Key Takeaways:
Over the last several years, many companies have made the push for workers to return to the office. To building owners and managers, the issue is simple: In-office work boosts productivity. For employees, though, the shift to an office takes them away from their safe space: home.
Remote work has been a safe haven for people who are neurodivergent. At home, they are able to control the sounds, temperature and lighting, creating more productive workspaces for themselves. In a traditional office setting, those choices are taken away from them.
In the last 10 years, adults and children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have increased by 175 percent, according to Autism Speaks, an advocacy group for people with autism. The number of adults aged 26 to 34 diagnosed with ASD has increased by over 450 percent, suggesting they were left undiagnosed as a child and only received the diagnosis in adulthood when challenges became too difficult to manage.
But as the world has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, so has office design. Now designers are taking input from building occupants to better understand their needs. For neurodivergent employees, this includes giving insight into how the spaces can best accommodate them.
“Everybody’s brain is different, and everybody experiences physical space in a completely different way than the next person,” says Kristin Cerutti, associate principal and regional design leader at Nelson Worldwide. “Your experience also changes throughout the course of the day. So, your experience in a space right now could be different than what you had in the same location two or four hours ago based on whatever happens in your day.”
Neurodiversity is complex and often misunderstood. Some people think of neurodivergent people as those who are hypersensitive and require special accommodations, but that is not always the case. Cerutti says designing for neurodiversity falls into two categories. Some people are hypersensitive and need spaces to be toned down, while others are hyposensitive and require textures and patterns to stay focused.
When designing for accessibility, some designers create spaces that feel almost clinical or specialized. This approach can isolate neurodivergent employees because lighting choices can impact productivity throughout the day. Cerutti says designers can avoid this scenario by giving employees simple choices like dimmable light switches. But this can easily be looked over due to the concerns of how much the accommodations will cost.
“All you have to do is adjust the switching, which is honestly not super complicated, but there is a cost,” Cerutti says. “A lot of it depends on the client and really understanding who it is that’s leading the decision maker on one of these projects, whether it’s a simple or small little renovation or a full office location.
“You have to understand the decision makers and what their goals are. For some people, it’s going to be strictly hitting a budget. Some people maybe have a goal to attract a certain type of tenant or client. Maybe some of them have a goal to engage people and bring more people back to the office. Knowing what their main drivers will help curate the conversation based on the right thing. So if the discussions are mostly budget focused, then I would focus my discussion on how big an impact this can make to improve people’s productivity and bring the statistics that prove that. Then the easy, inexpensive changes they can make to accommodate don’t seem so big.”
While cost can deter owners from make lighting more accommodating, some also worry that they might not address the issue properly. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does protect neurodiverse people, they are often not the first ones thought of when designing for accessibility. Similar to how people with physical disabilities are entitled to accommodations, neurodiverse employees are also eligible for these benefits. However, many do not speak up out of fear of having their disability used against them. Efforts to make office spaces more inclusive are better than not trying at all. Cerutti says that when employees feel heard, understood and respected, it can improve attachment and retention.
“Showing effort and that you’re trying to make a step forward at least shows that you’re interested and you’re attempting to support,” she says. “It also will show people whether they’re actively sharing their condition with you or not, and that you’re open to conversation and discussion about it.
“If I saw my employer implementing dimmable light switches everywhere and they communicated the reason they were doing it, to me that would be like, ‘Gosh, if you’re spending the time and effort and money to do that, maybe now I feel more comfortable sharing with you that in addition to that, something as simple as having a blanket or film on this one glass wall would be really helpful to me.’ It makes employees feel more comfortable communicating with you.”
Mackenna Moralez is the managing editor of the facilities market and the host of the Facilities in Focus podcast.
