We’re all different from one another, and there isn’t one “normal”. That’s wonderful – but in an event space or training environment, this can pose challenges, especially when aiming for inclusivity.
With over 15% of the population expected to be neurodivergent (National Library of Medicine, 2023), ensuring your event space is inclusive for neurodivergent people is critical to providing a positive experience to all attendees.
But adapting your event space to be inclusive to neurodivergent people isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution – as both Anne and Nick state, “If you’ve met one neurodivergent person, you’ve met one neurodivergent person.”
In this blog, we speak to Dr Anne Cockayne, expert in neurodiversity from Nottingham Trent University and Dandelion Careers, Nick Defty, Founder of You Can Now, and Vicky Young, Director of BRC Learning, to dispel myths around neuroinclusion and provide a guide to prioritising inclusivity in your events.
What does neurodivergent mean?
Neurodivergent is a term for individuals with conditions that cause the brain to behave in a “non-typical” way – this is widely used in reference to autism spectrum disorder and ADHD but also includes people with dyslexia, dyspraxia, OCD, epilepsy, mental health conditions, and much more. The term “neurodiversity” emphasises that differences in thinking are not necessarily deficits, and come with a wide range of positives.
Neurodivergence is broad and includes a wide range of experiences, so inclusion for one neurodivergent person doesn’t apply to all. How can you plan an event experience that’s proactively inclusive to neurodivergent people, while remaining engaging for all attendees?
The answer is creating neuroinclusive events: making simple, common-sense changes to your event that have an enormous impact for neurodivergent attendees, while also improving your event overall. Neuroinclusion creates more accessible event spaces for everyone.
Vicky Young states, “Creating neuroinclusive learning environments is essential for fostering a space where everyone can thrive.”
Why neuroinclusion?
In conversation with Dr Anne Cockayne, she brought forward a great way to consider neuroinclusion:
Imagine you’re on a busy train. It’s too warm, and you’re uncomfortable. Someone beside you is eating something that smells strong; someone two seats forward is eating something else, and the smells are mixing together. Down the aisle, someone’s luggage wheels squeak on the carpet. Further down the train, someone is talking loudly into their phone. Behind you, someone else is playing music out loud. From the other carriage, you can hear someone shouting.
This experience wouldn’t be pleasant for anyone. However, if you’re sensitive to these sensory experiences, as many neurodivergent people are, it could be intolerable, and a reason to avoid getting on the train altogether.
The same goes for your events. Aspects of your event environment – such as the lights being too bright, the music too loud, the networking area too close to the food area – these are things none of us enjoy, but they could be the difference between a neurodivergent person engaging with your event or having to leave.
Anne drives home her point: “You don’t need to know someone is going to be neurodivergent to make a space neuroinclusive.”
This is important, as up to 90% of neurodivergent people choose not to disclose (CIPD, 2024). Rather than waiting for a neurodivergent person to share this fact, consider how your event experience can be neuroinclusive before your attendees even enter the room.
To put it in even more straightforward terms, Nick states, “Imagine everyone in the room is neurodivergent and start from there.”
But what does neuroinclusion mean?
Neuroinclusion helps to create inclusive spaces by removing the burden from neurodivergent people and placing it on creating more inclusive experiences for everyone.
This takes the responsibility away from neurodivergent people to disclose their diagnosis, as up to 90% of people will choose not to do. Instead, event managers are charged with being proactive about creating better event experiences for attendees.
Examples of neuroinclusion at events
1. Set the stage for comfort and focus
Some examples of effective neuroinclusion at your event space, contributed by Nick and Anne, include:
- Dim lights
- It’s a good first step to have lights you can dim, but why not dim them in the first place? Does anybody enjoy lights that are too bright?
- Quiet music
- Music that’s too loud makes it difficult to hear conversations, neurodivergent or otherwise, so keep it low, or completely silent in quiet areas
- Place networking areas away from food
- Mixing food smells while you’re trying to have a conversation is distracting
- Consider where your events team will be walking
- Will you be regularly passing through tables where people are doing focused work, or trying to catch a quiet moment? This can be distracting.
These are changes that make the event space more pleasant for all, not just neurodivergent people. Summed up effectively by Nick, “Everyone is going to benefit from that.”
2. Build inclusivity before your first guest has arrived
Many elements of neuroinclusion can, and should, be incorporated before your event has even started, such as:
- Share a clear timetable and structure for the day, and adhere to it
- Specify whether breakout sessions or networking activities will be optional
- Show a photo of your event space from the outside, and what it might look like when you walk inside – this eases anxiety, while also priming people for the session ahead
- Even better than this is a 360 virtual tour of your space, allowing your attendees to explore remotely at their leisure
- Send regular emails to your attendees, giving them the latest information
- For virtual sessions, encourage attendees to turn their cameras off for sessions if they can, while giving permission to turn cameras off should they need to
3. Expand your neuroinclusion to training and development
For learning and development sessions, Nick identifies more helpful ways of working, such as sharing details about your training session beforehand:
“My name is [Kate] and I’ll be your facilitator. The session will be 90 minutes long with an optional breakout session halfway through. Here is what the room we’ll be working in looks like, and here’s the event space from the outside.”
Not only can this be a great support for neurodivergent people who benefit from more structure to their sessions, but it alleviates anxiety and uncertainty from everyone in the room.
This is lived and embraced within the BRC Learning courses. Vicky Young, Director of BRC Learning, states:
See this approach in action“Our learning programmes are designed to cater to diverse needs, ensuring that every individual has the opportunity to excel. By embracing neurodiversity, we not only enhance the learning experience but also promote innovation and creativity for delegates. This inclusive approach is fundamental to building a supportive and effective learning environment.”
Conclusion
While this blog only scratches the surface on neurodiversity, it hopefully can provide event coordinators with a simpler, more inclusive way to view neurodivergent inclusion through the lens of neuroinclusion, supported by the expertise of Dr Anne Cockayne and Nick Defty of You Can Now.
