Copycon roundup #4 - neurodiversity in creativity
In the 4th instalment of my #CopyConX best bits, we have the unique and wonderful Honor Clement-Hayes, who not only gave us a great presentation on the power of neurodiversity in creativity, but who also made me want to give her a massive hug as she reminds me a lot of my kids - who are also neurodivergent, and of myself (undiagnosed but I suspect I have ADHD too).
Coincidentally, or maybe not, October is also #ADHDAwarenessMonth here in the UK.
For so long, neurodiversity has been seen in a negative light - at school where you're like a square peg that the education system is desperately trying to push into a round hole, and even in workplaces, where employers simply can't understand how to get the best out of someone who thinks a little differently to most.
BUT... thinking differently is KEY to be being creative. A neurotypical personal can see what's right in front of them, but it takes a special, weird little brain to be able to see all of the possibilities. And that's what neurodiverse people have. They'll give you options you never even dreamed of. They'll take a boring concept and turn it on it's head - sometimes quite literally!
Neurodiverse people also experience something called hyperfixation. I can say that this is easily the hardest and most exhausting part of having ND kids. When they are interested, BOY are they interested. My son spent the best part of 5 years obsessed with Harry Potter - to the point where I think he could have given JK Rowling a run for her money on Mastermind. But this is GREAT news for employers, because it means your ND team member will be super-passionate. You want to know everything about the Paris Catacombs.... Honor can tell you! Same applies to any other subject.
Other key takeaways from Honor's presentation...
USE YOUR GLIMMERS*!
Input = Output. Better quality input means better quality output, so surround yourself with positive, beautiful and inspiring people, things and places.
*things that boost your dopamine levels. You'll be at your most creative when your dopamine levels are high.
Don't be afraid to embrace your inner weirdo.
Thank you Honor for a bloody fantastic and highly relatable presentation, and I hope to see you for a real life awkward ND hug at the "Annual symposium for little weirdos" again next year