Diversity and Inclusion In The Workplace - Autism Shouldn't Hold You Back

Kelly was recently interviewed by Cheryl Cole who is Editor of DiversityQ. DiversityQ advocates and promotes diversity and inclusion in the workplace and supports organisations in creating a culture where everyone is heard and respected. Cheryl has worked for GSK, The Birmingham Post, Investment Week and Bloomberg.

Kelly shared why autism shouldn’t be a barrier to a great career.

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

“Once you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person,” says Kelly Grainger. As co-founder of Perfectly Autistic and being on the spectrum himself, he is helping companies to overcome the stereotypes associated with the condition by highlighting the positives of becoming autism-inclusive.

When Kelly Grainger was diagnosed as neurodiverse in 2019 at the age of 44, it was a wake-up call.

His autism diagnosis provided the answer to why, during 23 years of working in sales and marketing for large corporates, he found attending client events physically and mentally challenging and failed to get excited about new product launches.

“Looking back, it’s not the sort of role you’d go into as an autistic person,” Grainger suggests. “I don’t think I’d ever had a proper purpose, and I’d been ‘masking’, without knowing it, to fit in.”

He was diagnosed autistic soon after his two children were also diagnosed. Having no support and guidance with regards to the next steps after diagnosis, combined with his boss’s negative reaction and lack of empathy, Grainger was spurred to change direction. Together with his wife Hester, he founded Perfectly Autistic to promote awareness, understanding, and acceptance of autism. He is now an autism and neurodiversity advocate and trainer and an international keynote speaker, specifically relating to autism in the workplace.

Perfectly Autistic offers businesses and organisations training and autism awareness workshops. They also have an online community on Facebook of parents, partners, and autistic people.

To read the full interview with Cheryl and Kelly you can read it here.