Office Environments
Sensory-inclusive office environments for neurodivergent workers
Type of project: Exploratory research
Disability concerned: Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders
Topics: Equality at work
Status: In progress
This project aims to identify the specific sensory challenges faced by neurodivergent office workers, differentiating between the type of office and the type of neurodivergence.
Despite advancements in Equality / Diversity / Inclusion (EDI) programmes, a substantial 22% of the neurodivergent (ND) adult population remains marginalized from traditional office work. This discrepancy largely stems from the pervasive under-recognition of ND-specific sensory challenges in practice and research, which manifest as performance detriments and nuanced health considerations, fostering occupational exclusion.
Objectives:
- Identify the specific sensory challenges faced by ND office workers (touch, hearing, vision, smell, proprioception), differentiating office type and ND type.
- Identify design and operational adjustments to support ND office workers in their sensory differences, differentiating ND type and job role.
Our endeavour’s originality is three-fold:
- This is the first study to address the lack of robust scientific evidence on NDs’ sensory issues at work.
- We put empirical emphasis on collecting quantitative as well as qualitative data, balancing data robustness whilst harnessing first hand ND narratives using participatory research principles.
- We address the lack of evidence based practice solutions and put forward concrete design and operational adjustments.
