WEBVTT
00:00:01.029 --> 00:00:03.290
Autistic people have so much to offer, and yet
00:00:03.290 --> 00:00:05.429
so many of us struggle to fit into a world that
00:00:05.429 --> 00:00:07.650
isn't designed for us. I want to help change
00:00:07.650 --> 00:00:10.390
that. Welcome to the Working Class Autistic podcast,
00:00:10.810 --> 00:00:12.810
where I talk to experts and discuss ways for
00:00:12.810 --> 00:00:14.570
autistic adults to thrive and reach their full
00:00:14.570 --> 00:00:17.129
potential at work and beyond. I'm your host,
00:00:17.250 --> 00:00:23.089
Kevin Joseph. Now, let's get to work. Hello,
00:00:23.210 --> 00:00:25.050
everyone, and welcome to this week's episode
00:00:25.050 --> 00:00:28.140
of Working Class Autistic. I recently read the
00:00:28.140 --> 00:00:31.079
book Inside the Box by David Epstein, and it
00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:33.200
introduced me to the concept of universal design.
00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.520
In a nutshell, universal design says that if
00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:38.439
you design with a focus on the most constrained
00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:41.679
users, such as people with a disability, your
00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:43.259
resulting design will often be better for all
00:00:43.259 --> 00:00:46.420
people, even those without a disability. One
00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:48.200
example from the book is about an entrepreneur
00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:50.079
who noticed that his wife, who had arthritis,
00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:52.280
was really struggling using a certain type of
00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:54.740
peeler in the kitchen. And so this entrepreneur
00:00:54.740 --> 00:00:57.920
decided, let's make a peeler that's more ergonomic
00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:01.140
to use and easier to use for my wife. And as
00:01:01.140 --> 00:01:03.420
a result, this new ergonomic peeler ended up
00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:05.739
being really easy to use for everybody. And this
00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:07.260
entrepreneur ended up starting a company called
00:01:07.260 --> 00:01:09.680
OXO, which is a really popular company that sells
00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:11.379
a lot of different ergonomic tools designed for
00:01:11.379 --> 00:01:14.299
the kitchen for all users. The official definition
00:01:14.299 --> 00:01:16.739
of universal design based on the UD project website
00:01:16.739 --> 00:01:20.260
is that universal design is design that is usable
00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:22.760
by all people to the greatest extent possible.
00:01:23.310 --> 00:01:25.109
without the need for adaptation or specialized
00:01:25.109 --> 00:01:27.909
design. Essentially, it's a way to make sure
00:01:27.909 --> 00:01:31.209
that anyone can use your product or your design
00:01:31.209 --> 00:01:34.450
or your system without any special adaptations
00:01:34.450 --> 00:01:37.989
or special designs for them. One popular example
00:01:37.989 --> 00:01:44.370
is sidewalk ramps or curb cuts, which were designed
00:01:44.370 --> 00:01:47.049
for users with wheelchairs to be able to get
00:01:47.049 --> 00:01:49.719
onto sidewalks or get onto curbs. It's being
00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:51.099
useful for a lot of people, right? Like people
00:01:51.099 --> 00:01:54.019
with strollers who can use that to easily get
00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:56.260
up the curb without needing to pick up the stroller
00:01:56.260 --> 00:01:58.739
and move on. Or let's say you've got luggage
00:01:58.739 --> 00:02:02.560
to drag around. Going up a sidewalk ramp is an
00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:04.000
easy way to move luggage around without having
00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.760
to pick it up. And so by designing for the user
00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:09.580
with the constraint, which is in this case the
00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:11.500
user with the wheelchair, you end up making it
00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:14.360
a lot more usable for people without those same
00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:15.939
constraints but are in different situations.
00:02:17.099 --> 00:02:19.000
One of the concepts behind universal design is
00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:21.659
the idea that the extreme user or the kind of
00:02:21.659 --> 00:02:25.180
outlier user represents more extreme versions
00:02:25.180 --> 00:02:27.879
of the challenges that other users face. And
00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:28.879
there are a lot of different constraints you
00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:30.780
can think of from a universal design perspective.
00:02:31.259 --> 00:02:33.759
There's obviously physical constraints like people
00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:37.080
who have limited sight, limited hearing, limited
00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:39.539
movement. But from a neurodiverse perspective,
00:02:39.939 --> 00:02:41.379
it's also worth thinking about the way people
00:02:41.379 --> 00:02:44.569
think. So it could be people who have difficulty
00:02:44.569 --> 00:02:47.110
processing information, people who have difficulty
00:02:47.110 --> 00:02:49.689
speaking, people who just take a little longer
00:02:49.689 --> 00:02:52.550
to think about things compared to other people
00:02:52.550 --> 00:02:56.250
around them. And this concept of universal design
00:02:56.250 --> 00:02:58.469
made me think about a frequent topic on my podcast,
00:02:58.729 --> 00:03:00.789
which is how accommodations that benefit autistic
00:03:00.789 --> 00:03:04.069
people also tend to benefit everyone. Autistic
00:03:04.069 --> 00:03:06.270
people benefit from having a meeting agenda,
00:03:06.509 --> 00:03:09.090
for example, because we get to see what's expected
00:03:09.090 --> 00:03:11.129
from us and we know what to expect and what to
00:03:11.129 --> 00:03:14.020
prepare for. in a particular meeting. However,
00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:16.740
if you think about it, everybody can also benefit
00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:19.000
from meeting agenda. Because the meeting agenda,
00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:21.439
you know, not only does it help with the meeting
00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:23.719
preparation angle, but also helps make sure that
00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:25.500
meetings stay on topic and that all the topics
00:03:25.500 --> 00:03:27.780
that need to get covered during a meeting, you
00:03:27.780 --> 00:03:31.259
get covered during that meeting. And so that's
00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:34.479
one example of something where if a company decided,
00:03:34.860 --> 00:03:36.740
hey, we're going to make sure that if you're
00:03:36.740 --> 00:03:38.340
scheduling a meeting, you know, we're going to
00:03:38.340 --> 00:03:40.360
set a company policy that if you're scheduling
00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:42.400
a meeting, then that meeting needs to have an
00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:45.280
agenda associated with it. And so meeting organizers
00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:46.979
need to figure out ahead of time, let's make
00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:48.479
sure we know what the topics are for this meeting
00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:52.159
and what exactly needs to get discussed. And
00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:53.520
that ends up being a benefit for everyone, right?
00:03:53.580 --> 00:03:54.979
Because if there's not a clear topic for your
00:03:54.979 --> 00:03:56.740
meeting, maybe the meeting doesn't need to exist.
00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:00.159
And autistic people who need to join the meeting
00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:02.439
can look at it and say, can look at the agenda
00:04:02.439 --> 00:04:05.599
and say, okay, let's go ahead and prepare for
00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:07.990
this. I'm mentally prepared for what... might
00:04:07.990 --> 00:04:09.750
happen in this meeting and what I need to prepare
00:04:09.750 --> 00:04:13.310
to speak and who to talk to. Another example
00:04:13.310 --> 00:04:16.550
might be subtitles for videos. Subtitles are
00:04:16.550 --> 00:04:18.329
initially designed for people who are hard of
00:04:18.329 --> 00:04:21.509
hearing, who may not be able to hear the audio.
00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:25.000
as well as other people. Personally, I love having
00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:27.399
subtitles on things, and I watch every movie
00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:29.800
with, you know, at home I watch every movie and
00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:31.879
TV show with subtitles or closed captions enabled,
00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:34.740
just because I think it helps my brain process
00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:37.480
what's happening. Without the subtitles, it would
00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:39.160
take me a second to catch up on what's being
00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:42.319
said, if that makes sense. I think having those
00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:45.180
subtitles on really helps me, even though it's
00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:47.970
initially designed for somebody else. And I think
00:04:47.970 --> 00:04:50.290
if you realize it's not always possible to have
00:04:50.290 --> 00:04:52.850
subtitles or closed captions with videos. But
00:04:52.850 --> 00:04:54.230
if you're a large organization, you regularly
00:04:54.230 --> 00:04:56.269
have, you know, corporate communications through
00:04:56.269 --> 00:05:00.529
a video, then really consider adding that. I
00:05:00.529 --> 00:05:02.269
think it would be beneficial for a lot of people.
00:05:02.949 --> 00:05:05.529
One of the key parts of the definition is without
00:05:05.529 --> 00:05:07.470
the need for adaptation or specialized design.
00:05:08.069 --> 00:05:12.649
So rather than designing something that you have
00:05:12.649 --> 00:05:15.230
a process and you say, oh, well, if you're...
00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:17.360
If you're artistic or you don't necessarily like
00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:19.860
this process, then go ahead and ask for an accommodation.
00:05:20.779 --> 00:05:22.459
Instead, design in a way that works for everybody
00:05:22.459 --> 00:05:24.120
without the need for the accommodation to begin
00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:27.660
with. And so going back to the idea of agendas,
00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:30.100
the way to support that would be instead of saying,
00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:32.800
hey, it's going to be, hey, we encourage everyone
00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.949
to have agendas for their meetings. Instead,
00:05:36.149 --> 00:05:38.050
from the top down, it should say every meeting
00:05:38.050 --> 00:05:39.430
should just have an agenda. You know, that should
00:05:39.430 --> 00:05:41.290
just be an expectation across the entire company.
00:05:41.649 --> 00:05:43.629
And that way, instead of having neurodiverse
00:05:43.629 --> 00:05:45.370
people or people who have benefited from an agenda
00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:47.790
have to specifically ask for it, it should just
00:05:47.790 --> 00:05:49.750
be an expectation across the company that, hey,
00:05:49.790 --> 00:05:51.470
every meeting can have an agenda, it's going
00:05:51.470 --> 00:05:53.350
to be organized, and you have to think about
00:05:53.350 --> 00:05:56.209
what's going to be on the agenda. In education,
00:05:56.389 --> 00:05:57.930
there's also a concept called universal design
00:05:57.930 --> 00:06:00.879
for learning. which essentially means essentially
00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:02.540
the same principles of universal design applied
00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:04.699
to an education perspective. And that can often
00:06:04.699 --> 00:06:06.439
include things like presenting information in
00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:09.279
different formats, like some people learn better
00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:12.660
through watching videos, some people learn better
00:06:12.660 --> 00:06:14.879
by hearing someone explain it, some people do
00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:16.920
better by actually doing the thing themselves,
00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:20.139
like a hands -on activity. And so presenting
00:06:20.139 --> 00:06:22.379
information in those different methods is a way
00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:24.379
of making sure that no matter how a person best
00:06:24.379 --> 00:06:26.620
learns, they can still find a way to understand
00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:28.949
the material best for themselves. Now for our
00:06:28.949 --> 00:06:31.089
follow -up question this week, I would love for
00:06:31.089 --> 00:06:32.850
you to take these principles of universal design
00:06:32.850 --> 00:06:34.870
and just think about them as you go about your
00:06:34.870 --> 00:06:36.970
day. The next time you have to design a work
00:06:36.970 --> 00:06:40.050
process or a work form, think about what someone
00:06:40.050 --> 00:06:42.910
with dyslexia who isn't able to read as well
00:06:42.910 --> 00:06:45.970
would go through the form. As you go about your
00:06:45.970 --> 00:06:48.970
day, just think about how would this feel for
00:06:48.970 --> 00:06:51.930
people with sensory challenges? How do your chairs
00:06:51.930 --> 00:06:54.329
feel? How do your desks feel? What about your...
00:06:55.020 --> 00:06:57.519
offices and meeting spaces? What about the lighting
00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:01.639
in them? Just think about what people with different
00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:05.800
sensory needs, different physical needs, different
00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:09.959
processing needs, just think about that for a
00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:12.000
second as you're going about your day and think
00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.959
about ways, you know, could this process or item
00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:17.199
or design be improved for people with those kinds
00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:19.420
of needs? And I think if you start thinking about
00:07:19.420 --> 00:07:21.240
those kind of needs, you'll eventually find ways
00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:24.079
to improve the processes that end up ultimately
00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:26.699
improving it for everybody involved, even people
00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:28.779
who don't necessarily have special needs. All
00:07:28.779 --> 00:07:30.319
right, and that's it for the episode this week.
00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:32.139
I just really like that concept of universal
00:07:32.139 --> 00:07:35.259
design from the book, and I just really wanted
00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:37.860
to make sure I talk about it in a way that it
00:07:37.860 --> 00:07:42.339
reflects on from a neurodiverse lens. And I'd
00:07:42.339 --> 00:07:45.889
love to hear your... tips on universal design.
00:07:45.990 --> 00:07:47.149
If there are other things you've noticed that
00:07:47.149 --> 00:07:51.350
could be better designed to handle yourself for
00:07:51.350 --> 00:07:54.389
your own sensory needs or other needs of other
00:07:54.389 --> 00:07:57.250
people, reach out to me. I'd love to hear you
00:07:57.250 --> 00:07:59.230
from either through email, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
00:07:59.470 --> 00:08:02.050
And all those links are in the show notes. Thank
00:08:02.050 --> 00:08:04.509
you, and I'll see you guys next time. Hey, thanks
00:08:04.509 --> 00:08:06.550
for listening all the way to the end. You can
00:08:06.550 --> 00:08:08.990
find show notes at workingclassautistic .com.
00:08:09.449 --> 00:08:11.769
I hope you enjoyed this episode, and if you did,
00:08:21.300 --> 00:08:22.740
See you next time.
00:00:01.029 --> 00:00:03.290
Autistic people have so much to offer, and yet
00:00:03.290 --> 00:00:05.429
so many of us struggle to fit into a world that
00:00:05.429 --> 00:00:07.650
isn't designed for us. I want to help change
00:00:07.650 --> 00:00:10.390
that. Welcome to the Working Class Autistic podcast,
00:00:10.810 --> 00:00:12.810
where I talk to experts and discuss ways for
00:00:12.810 --> 00:00:14.570
autistic adults to thrive and reach their full
00:00:14.570 --> 00:00:17.129
potential at work and beyond. I'm your host,
00:00:17.250 --> 00:00:23.089
Kevin Joseph. Now, let's get to work. Hello,
00:00:23.210 --> 00:00:25.050
everyone, and welcome to this week's episode
00:00:25.050 --> 00:00:28.140
of Working Class Autistic. I recently read the
00:00:28.140 --> 00:00:31.079
book Inside the Box by David Epstein, and it
00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:33.200
introduced me to the concept of universal design.
00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.520
In a nutshell, universal design says that if
00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:38.439
you design with a focus on the most constrained
00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:41.679
users, such as people with a disability, your
00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:43.259
resulting design will often be better for all
00:00:43.259 --> 00:00:46.420
people, even those without a disability. One
00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:48.200
example from the book is about an entrepreneur
00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:50.079
who noticed that his wife, who had arthritis,
00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:52.280
was really struggling using a certain type of
00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:54.740
peeler in the kitchen. And so this entrepreneur
00:00:54.740 --> 00:00:57.920
decided, let's make a peeler that's more ergonomic
00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:01.140
to use and easier to use for my wife. And as
00:01:01.140 --> 00:01:03.420
a result, this new ergonomic peeler ended up
00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:05.739
being really easy to use for everybody. And this
00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:07.260
entrepreneur ended up starting a company called
00:01:07.260 --> 00:01:09.680
OXO, which is a really popular company that sells
00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:11.379
a lot of different ergonomic tools designed for
00:01:11.379 --> 00:01:14.299
the kitchen for all users. The official definition
00:01:14.299 --> 00:01:16.739
of universal design based on the UD project website
00:01:16.739 --> 00:01:20.260
is that universal design is design that is usable
00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:22.760
by all people to the greatest extent possible.
00:01:23.310 --> 00:01:25.109
without the need for adaptation or specialized
00:01:25.109 --> 00:01:27.909
design. Essentially, it's a way to make sure
00:01:27.909 --> 00:01:31.209
that anyone can use your product or your design
00:01:31.209 --> 00:01:34.450
or your system without any special adaptations
00:01:34.450 --> 00:01:37.989
or special designs for them. One popular example
00:01:37.989 --> 00:01:44.370
is sidewalk ramps or curb cuts, which were designed
00:01:44.370 --> 00:01:47.049
for users with wheelchairs to be able to get
00:01:47.049 --> 00:01:49.719
onto sidewalks or get onto curbs. It's being
00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:51.099
useful for a lot of people, right? Like people
00:01:51.099 --> 00:01:54.019
with strollers who can use that to easily get
00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:56.260
up the curb without needing to pick up the stroller
00:01:56.260 --> 00:01:58.739
and move on. Or let's say you've got luggage
00:01:58.739 --> 00:02:02.560
to drag around. Going up a sidewalk ramp is an
00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:04.000
easy way to move luggage around without having
00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.760
to pick it up. And so by designing for the user
00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:09.580
with the constraint, which is in this case the
00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:11.500
user with the wheelchair, you end up making it
00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:14.360
a lot more usable for people without those same
00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:15.939
constraints but are in different situations.
00:02:17.099 --> 00:02:19.000
One of the concepts behind universal design is
00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:21.659
the idea that the extreme user or the kind of
00:02:21.659 --> 00:02:25.180
outlier user represents more extreme versions
00:02:25.180 --> 00:02:27.879
of the challenges that other users face. And
00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:28.879
there are a lot of different constraints you
00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:30.780
can think of from a universal design perspective.
00:02:31.259 --> 00:02:33.759
There's obviously physical constraints like people
00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:37.080
who have limited sight, limited hearing, limited
00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:39.539
movement. But from a neurodiverse perspective,
00:02:39.939 --> 00:02:41.379
it's also worth thinking about the way people
00:02:41.379 --> 00:02:44.569
think. So it could be people who have difficulty
00:02:44.569 --> 00:02:47.110
processing information, people who have difficulty
00:02:47.110 --> 00:02:49.689
speaking, people who just take a little longer
00:02:49.689 --> 00:02:52.550
to think about things compared to other people
00:02:52.550 --> 00:02:56.250
around them. And this concept of universal design
00:02:56.250 --> 00:02:58.469
made me think about a frequent topic on my podcast,
00:02:58.729 --> 00:03:00.789
which is how accommodations that benefit autistic
00:03:00.789 --> 00:03:04.069
people also tend to benefit everyone. Autistic
00:03:04.069 --> 00:03:06.270
people benefit from having a meeting agenda,
00:03:06.509 --> 00:03:09.090
for example, because we get to see what's expected
00:03:09.090 --> 00:03:11.129
from us and we know what to expect and what to
00:03:11.129 --> 00:03:14.020
prepare for. in a particular meeting. However,
00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:16.740
if you think about it, everybody can also benefit
00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:19.000
from meeting agenda. Because the meeting agenda,
00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:21.439
you know, not only does it help with the meeting
00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:23.719
preparation angle, but also helps make sure that
00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:25.500
meetings stay on topic and that all the topics
00:03:25.500 --> 00:03:27.780
that need to get covered during a meeting, you
00:03:27.780 --> 00:03:31.259
get covered during that meeting. And so that's
00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:34.479
one example of something where if a company decided,
00:03:34.860 --> 00:03:36.740
hey, we're going to make sure that if you're
00:03:36.740 --> 00:03:38.340
scheduling a meeting, you know, we're going to
00:03:38.340 --> 00:03:40.360
set a company policy that if you're scheduling
00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:42.400
a meeting, then that meeting needs to have an
00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:45.280
agenda associated with it. And so meeting organizers
00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:46.979
need to figure out ahead of time, let's make
00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:48.479
sure we know what the topics are for this meeting
00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:52.159
and what exactly needs to get discussed. And
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that ends up being a benefit for everyone, right?
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Because if there's not a clear topic for your
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meeting, maybe the meeting doesn't need to exist.
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And autistic people who need to join the meeting
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can look at it and say, can look at the agenda
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and say, okay, let's go ahead and prepare for
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this. I'm mentally prepared for what... might
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happen in this meeting and what I need to prepare
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to speak and who to talk to. Another example
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might be subtitles for videos. Subtitles are
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initially designed for people who are hard of
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hearing, who may not be able to hear the audio.
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as well as other people. Personally, I love having
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subtitles on things, and I watch every movie
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with, you know, at home I watch every movie and
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TV show with subtitles or closed captions enabled,
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just because I think it helps my brain process
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what's happening. Without the subtitles, it would
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take me a second to catch up on what's being
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said, if that makes sense. I think having those
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subtitles on really helps me, even though it's
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initially designed for somebody else. And I think
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if you realize it's not always possible to have
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subtitles or closed captions with videos. But
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if you're a large organization, you regularly
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have, you know, corporate communications through
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a video, then really consider adding that. I
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think it would be beneficial for a lot of people.
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One of the key parts of the definition is without
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the need for adaptation or specialized design.
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So rather than designing something that you have
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a process and you say, oh, well, if you're...
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If you're artistic or you don't necessarily like
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this process, then go ahead and ask for an accommodation.
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Instead, design in a way that works for everybody
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without the need for the accommodation to begin
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with. And so going back to the idea of agendas,
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the way to support that would be instead of saying,
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hey, it's going to be, hey, we encourage everyone
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to have agendas for their meetings. Instead,
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from the top down, it should say every meeting
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should just have an agenda. You know, that should
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just be an expectation across the entire company.
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And that way, instead of having neurodiverse
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people or people who have benefited from an agenda
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have to specifically ask for it, it should just
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be an expectation across the company that, hey,
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every meeting can have an agenda, it's going
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to be organized, and you have to think about
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what's going to be on the agenda. In education,
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there's also a concept called universal design
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for learning. which essentially means essentially
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the same principles of universal design applied
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to an education perspective. And that can often
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include things like presenting information in
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different formats, like some people learn better
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through watching videos, some people learn better
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by hearing someone explain it, some people do
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better by actually doing the thing themselves,
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like a hands -on activity. And so presenting
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information in those different methods is a way
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of making sure that no matter how a person best
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learns, they can still find a way to understand
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the material best for themselves. Now for our
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follow -up question this week, I would love for
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you to take these principles of universal design
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and just think about them as you go about your
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day. The next time you have to design a work
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process or a work form, think about what someone
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with dyslexia who isn't able to read as well
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would go through the form. As you go about your
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day, just think about how would this feel for
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people with sensory challenges? How do your chairs
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feel? How do your desks feel? What about your...
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offices and meeting spaces? What about the lighting
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in them? Just think about what people with different
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sensory needs, different physical needs, different
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processing needs, just think about that for a
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second as you're going about your day and think
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about ways, you know, could this process or item
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or design be improved for people with those kinds
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of needs? And I think if you start thinking about
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those kind of needs, you'll eventually find ways
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to improve the processes that end up ultimately
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improving it for everybody involved, even people
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who don't necessarily have special needs. All
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right, and that's it for the episode this week.
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I just really like that concept of universal
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design from the book, and I just really wanted
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to make sure I talk about it in a way that it
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reflects on from a neurodiverse lens. And I'd
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love to hear your... tips on universal design.
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If there are other things you've noticed that
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could be better designed to handle yourself for
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your own sensory needs or other needs of other
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people, reach out to me. I'd love to hear you
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from either through email, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
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And all those links are in the show notes. Thank
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you, and I'll see you guys next time. Hey, thanks
00:08:04.509 --> 00:08:06.550
for listening all the way to the end. You can
00:08:06.550 --> 00:08:08.990
find show notes at workingclassautistic .com.
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I hope you enjoyed this episode, and if you did,
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See you next time.
