Neurodiversity Resources

This page provides resources for team members, managers and those who identify as neurodivergent

The purpose of Neurodiversity Resources

  • Provide resources for those who identify as neurodivergent, to help them navigate remote work, management difficulties and other situations and challenges that they may face at work.
  • Provide team members and managers+ resources to help provide a better team member experience for their colleagues and direct reports who identify as neurodivergent.

Resources for those who identify as neurodivergent

Do you want to disclose or not?

graph TD
A[Has you manager commented on traits related to your neurodiversity in relation to your performance?]
A-->|Yes| B[Have you requested work accomodations for your specific neurodiversity to mitigate performance issues? ]
A-->|No| C[May not need to disclose at this time]
B-->|Yes| D[Have these claims been supported by your manager?]
B-->|No| E[Consider making a request for accomodation without disclosure if you do not feel comfortable]
D-->|Yes| F[You can stop here if your goals is to get accomodations for your Neurodiversity. Do you still want to disclose?]
D-->|No| G[Do you feel your manager would be supportive if you disclosed the reasons for your accomocations and this is reflected in GitLab's values?]
F--> H[Yes]
H-->
G--> |Yes| J[You should consider disclosing if you feel comfortable to get the support you need]
G--> |No| K[You can consider speaking with a People Business Partner or the DIB Team about accomodations and the best way to approach your manager]

Diverseability Resource - Disclosing your disability to your team and GitLab

Resources for Team Members and Managers+

Team Member Profile

As a way to support all team members and ensure that neurodivergent team members who choose not to disclose or may be undiagnosed are being provided the support they need. All team members have individual needs and employing personalisation will go along way to ensuring everyone feels included.

You can use this template to help build a simple team member profile of communication, working and feedback styles.

Reasonable Accommodations

We provide reasonable accommodations to individuals in order to remove any artificial barriers to success. Our EAP program is also always available for team members to help them identify the best reasonable accommodations for them.

Please note that all accommodations discussed below are potential accommodations that can be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, but are not guaranteed. Any accommodations and/or adjustments made are in line with the applicable laws/regulations of the jurisdiction in question.

Evaluating Performance

It is important to have a discussion with the team member regarding the best way for them to receive feedback. Although the performance standards would not be changed, the manager might need to change their approach. Reflecting on your communication style as a manager and tailoring this to best suit the individual’s need can be a good place to start. There is no one size fits all approach when it comes to communication, but here are a few ideas:

  • Conducting more frequent one-to-one meetings
  • Delivering feedback visually structured in a way (tables, color coding) that is easier to digest
  • Make all types of feedback direct and clear

Coaching

  • Recorded instructions that can be reviewed later

Time Management

  • Assign a mentor
  • Provide to-do lists
  • Assistance with prioritization
  • Assistive technology (timers, apps, calendars, etc)

References for more ideas

Last modified October 31, 2023: Clean up markdown (0a9aba0b)
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