Accessible office spaces: designing for neurodivergence in the workplace

In the past few years, conversations about neurodiversity have been increasing as accessibility to research on neurodivergent brains and corresponding conditions such as Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Dyspraxia grows. Thanks to this growing awareness and understanding, many people who were previously undiagnosed or misdiagnosed have received the support they need, and education on the tools and support required to assist neurodivergent people is now considered valuable in both schools and workplaces.

 

 

Understanding neurodiversity and the spectrum

 

 

For a long time, Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, and other conditions that fall under the umbrella of neurodivergence, were treated as disorders; it was widely thought that there was something ‘wrong’ with these people’s brains. Now, advocates and experts on neurodivergence are seeking to change the narrative. Considering neurodivergence as a normal variation of brain function rather than a brain disorder will help to increase acceptance, accessibility, and quality of life for neurodiverse people.

 

Neurodivergence is a spectrum, and while this tends to evoke images of a sliding linear scale from high to low, it is more accurate to visualise the spectrum as a pie chart of ‘symptoms’ or ‘traits’. Autism, ADHD, and other neurodivergent conditions each have their own traits, but there are a few that are shared by most neurodivergent people. These include difficulty in social interactions, speech and language differences, difficulty with focus and executive functioning, sensitivity to sensory stimuli, physical tics or stims, and difficulty estimating or perceiving time.

 

Every neurodiverse person has differing experiences with these traits; for example, some may find social interactions fairly easy, yet struggle with focus and time management. Because every experience of neurodiversity is different, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to creating accessible spaces, which is why the most important consideration for accommodating neurodiversity is flexibility.

Embracing flexibility: how workplaces can support neurodivergence

 

 

Often creative, out-of-the-box thinkers with strong passion for their crafts and interests, neurodiverse people are incredibly valuable additions to any team—yet many struggle to find their place due to inflexible systems and structures that don’t support their needs.

 

To reimagine the workplace as a supportive and accessible environment for all, it is crucial to understand that there are many different working styles, and a single office setting is not equally suited to every task. Because individual working styles vary between employees, it’s important to take a nuanced approach to your workplace design.

 

 

Creating inclusive workplaces through design

 

 

Designing with nuance means considering the variety of working styles needed to complete tasks and accommodating these through physical design features. Modern offices tend to be open-plan, with a large amount of stimuli—from bright lighting and blasting music to casual conversation and mingling co-workers. While collaborative tasks and projects may call for a lot of interaction between team members, the open-plan office with its exposed desk clusters can be a nightmare when working on individual focus tasks—especially for the stimuli-sensitive neurodiverse brain.

 

Providing quiet focus areas for staff to retreat to when they need to work on an individual project or reduce distractions is a great way to accommodate different working styles. Whether this is a separate room or a partitioned section of the open-plan space, it is vital that these spaces are acoustically treated and comfortably lit with adjustable task lighting.

 

Planning your desk layouts to reduce sensory overload can look like smaller desk clusters of two or four, installing acoustic desk screens like the Vicinity™ Desk Screens to limit visual and auditory noise, and providing neurodivergent staff with the option to sit away from busy thoroughfares or common meeting areas. Allowing your staff the option to customise their desk space or bring in tools that make work easier for them is another great way to support different working styles.

Acoustic solutions for accessible workplaces

 

 

It is impossible to avoid noise in the office, and if you’re working with an open-plan space, it’s likely that you will have large groups congregating for meetings, collaborative work, or breaks. By installing acoustic treatment on the ceilings and walls, especially in high-traffic areas, you can reduce noise transfer to other parts of the office. Solutions such as Frontier™ Fins and Raft can be suspended or fixed to the ceiling in large-scale applications, while Cube™, Quietspace® Panel, and 3D Tiles are beautiful, functional options for both walls and ceilings. If you want to section off areas of your open-plan space using partitions, Cascade™ screens can be suspended or fixed to the ceiling for both visual and acoustic separation.

 

Flexible design means providing options to suit all working styles, but it also means customisation. Choosing modular furniture, tools, and acoustic solutions that can be adjusted to suit individual preferences gives your staff greater agency over the way they work. Built for customisation, the Autex Acoustics® range can be designed to your unique aesthetic and technical requirements. For advice on specifying and installing acoustic treatment in your accessible workspace, reach out to the Autex Acoustics team.