an eye-opener to me, because at 69 ¾ years old, I was unaware that I was neurodivergent, but it seemed to be a pretty safe bet for Aaron.
I have certainly never been formally identified as a person who is neurodivergent. (I am so ignorant on the topic that I did not even know whether it is medically or politically correct to refer to these attributes as being “conditions,” so I asked around and found out that some people would consider that to be offensive.)
And still, since Aaron is something of an expert in these matters, I decided to do some research, and lo and behold, I probably have Tourettes, at least according to Dr. Google. I don’t have the stereotypical kind of Tourettes where you have a medical excuse for uncontrollably blurting out inappropriate things, but I do have an assortment of hitherto undiagnosed tics and nervous habits.
Now, I am an old timer who was in school back in the sixties and seventies when we had “A” classes for the smart kids and “B” classes for the not-so-smart kids. Nobody wondered whether the not-so-smart kids had a learning disability or were neurodivergent but were really quite intelligent. We just called them “slow,” or worse. Much worse, actually. And of course we did not offer them any help.
Never having realized that I may have be neurodivergent, my assortment of physical tics and nervous habits was just something with which I lived. I met with clients, negotiated deals, drummed up business and gave speeches. Early on I felt bad about myself. Later, I ceased to care.
Did all of this hold me back in my career? Probably, but I did okay anyway.
Did my lack of knowledge about neurodiversity affect how I perceived others and what opportunities I provided to them? Most likely.
I was ignorant about all of this and it hurt me and likely others over whom I had some authority or for whom I had some responsibility. But I have a good excuse: everyone else was just as ignorant.
I still know next to nothing about people who are neurodivergent, but I do know that if I was still in management at a law firm, I would have a responsibility to learn and use my knowledge to show compassion and empathy to others, while improving both the culture of my firm and its productivity/profitability. Unless of course, I was a jerk and not a particularly good leader.
If you are interested in learning about this stuff, you want to follow Aaron Baer and Sarah Ennor.