Neurodivergent creative thinking and superpowers

Police Superintendents’ Association Disability Lead Superintendent Paul Burrows shares his latest blog as part of Disability History Month 2024

In this blog I will return to some of the themes I have touched upon in my previous writings. First, however, I will pose a question:

How many uses can you think of for a yellow lead pencil? You have two minutes…

I recently read that some autistics have been challenged by other autistics because they have expressed the view that they would rather not be autistic. The view for some is that autism, along with other neurodivergent conditions, is and should be seen as a ‘superpower’, and it is wrong to wish it away.

I have however, found myself thinking that I would rather not be autistic. Yes, I have skills that the ‘condition’ brings me. Yet, on a check and balance sheet I feel the checks outweigh the balances. This is a very personal view, but I do I feel it worthy to air as a discussion.

There are clearly professional benefits arising from who I am. These benefits are not, however, absolute – particularly when there is a lack of understanding or adjustment around who I am and how I prefer to work. Nowhere near enough is made of my skills. This, I know, is a common frustration held by those with neurodivergent conditions across many workplaces.

On the flip side, the personal benefits are, for me at least, almost totally lacking. I have wracked my brain and asked myself, ‘Is there any personal benefit from being neurodivergent?’ The only one I can think of is being asked to stand as captain of the sports club I’m a member of, because I am seen to be fair and would approach the role without bias (typical autistic traits). I’m not sure that’s a benefit to me though!

In my previous blogs, I have outlined the benefits I, and people like me, can bring to the service I work for. I will therefore focus on some of the down sides of being who I am. You can decide whether it’s a superpower that I possess.

First and foremost, I have a complete inability to sleep well. Four hours a night is good. I wake in the middle of the night and simply can’t sleep again, so I live life in a state of perpetual exhaustion. I am aware of adults who have received a diagnosis of autism having gone to their GP with an inability to sleep. This is not abnormal. I dislike spontaneity, I need to know what I am doing and any break to routine can be quite stressful. I love watching rugby but find the press of people in a stadium too much to bear, so I don’t go. I struggle to have friends or build relationships. I live life in a state of perpetual introspection – have I upset someone by how I have said something? And, finally, I spend all day masking or acting, pretending I am someone who I am not; simply to fit in with social norms. I am not claiming to be unique, but simply providing an insight into my existence.

I was recently made aware of an article^† on evolutionary psychology, which I think addresses the question at the heart of what I am seeking to say:

Evolutionary Psychiatry
by Adam D. Hunt

“Our evolutionary history is often ignored when thinking about mental health. We forget that the world humans lived in for millions of years – which our brains and minds are designed for – was very different to today. We assume a mental health diagnosis means ‘something has gone wrong’ in the person. But what if that person’s difficulties are more related to changes in the world, and modern expectations for how minds should work? We expect people to sit still in classrooms, read with ease… but classrooms and writing are very new inventions. Nobody ‘should’ be able to sit still in classrooms or read with ease, evolutionarily speaking. The fact that some can and some can’t is a matter of happenstance, but doesn’t reflect true biological breakage. It may be better understood at what is called ‘evolutionary mismatch’ – our bodies and brains aren’t designed for this world, and sometimes we medicalise the problems which result.

“Evolutionary psychiatry is a scientific discipline reframing mental health conditions by trying to explain them in relation to our evolutionary history. When it comes to neurodiversity, there are big questions which previous biomedical approaches haven’t managed to solve – why are these cognitive differences so common in the population, last so long, and appear so early in life? They are somewhat genetically caused, and the genes which make people autistic, or ADHD, or dyslexic, are clearly common in the population, and affect us for all our lives. This isn’t what we expect from disease, which often appears later in life, or is rare, or not inherited. Evolution could have caused everyone to be neurotypical, if that is what is optimal. But it hasn’t. Why?

“One of the key evolutionary explanations for explaining neurodiversity is actually the same process which should explain ‘normal’ personality traits – we differ in extraversion, and we differ in autistic traits, and the same evolutionary dynamics should explain why those differences persist. There is a reason why we aren’t all extremely extraverted or extremely introverted, or all extremely autistic or non-autistic – there is a reason our minds work differently from one another. The core dynamic revolves around cognitive strengths and weaknesses, and how they fit into our social groups. Our ancestors lived in close bands and tribes, hunting and gathering food every day as a collective. Within social groups, individual differences can evolve, as a sort of division-of-labour, or what is termed ‘social niche specialisation’ in evolutionary biology. Within our hunter-gatherer ancestral groups, for millions of years, assuming similar rates of autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and all sorts of neurodivergent traits, there would always be at least one autistic person per extended tribe (of about 150 individuals) and one person with broad autistic traits (the ‘broad autism phenotype’), one person with ADHD and one with dyslexia per band of individuals who sleep and hunt together on a daily basis (of about 25 individuals). The same goes for most neurodivergent traits. Although we can’t know for sure how they fitted into those societies, all of the genetic and biological evidence implies that those individuals were there, and weren’t any worse off in evolutionary terms than neurotypical people. The basic inference should be that their strengths were balanced with their weaknesses, and that they found a way to fit in in those societies.

“It’s widely recognized, both by science and people familiar with neurodivergent people on a personal basis, that despite experiencing problems which others don’t due to their cognitive style, they also show strengths that others don’t. In the realm of sport this could manifest as unusual obsessiveness, attention to detail, and dedication. The same tendencies can lead to exemplary ability in all sorts of other realms of life, too. And they come with costs. But those costs, at least evolutionarily speaking, were probably justified by the benefits – that’s why these traits persist in the human population in so many people, that’s why we have never found biomedical evidence of ‘pathology’ causing them, and that’s why if we were to shift our expectations and our environments to better incorporate neurodivergent people, supporting them through their weaknesses and harnessing their strengths, we would actually be tapping into an evolutionarily-ancient well of human potential, overlooked for too long by contemporary mainstream psychiatry.”

I think that says it quite nicely.

So, returning to my start point, how many uses are there for a yellow lead pencil?

When I did this exercise, I thought of 86 and was still going strong as the two minutes ended.

What I considered was whether the whole pencil was made of lead, whether it was the graphite or the pencil ‘outer’ that was yellow, and how big/long it was – it could have been the size of an ocean-going liner. By de-limiting one’s thinking and pushing to one side (or at least identifying) one’s presumptions, the opportunities are endless.

Is this a ‘normal’ way of thinking or a superpower? Is thinking of 86 uses for a yellow lead pencil actually a superpower? The creativity that goes with it probably is, but only if the society within which I live values this and seeks to make the most of my different way of thinking. This is Adam D. Hunt’s ‘evolutionarily-ancient well of human potential.’

My conclusion is that my superpower is cloaked by society. Whilst I would love to see it as a positive, it is exhausting trying to do this in the face of the barriers. The cost, for me, outweighs the benefits. I will continue to flinch at the use of this descriptor, as the depths of what sits behind it are largely not understood.

I frequently reference the Garfield cartoon where Garfield and Oddie climb a tree. Garfield tells Oddie that “Dogs can’t climb trees”. So, Oddie fell out of it. It’s amazing what you can achieve when you don’t know you can’t. In my experience, many neurodivergent people know they can climb trees they shouldn’t be able to. Their (and my) frustration is not being asked how we did it. ∎

This blog was originally published on the PSA website – it is reproduced here with kind permission of the author

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† Link to Adam’s article: Specialised minds: extending adaptive explanations of personality to the evolution of psychopathology

by Daley Jones
Co-Chair | ADHD Alliance

Been a little while since I’ve written anything. Busy busy busy as per.

Speaking of being busy, one thing that I have been endeavouring to find time for of late is exercise.

Now, I don’t need to say anything about the obvious benefits of regular exercise with regards to people’s physical health. There are plenty of articles out there, written by people far more intelligent (and fitter) than me that will explain all of that.

But what has become increasingly apparent to me is how important regular exercise is to my mental health, and in particular my ADHD and dyspraxia.

Now, like many I’ve always hated running. However, having nothing to do during lockdown (remember that!?) and not being able to take part in team sports (football for me), I decided going for a run was better than doing nothing.

I won’t lie… the first few weeks were bloody awful. I hated every single run. But then one day, quite unexpectedly I found myself enjoying my run. It was such a shock I remember the moment clear as if it was yesterday.

I was running along a canal one morning. It was a beautiful autumnal day, I’d run past some canal boats (cooking bacon, the bastards) and some swans. And found myself thinking “Well, isn’t this nice?”

I eventually set a goal of doing a half marathon, which I trained for and completed in June 2021. However, thanks to my good old ADHD… as soon as I completed my goal, my brain said: “That’s it, done now”, and honestly I’ve struggled to get back into running again.

The thing is, my physical fitness massively improved. But what I came to realise, only quite recently in fact was the massive benefit the exercise was having around my ADHD.

There is the obvious point: ADHD man = he like to move.

But what I started to miss was the headspace going for a run gave me. I’d literally have nothing to focus on, or worry about. It would just be me, the road/path/towpath. It was an extremely liberating state of mind.

Then there’s my dyspraxia. I got my ADHD diagnosis first, but I quickly realised the issues I had controlling my big old frame (6’5″ and fairly broad, ladies and gents) and my fine motor skills were causing me far greater self-esteem issues than my ADHD.

It’s always been there. I avoided going to sports day at school. There was an expectation that I’d excel at certain sports like long and high jump due to my size – this was obviously not true. Hop skip and jump: forget it, with my sequencing issues. Javelin and shot put: my force feedback issues prevented me from using the requisite effort. And then there’s one of my life’s great loves: football. I’ve always played football. But it was always apparent there were issues for me that others didn’t seem to have.

Heading the ball? Ha, that requires me to anticipate the movement of the ball, and get my brain to engage my legs to jump with the correct amount of force, move my head back and then forward connecting with the right part of my forehead… NO CHANCE.

What about in goal? Sure, I saved a few shots because I’m a big lad. But judging a low-driven shot? By the time I’d worked out where the ball was heading and processed what I needed to do… the net was already making that satisfying yet galling ripple sound.

The point is – all these perceived failures put me off physical activity.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to Caragh McMurtry at a neurodiversity speaking event we were both at. As well as being a generally all round lovely person, Caragh Is a former Olympic rower, representing Great Britain and appearing at the Tokyo Olympics. She also happens to have an autism diagnosis.

I urge you to have a look at Caragh’s brilliant website, read her story and find out how she is trying to help neurodivergent athletes and their coaches maximise their potential.

I’ve been lucky enough to have an in-depth conversation with Caragh about the issues I’ve had as a neurodivergent person wanting to get into sport. She really is very inspiring!

She helped me come to the realisation that regular exercise was having massive benefits to my dyspraxic self-esteem. When I was running, I was no Mo Farah, but I was really proud of my achievements. I was getting out moving regularly, and only occasionally crashing in to things (low hanging branches along towpaths have a lot to answer for).

Needless to say, my new levels of understanding around the importance of regular exercise means I am trying to get back into a routine. I won’t lie, it’s proved difficult – primarily due to issues being organised and executive function. But I’ve re-joined the gym and have benefitted from advice from a neurodivergent-friendly personal trainer: the lovely Shelley Rudge.

Shelley explained the weight based gym exercises in a way my dyspraxic brain could comprehend, really listened to my feedback around the ones I found more difficult, and found excellent easier-to-understand alternatives that had the same desired effect. Check out her Instagram.

So, I implore you… Get out there! It doesn’t matter if you aren’t going to look like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, or be the next Laura Muir. Regular exercise will have such a transformative effect on your mental health, as well as your physical. I just need to start following my own advice on a regular basis! ∎

This blog was originally published on the Metropolitan Police Service Intranet – it is reproduced here with kind permission of the author

To mark the beginning of National Inclusion Week 2024, Lincolnshire Police NPAA Coordinator Andrew Woodcock looks at the proven advantages of diverse and inclusive workplaces

My passion and interest through my own neurodivergence is championing awareness across the organisation of neurodiversity. However, my research has led to the wider subject of diverse teams, and their importance and relevance to all the staff networks within Lincolnshire police.

For many years in policing we have been required to undergo diversity training. Much of the focus from this training was initially around race, understandably due to high profile cases such as the Stephen Lawrence murder. Back in 2002, my university dissertation examined the progression of policing following the Macpherson report into the failings identified following the investigation, which identified fundamental issues with institutional racism and police culture.

The impact of Macpherson on public confidence decades later is still felt. More recently policing has gone through a series of further scandals relating to non-disclosure (Liam Allen), misogyny (David Carrick and Wayne Couzens) and also issues over police officers’ conduct on social media platforms such as WhatsApp. Public confidence in policing has taken a massive hit, and this has reflected on a local level in policing across Lincolnshire.

So why am I talking about all this? Here are some key statistics with links referencing the original articles:

• Diverse teams are 35% more likely to outperform their competitors (McKinsey)
  Although police forces are not in a competitive market, we are inspected and benchmarked against other Forces – so naturally if we have more diverse teams we are likely to stand up better to independent scrutiny.
• Diverse teams are 87% better at making decisions (People Management)
• Decisions made and executed by diverse teams deliver 60% better results (Forbes)
  We have to make decisions in policing every day. Some of these decisions will have lasting impacts on people’s lives. Therefore having a diverse team which reflects society is likely to lead to better decisions being made.
  Part of debriefing where things haven’t gone well should consider is the team involved in that situation diverse? Did lack of inclusion in a team and recognition of diversity lead to poor decision making? How can this be rectified?
• Diverse teams have 19% higher rates of innovation (Forbes)
  It is well documented that Lincolnshire Police is one of the worst funded Forces in the country. This has been the case for decades, despite the determination to change funding formulas which remains ongoing. Building diverse teams is likely to lead to us making more efficient use of our resources – innovation may also even lead to greater resources via the Home Office STAR funding stream.
• Diversity improves team performance by 30% (Gartner)

How do diverse teams benefit our workforce wellbeing?

• Inclusion increases employee engagement by up to 83% (Deloitte)
• Employees who feel their organisation is inclusive are three times more likely to be happy in their job (BCG)
• Inclusion reduces absenteeism – a 10% increase in perception of inclusion adds one working day per year per employee (Catalyst)

Diversity and inclusion boosts recruitment and retention:

• 62% of employees would reject a job offer from an organisation with a culture that wasn’t inclusive (People Management)
• 39% of jobseekers won’t even apply for a role if they don’t consider the organisation to be inclusive (McKinsey)
• 76% of candidates consider diversity to be an important factor in their choice of employer (Glassdoor)
• Inclusion increases staff retention by 50% (Harvard Business Review)

As you can see, there is clear evidence that diverse teams impact on external recruitment into policing, and also on internal progression.

Work is ongoing nationally including the recent amendment of the Code of Ethics and updated Competency Value Framework (CVF) to improve representation of neurodiversity in higher ranks.

Having a diverse workforce impacts on whether members of the public may choose to engage with the police and provide information. If the public see the police as unrepresentative, they are likely to be distrusting and less receptive to providing information which we rely on in a policing by consent model. This is most notable in communities across the UK where murders involving gun crime and gangs has been met with a wall of silence.

The inspirational speaker Simon Sinek argued eloquently about why people buy Apple products as an example of the power of ‘communication from the inside out’. (His viewpoint I must add is not universally accepted.)

“Here’s how Apple actually communicates. Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one? Totally different right? You’re ready to buy a computer from me. All I did was reverse the order of the information. What it proves to us is that people don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it.”

Here are some figures you need to know about the competitive impact of diversity and inclusion.

Diversity and inclusion increase revenue:

• Diverse management teams achieve 19% higher revenue (BCG)
• Diverse companies generate 2.3 times higher cashflow per employee (Deloitte)
• Diverse companies are 36% more profitable (Gartner)
• Diverse companies are 70% more likely to capture new markets (Harvard Business Review)
• Diverse organisations generate a 66% higher return on equity (Deloitte)

Diversity and inclusion attracts customers:

• Up to 50% of customers’ purchasing decisions are influenced by an organisation’s support for equality (Deloitte)
• Consumers are four to six times more likely to buy from and champion a brand with a strong sense of purpose (CSR Wire)
• 57% of consumers are more loyal to brands that commit to addressing social inequalities (Deloitte)
• 64% of consumers were motivated to take action by an inclusive ad (Google)
• Inclusive ads increase purchase intent by 23% (Microsoft)
• 53% of UK people say their purchase decisions are influenced by a brand’s diversity and inclusion efforts (Kantar)

If you’re considering whether diversity and inclusion is a worthwhile investment for your organisation, or you’re trying to make a business case to the senior leadership for diversity and inclusion work, there is plenty of evidence out there to help you.

Please take time from your busy working days to consider these examples and understand how we can all impact on making our teams more diverse. ∎

This blog was originally published on the Lincolnshire Police intranet – it is reproduced here with kind permission of the author