On August 30, 2022 I had the pleasure of participating in a panel discussion for the quarterly Partners with a Purpose DEI Alliance meeting along with my fellow autistic Googlers Erin Coughlan and Jim Hogan. Partners with a Purpose is a collaborative effort of the DEI groups at Accenture, Deloitte, DoiT International, Google Cloud, Infosys, Palo Alto Networks, SADA, Softchoice, and TD SYNNEX. Google was the host for the meeting and the topic was neurodiversity in the workplace.
This was a wonderful opportunity to help the DEI pros at these great companies understand more about neurodiversity. The interest in the topic is very strong and it is great to see the movement transitioning from recruiting to being a recognition of diversity that has been hidden until recently.
After the normal meeting kickoff statements the 3 of us panelists did quick self introductions. I had volunteered for the role of defining neurodiversity. I started off by noting the...
Introducing: Neurodiversity, Hidden Culture, and Learning the Language Training
Learning Tree and Tim Goldstein have collaborated to create a professionally designed and presented training on understanding neurodiversity and the neurodistinct. While we cover that the neurodistinct include many groups besides autism including ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and other named and unnamed groups in this course the focus is the technical type autistic. We focused on autism based on the positive results from the efforts of global autism at work companies such as SAP, EY, JPMorgan Chase, Accenture, Microsoft, Ford and many other.
This courses takes Tim's unique skill to explain his and others autistics experience through a combination of his lived experience with his ability to explain complex topics in relatable ways. This course is designed for anyone that needs to directly interact with the potentially autistic tech type. It is also well suited to use from a DEI...
Got a super nice mention from Aubrey and Sarah at Atlassian in this article they posted on LinkedIn
I never fail to be amazed how the universe seems to make things happen when you are willing to step out boldly and not stop.
Autism Speaks did a world mosaic to which you could add your picture and a few lines about yourself and autism. I put my story and a video in the mosaic. Months later I was contacted by Autism Speaks asking if I would be interested in being interviewed by a journalist for Everyday Health as an adult with autism.
Had a fun time being interviewed and waiting impatiently for the article to come out.
Click on the photo above or THIS LINK to see my tile and video.
I will update this with the article once it is published.
I had the enjoyable experience of working with writer Meagan Meehan on this interview. She asked questions which made me dig deep and consider angles I had not previously noticed.
Tim talks with Dr Romas about a number of items and issues dealing with the neurodiverse, having Asperger's, and Autism at Work. Tim's focus is supporting the diagnosed, undiagnosed, and unaware technology worker by helping companies become more "A"SD Lister friendly.
Through simple changes in processes, job duties, and management techniques companies can improve the performance, retention, and recruitment of the highly desired neurodiverse techie.
DDI on Autism, host Dr Michael Romas
Episode 1 Part 1 Episode 1 Part 2
Episode 2 Part 1 Episode 2 Part 2
I was given the opportunity to teach one class for Cornell Univerity's IRL College new Neurodiversity course. This was an extra special opportunity for me. Beyond the obvious reasons, I grew up in central NY not all that far from
This was an extra special opportunity for me. Beyond the obvious reasons, I grew up in central NY not all that far from Cornell. Teaching at an institution which has been a big name since I was old enough to hear about colleges was extra satisfying. On top of that, some of the chapters from my "Geeks Guide to Interviews: 15 Critical Items for the Technical Type" and some units from my online course "Communicating with the Technical for the Non-Technical" were used as part of the course material.
Professor Bruyère recruited a list of international leaders in the Autism at Work effort. Guest speakers are James Mahoney Chief Quality Officer& Executive Director and Head of Autism at Work JPMorgan Chase & Co, David Kasiarz Senior Vice...