Support NeoGAF

[SomeNorseGuy]

How to accommodate neurodiversity in video game development

"It's like handing someone the wrong game controller and then judging them for not being able to play the game."

www.gamesindustry.biz

Some outtakes about here and her views:

Katherine Mould, senior talent acquisition specialist at Keywords Studios, says she was diagnosed with ADHD at age six.

"One of the things that I will always scream from the rooftops is you do not need a diagnosis to be neurodivergent," she says. "It's not something you need a doctor to tell you you have. It's just the way your brain works."

"The diagnosis is not what matters, right? You wouldn't walk up to somebody and tell them they weren't who they were because they didn't have a piece of paper saying that."

In a talk at Develop:Brighton entitled 'Superpowers in Diversity: Managing Mental Health and Neurodiverse Teams for Success', Mould outlined ways in which employers and peers could help to accommodate and encourage neurodiverse teams.

Some of her talking points:

"All neurodiversity is a different way of thinking. It's different brains that have different processing mechanisms, and [the term] recognises that neurological differences are normal and valuable within the human experience. It doesn't mean that somebody has a problem or that they can't process information. It just means that they might do it faster, better, or differently." But she notes that neurodivergent people tend to hop between jobs, only lasting a year or 18 months before they "either get burnt out or they get so overwhelmed that they start making mistakes".

"They cannot physically do what their neurotypical teammates do in those environments, and they'll either leave or they'll get fired."

This is why she is such an advocate for accommodating neurodiversity in the workplace – because by failing to do so, employers are missing out on neurodivergent 'superpowers'. But expecting neurodiverse people to thrive in an environment designed for neurotypical people is destined to fail, she thinks. "It's like handing someone the wrong game controller and then judging them for not being able to play the game."

"We design hiring loops and workflows and team cultures around assumptions that people are extroverted, fast paced, and noise tolerant, comfortable in social situations, and comfortable with ambiguity," she says. Then, when a neurodiverse person struggles, "we tend to frame it as a flaw in the individual."

"Equality means that everybody gets the same thing. Equity means that everybody gets what they need to succeed, essentially. So I would like to see equitable hiring practices where the questions are based on what we need for the job and the skills."

Illustration of equality versus equity that shows three people of different heights attempting to see over a fence to watch a baseball game. "That's the visual representation that sticks for me: for equity, it's giving people what they need."

She emphasises the importance for employers to provide quiet spaces. But if that's not possible, then "even just giving the employee perk of noise-cancelling headphones can make all the difference".

Mould also emphasises that meetings can be tricky. Her personality means that she's often the most talkative one, but she points out that loud people "don't always have the best ideas – sometimes it's our quiet friends in the corner who are overwhelmed by the social situation, or they're having a hard time processing".

She emphasises that providing clear expectations for exactly what each employee needs to achieve is key for accommodating neurodiversity. Vague or unclear goals are unhelpful: expectations need to be spelled out precisely.

"Don't say, 'Hey, I want a report on Friday'," she explains. "That doesn't help me. What does that look like? Do you want that input form? Do you want an entire task list? What do you want? Just be as explicit as you can – but not micromanaging."

The same rule applies to feedback and employee evaluations. "Indirect feedback that relies on reading between the lines, this is my most hated thing," says Mould.

Still, in order for employees to benefit from this kind of support, they have to feel safe enough to access it.

Conclusion:

"Safety is what's experienced, right?" says Mould. "You can provide all the supports you want, but if people aren't using them, they don't know how to access them, they do not feel safe enough to do so – that's not safe."

"People do not use accommodations when they fear judgement."

"There have been numerous times in my career where I have been afraid to ask for what I might actually need, for fear of what might come after."

Above all, she thinks that the number one thing people managers need to do is provide grace.

"Grace is just allowing people to be who they are, and not punishing people for those differences," she says.

"It's general basic human decency in a lot of ways. Allowing people to make mistakes and learn from them, and giving grace for growth."

---

Some of my best friends can probably be classified as neurodivergent, but if these kind of talks actually gets taken seriously in dev circles ...phew, slow dev cycles would get even slower.

Safe space to all and have a great Sunday.

 

[Nok Su Kow]

I agree that you don't need a diagnosis to know something is different but I can tell you it is definitely NOT a super power

 

[Woopah]

If you're taking actions that help your nuerodivergent employees be more effective/productive, that's going to help the company rather than hinder it.

 

[Punished Miku]

"even just giving the employee perk of noise-cancelling headphones can make all the difference".
[...]
"Don't say, 'Hey, I want a report on Friday'," she explains.

Exactly. I can't hear that shit with my noise cancelling headphones on.

 

[LordCBH]

If you're taking actions that help your nuerodivergent employees be more effective/productive, that's going to help the company rather than hinder it.

I agree.

Also, yes, you can know something is wrong or different. But you still need an actual diagnosis. There are entire communities of people on the internet who fake this shit for attention. Just get a diagnosis.

 

[Calverz]

I agree.

Also, yes, you can know something is wrong or different. But you still need an actual diagnosis. There are entire communities of people on the internet who fake this shit for attention. Just get a diagnosis.

It's not as easy as "just get a diagnosis". Not in the UK. Some areas have waiting lists of around 7 years. The alternative is going private which costs over a thousand pounds. And often those diagnosed privately, are not entitled to medication from the NHS and again, have to pay for it.

Of course that's the UK, other countries probably different.

 

[PeteBull]

We had "equity" back in communist poland, salaries were so low that even if u had proper college degree u barely could afford 1 pair of jeans with ur monthly salary, and there was still priviledged class, aka higher ups of communist party and political police

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I'm just glad this isn't a showcase stream at Summer Games Fest.

Anybody remember when Take-Two did that back in 2021? Good Lord, what a disaster.

 

[NickFire]

How were games even made before all the consultants showed up? Must have been so hard to ship a game in the 90s and early 2000s

 

[viveks86]

Quiet spaces, headphones and sensitivity training seem perfectly acceptable and healthy. But let's not get carried away into thinking neurodivergence is a super power. At least not most of the time. Embrace the disability and work with it. Don't celebrate it with denial. This type of relentless coddling from school all the way up is what makes people incapable of dealing with the vicissitudes of life. It's not a recipe for emotional maturity or sustained happiness.

 

[kpopSuperstar]

That thing she mentions with the report triggers me. If you start to overthink on what you need in a report, then you aren't neurodivergent, you are a rookie.

I hate when people make normal situations into issues.

It's good to take into account a persons needs, but don't lie and make it out to be something it's not.

I worked with people who got crazy benefits for petty nonsense, and there is nothing that divide and aggrevate a workplace more than that.

It has to be proven through medical, even if it's not optimal, because there are hordes of people who can't handle work and fall back on this.

 

[Edellus]

I agree that you don't need a diagnosis to know something is different but I can tell you it is definitely NOT a super power

That's not what she meant.
When she says "superpowers" she refers to talents and abilities that neurodiviergent people usually have:

She gives examples of how people with ADHD are often able to make decisions rapidly and quickly come up with ideas, while people on the autism spectrum can often be systematic thinkers, and people with dyspraxia can display a talent for non-linear thinking and problem solving. "These are all generalisations," she notes. "Everybody's gonna be different."

I do think it is a tad cringey to use "superpower" in this context either way, though. "Advantages" would suffice, IMO.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Quiet spaces, headphones and sensitivity training seem perfectly acceptable and healthy. But let's not get carried away into thinking neurodivergence is a super power. At least not most of the time. Embrace the disability and work with it. Don't celebrate it with denial. This type of relentless coddling from school all the way up is what makes people incapable of dealing with the vicissitudes of life. It's not a recipe for emotional maturity or sustained happiness.

Depends on how profound your neurodivergence is, some people with autism have the the ability to manipulate space and time

i.e

 

[poppabk]

How were games even made before all the consultants showed up? Must have been so hard to ship a game in the 90s and early 2000s

On a team of like 15 people - everyone works as an actual team, each person knows how to get the best out of the next guy and everyone has a shared goal and responsibility. When you have a team of hundreds or thousands you need some general guidance.

 

[ReBurn]

I had a finding of ADD with hyperactivity in the 70's before they started with medical diagnosis and we were expected to learn how to control ourselves despite the difficulty.

Nowadays they call it a superpower. All mine ever got me was into trouble, so I learned how to focus and do what I needed to do. I tend to have limited sympathy for people who expect to be accommodated for something that is ultimately their own responsibility to manage.

It's good that some workplaces allow people to work the way that helps them deal with their challenges. That hasn't always been my experience.

 

[CowboyLou]

"Equity" is evil. Satanic, even.

 

[Clear]

Chinese teams I highly suspect don't rely on diverse "superpowers".

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

I hate when people make normal situations into issues.

This is the line of business of these scammers.


Fuck this narcissistic bitch and her superpower to bankrupt companies.

 

[Hypereides]

How were games even made before all the consultants showed up? Must have been so hard to ship a game in the 90s and early 2000s

These kinds of consultants are a legitimate plague. Most of them offer advice that lead to the current slump and landscape of gaming we see before us today.

Game devs in the 90's and 00's were just made of pure nerdium, who may or may have not had some quirk, and didn't rely on this overly convoluted advice to get their vision done.

Some of these slides read like corporate folks are trying their hardest to distill the kind of creators that pioneered the industry back then into some kind of pseudoscience.

 

[Chittagong]

That's fucking retarded

 

[Nydius]

"One of the things that I will always scream from the rooftops is you do not need a diagnosis to be neurodivergent," she says.

This quote is a prime example of why Western society is in the state it's in. Too many people self-diagnosing themselves with ADHD or autism or whatever neurodivergent condition is trending after watching TikTok and Instagram videos then believing everyone else is obligated to accept their self-diagnosis as fact.

 

[Clear]

The reality is if you can't compete with the rest of the market... you're not going to last.

There's a horrible complacency that comes with all these high-minded "progressive" approaches that is going to be mercilessly exposed by the marketplace.

It seems cruel to point this out, but its an undeniable fact that a lot of the recent job losses were a result of underperforming products. Which isn't to say those who lost their livelihoods were in any way at fault personally for this, just that this is the manifest result of what happens when profitability drops. So its really important to keep up.

 

[Aces High]

If people just focused on the task instead of searching for ego-bolstering execuses why they underperform, they would probably perform decently.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

 

[Kenneth Haight]

Next week - how to accommodate neurodiversity in the special forces

 

[RodriGames40]

This quote is a prime example of why Western society is in the state it's in. Too many people self-diagnosing themselves with ADHD or autism or whatever neurodivergent condition is trending after watching TikTok and Instagram videos then believing everyone else is obligated to accept their self-diagnosis as fact.

This is so true it literally hurts to hear. Western society is in the absolute shitter because of this kind of behavior, and there is nothing we can do but continue to watch all of it rot away. Sucks balls, man.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

is neurodivergent the new retard?

 

[Guilty_AI]

i was so invested by the title i asked grok to sum the article up

 

[Bry0]

industry was always full of "neurodivergent" individuals. The secret was not catering to people who self diagnose and use it as an excuse for being a weak team member.

 

[Embearded]

You don't need a doctor to tell you you are different than the average person? And how would you know that?

Even parents with a single kid cannot easily spot these things some times.
From my experience it starts from teachers, who work with multiple kids and can spot dofferences.
Then you take the child to a doctor to make sure.

Self diagnosis is a dangerous path people.

And all that talk about superpowers and how to properly handle such people.
Does she give an example, a real case that was handled in a special way that helped the person unlock their special abilities?

 

[realcool]

How to accommodate neurodiversity in video game development

"It's like handing someone the wrong game controller and then judging them for not being able to play the game."

www.gamesindustry.biz

Some outtakes about here and her views:




Some of her talking points:

Illustration of equality versus equity that shows three people of different heights attempting to see over a fence to watch a baseball game. "That's the visual representation that sticks for me: for equity, it's giving people what they need."

Conclusion:

---

Some of my best friends can probably be classified as neurodivergent, but if these kind of talks actually gets taken seriously in dev circles ...phew, slow dev cycles would get even slower.

Safe space to all and have a great Sunday.

TL;DR: her superpower is being a woman who thinks she's special. A fucking universal constant.

 

[mitch1971]

I just wouldn't hire them.

 

[simpatico]

Now show us how to be profitable while doing this.

Difficulty level: impossible

 

[Mr Hyde]

 

[SomeNorseGuy]

And all that talk about superpowers and how to properly handle such people.
Does she give an example, a real case that was handled in a special way that helped the person unlock their special abilities?

Don't have it in me to read through it again. But she was talking about theoretical situations where "special" people can work harder, think outside the box, etc. And reccomended some AI tools and Apps for managing people who don't tolerate being managed.

Don't remember her bringing up an actual real-world example where these "superpowers" has made a professional business better. But my brain, in self defence, started to deleted what I read just moments after I finished reading it. So I could be mistaken.

 

[Tajaz2426]

How about people just stop being pussies, do their job and go home. Easy as that.

 

[semiconscious]

self-diagnosis falls into the same category as me, too: they're concepts predicated on the idea that everyone's completely honest...

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I blame big tech for this one - that whole "superpowers" speak thing spun out of control because of them.

It feels like there's a stubborn refusal to admit that some people just aren't as good as others at what they do. Some people downright fucking suck at their job.

Frankly, the last thing game development needs at this point is more excuses. Fuck you.

 

[Portugeezer]

Hire based on what you need. Whether they meet the requirements despite some mental issues becomes irrelevant.

 

[GnomeChimpsky]

If you're taking actions that help your nuerodivergent employees be more effective/productive, that's going to help the company rather than hinder it.

Maybe in fantasy land. In the real world you'd just be playing a fool's game.

 

[GHound]

Fucking cringe.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I guess Western studios are going all-in on bankruptcy and mass layoffs then

Good thing we have Asian development studios

 

[Nostalgic Nightmare]

Everyone's such a fucking victim (while posting from slave labor devices and enjoying prosperity the world has never seen)
Just shut the fuck up, go to work and come home and have a few beers like everyone else for fucks sakes.

You're not special due to your mental illness, what you like to fuck, your disability etc.

It's all so fucking tiring already.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Just make video games with passion.We don't need that Western crap.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Person sounds fucked and weird. Imagine working with someone like this at the office.

As for people job hopping, the vast majority of people I know who job hop every 12-24 months has to do with them changing jobs for better pay or a higher level job. Not because they cant handle it or get bored. I cant think of one person I know who job hops all the time for a lateral move for the 8th time except for one guy I know who gets fired every two years. But amazingly, he always lands another job. He must spin his interviews in a way that he wasnt fired since I dont see how company #6 or 7 would want to hire a guy already fired 5 times in 10 years. I'll assume he's really good in interview sessions.

As for superpowers, it's a stupid claim. But it's the way down and outers try to put themselves on a pedestal propping themselves up like they are Professor X.

It makes no difference whether someone is normal or autistic or whatever. Or home life or work. Just act chill, dont cause trouble, be a good fam member or coworker and add value. That's all anyone can really ask. No need for overhyping being full of superpowers or some BS. You dont see normies who do a good job claiming superpowers back. So let's knock off the woe is me theories.

 

[RagnarokIV]

So are you telling me if I pretend to be a retard I can get some free airpod max headphones from my work?

 

[Neff]

Everyone is neurodivergent

We need to hire more people who are neurodivergent as opposed to people who aren't

Why are these people so fucking stupid

 

[Arsic]

She's right. I don't need a GAF tag saying GigaBowser is a retard. I can just tell by his shit posts.

 

[Ashamam]

The true irony is how some of these posts match DSM-5 criteria lol. Talk about deficits in social interaction. Maybe its just denial!

As to the 'superpower' quote, I've always found that a bit over the top, advantageous in narrow situations absolutely but mainly I'd suggest its an ability to hyperfocus in one area. But if you can't understand that ND individuals have workplace needs that are different then you are just ignorant. Currently watching Astrid et Raphaelle, its a pretty good show for fixing ignorance, albeit Astrid is further on the spectrum than most ND people I know. Hypersensitivity/information overload and related exhaustion is a pretty common theme in ND though.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

But if you can't understand that ND individuals have workplace needs that are different then you are just ignorant.

I understand that the same way I understand I need a thai girl massaging my feet while I'm frantically typing at my desktop. And another one on my shoulders, please.

Problem is, the company can't and shouldnt provide me with that, because I'm not special. Nor are those ND folks. Sorry, but they aren't. We are not talking about disabled people, who have their particular assignments and training programs.