Neurodiversity's Future in a Country Without DEI

This past November, a majority of Americans elected a leader who opposes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programming. One of his first steps upon taking office was to suspend DEI programs in the US government, and it looks like DEI’s days in regular workplaces, colleges, and schools may be numbered as well. The president's stated objective seems to be making employment or college acceptance "merit based," rather than DEI- or "quota" based.

What will this mean for neurodiversity programs in America?

Neurodiversity programs are mostly housed in the DEI office, whatever institution they are in. The way I read the current orders, it seems like those offices are suspended in the government, meaning neurodiversity programs are suspended, too. Unless the courts intervene, or a subsequent administration changes the policy, diversity programming in government may be done. Colleges and private companies have taken varying stances on this. I expect some will follow the government’s policy, however that evolves, while others will go their own way.

While this turn of events is distressing to me as a neurodivergent person, it’s not a big surprise. The actions that unfold over the coming months will reveal how the broad public really feels about neurodivergent people and other minorities or marginalized groups. My guess is, many Americans don’t care much for us.

Before the election I fielded questions from worried William & Mary students about the possibility of something like this, and it has come to pass. This fall I told them prejudice has always existed, and the current moves merely bring it into the open. The same can be said of intolerance of those who are “different.” The number of people who believe in supporting marginalized people has not changed since the election, however. A new president does not change people’s inner feelings about their fellow humans.

What’s changed is that it’s now acceptable to say that we should remove supports for marginalized groups and let them (us) take our chances getting into college, getting hired, or getting promoted without regard for ways in which our diversity may reduce our chances of success. The possible benefits we may bring to those institutions by our presence don’t matter, at least to our elected president.

For people who hoped to get accepted into college or hired through a neurodiversity program, that is a blow. You’ll now have to get in “on merit,” whatever that means. But what exactly does it mean? Given the reality that one in eight humans are neurodivergent, applicants will be encountering neurodivergent people all through the acceptance or hiring process. Will one of those people think “this one is like me; should I give them a chance"? I suspect that will happen at least some of the time. Will admission or advancement get harder? I don’t know.

A lot has been said about neurodiversity hiring programs, but the number of employees actually recruited through them is trivial. The programs have symbolic value, but their statistical impact is essentially zero. Yet plenty of tech companies know a neurodivergent geek when they see one, and many of them want us as regular workers. So do other industries, and many neurodivergent-led small businesses. I don’t think that will change much, if at all. At William & Mary, substantially all the neurodivergent students on our campus were admitted “on merit” already, meaning that being neurodivergent may have played a role in making them choose our school, but it did not play a role in our school choosing to admit them. Given that reality, there is no change here.

What I’ve learned is that many neurodivergent people (me included) have grown up with a lot of grit and pride, given our often poor treatment as kids. I can’t tell you how many people told me they’d never take advantage of any preferential hiring or admission program, because they want to prove to the world that they made it just like everyone else. Fair and square, they tell me. Neurodivergent people who feel that way probably don’t need to care about this at all.

The other school I’m involved with, Landmark College in Vermont, is a private college for neurodivergent people. Given that focus, the admissions and atmosphere there won’t change, either. Anyone who wants to be in a school full of neurodivegent people will still find a home there. No change.

For many years I have expressed the opinion that civil rights law has no effect on how people feel; it just makes some hide their prejudice. I would not want to go to a school where people like me were not wanted, and I would not work in an environment where “my kind” was unwelcome. I believe we should all seek out places where we are welcome, and the fact that some places don’t have to pretend anymore is fine by me.

Neurodiversity Essential Reads

How Therapy Dogs Can Support Neurodiverse College Students

Neurodivergence and the Myth of Laziness

In the final analysis, I think these new government policies reflect how a great many Americans feel and I suggest we open our eyes to that reality. We’ve still got a portion of the ND population that truly needs support to advance, and for those people, I think it falls on us ND folks to stand up and help our fellow humans. For those of you who hire, promote, or admit people, the new rules place the burden of looking out for “our kind of people” back on our shoulders, where it’s pretty much been for all of history, except for a recent brief interlude.

I’ll be interested to see what others think about this.