Matt, a medical laboratory assistant in pathology, who is an autistic person (Autistic Spectrum Disorder, or ASD) spoke to us as part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week.
We want to value and celebrate the differences in our workforce and harness the incredible talents of our staff to help us all improve and provide the best patient care and the best services in a way that is safe, kind and excellent.
Part of this is understanding the experience of our neurodivergent colleagues. We spoke to Matt, a medical laboratory assistant in Pathology, who is an Autistic person (Autistic Spectrum Disorder, or ASD). This is Matt’s CUH story.
Hi, my name is Matt, I’m one of Pathology’s many Medical Laboratory Assistants, and a member of the Purple Network, acting as their Autism Champion (A voluntary advocacy post).
I joined CUH in October of 2018, but have been working in this particular role for just over a year.
I am an Autistic person, diagnosed with what is known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I was informally diagnosed as having ASD when younger but can now proudly say I have had my formal diagnosis confirmed just last month! I’m very relieved to know for sure and feel validated by having this confirmed, so my thanks go out to the Class Clinic team at Fulbourn Hospital for their help.
I was originally believed to have ASD about 28 years ago now, but the understanding of how to classify the spectrum has changed a lot since then!
It’s really just about being able to confidently approach social situations, so a simple “hello!” or “welcome!” goes a long way in making my community feel included.
My neurodiversity brings a lot to the workplace.
In terms of lateral thinking; I believe that while sometimes there can be rather unconventional ways to solve problems, there can also be rather simple ones that get overlooked, too, and so there are many different ways to approach a day's workload or the many operational limitations we encounter as we work together to keep the hospital running. I try to find the most efficient solution to each challenge we face, it's not always easy but I believe with a diverse skillset across a team, almost anything can be achieved quickly and easily enough.
All of our teams, wards and labs alike, have been under incredible pressure recently and I felt it was important to remind people that if you're struggling because of the workload, for any reason, simply look to the people to your left and your right in the room and ask for help. There's no shame in that, it’s what we should always be brave enough to do.
It’s a common misconception that people on the Autism spectrum lack empathy - I always try to think about my colleague’s frame of mind and how that can contribute to situations.
It's always worth bearing in mind how somebody else might feel when people have different ideas of how to approach our work, and tensions arise, so that we can continue to work together and deliver excellent healthcare to Cambridge.
Some people think the approach to embracing diversity is to just be brave and ask questions. Others can feel it’s not their job to educate you, that you should take the time to read up about it from the many documented experiences my community (and others) share online. I think, a bit of a balance is generally the best way.
It’s also really important for us to remember that we are all humans and at the end of the day, we all make mistakes! I will always take that into mind when the people around me don't seem to have many resources to help them understand and appreciate Autistic people and their way of life, and I hope this patience may extend to us in kind.
I'm not going to lie to you, there can be drawbacks to having a neurodiversity, but it's really important for us all to remember that CUH is one big team, and what we in the NHS do is an utterly essential part of this country, and the wellbeing of its people.
Our three core values at CUH ('Safe', 'Kind', 'Excellent') are a really good framework and is all we need to be mindful of when approaching neurodiversity. Take a bit of time to read up on it based on the information offered to you, but also don't be afraid to reach out and get to know the people around you, and most of all just ask people how they're doing, and when able to spare some energy and kindness to others remind them you're here to help if they need it. For if we all try to get to know those around us, learn of their personal experiences and get to know what kinds of support they appreciate most, surely that’s the best way to bridge the gap and always be the most effective team as we save and enrich lives.
It does make me giggle to think that me that, even today, people are surprised that those with neurodiversities work. I recently had a good friend, a colleague whose brother has a neurodiversity, tell me she was surprised to learn that I was neurodiverse and that there were people working around her who are also neurodiverse. Almost half of the 1 million Autistic people in the U.K are employed, and the most recent study suggested up to 95% of us are in some way able to contribute to society, and clamouring to have a successful career. I think it's because it's not just a simple case of "you’re healthy and you're working" or "you're not healthy and you're not working", there are many millions of men and women across the world, living (and often working) in spite of disabilities and chronic illnesses. Particularly within the hospital, we need to have an open mind to the idea that there's a great deal more neurodiverse people and people with chronic illnesses working alongside us, but as long as we are always trying to be as thoughtful as we can be, and go by those three values of safe, kind, and excellent, then we'll definitely get the balance we need to support each other and our invaluable National Health Service.