Anthony Pacilio: Neurodiversity a strategic business advantage

The workplace of today is becoming increasingly diverse. However, diversity isn’t just about race, gender or age, but also about the differences in individual brain function and behavioral traits, known as neurodiversity. This range of differences includes but is not limited to autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD.

With possible strengths in areas such as attention to detail, pattern recognition, and problem solving, neurodivergent individuals can greatly contribute to a company’s success, yet they largely remain unemployed. The proven productivity increase when incorporating neurodiversity in the workplace speaks for itself.

The University of Pittsburgh uncovered a need for additional IT resources to help support its application testing routines. This manual and time-consuming process typically took its quality assurance (QA) staff several days to execute. After learning of the benefits neurodivergent employees brought to workplace culture and efficiency, the university introduced a neurodiverse team into its IT operations and realized tremendous results.

The team created more than 150 tests that are executed and reviewed daily. As a result, the university automated 83% of salesforce functional testing, reducing the processing time from several days to only a few hours. Jamie Craig, Pitt’s associate director of enterprise applications, who oversees the team,’s success said, “The efforts made by both our team and CAI Neurodiverse Solutions have greatly improved our IT operations. But more importantly it has provided invaluable career development opportunities for talented individuals who might otherwise be overlooked.”

Those talented individuals working for the university include Patrick, a QA analyst, who loves several aspects of his job. “My favorite part about this role is the feeling of finding something that’s an issue with the software and being able to say, ‘Hey, I found this issue. Here’s how it worked. And here’s why it broke,” Patrick said.

Through the neurodiversity employment program, the University of Pittsburgh continues to improve its digital infrastructure through automation while championing career development opportunities for neurodivergent individuals .

In today’s ever-evolving business landscape, neurodivergent employees provide a competitive advantage with strengths and skills necessary to spark creativity and drive innovation. Beyond individual contributions, collective impact is achieved when blended teams of neurotypical and neurodivergent employees work together; new ideas are shared, combined tactics form cohesive strategies, and soon solutions for common and complex business challenges are found. With this success, camaraderie and increased team morale are added bonuses.

To achieve similar results as the University of Pittsburgh, employers should focus their attention on fostering an inclusive environment that values neurodiversity. It can help businesses meet diverse customer needs, and ultimately, stand out from their competitors.

There are many inexpensive, effective and instant accommodations employers can put into effect that enable neurodiverse talent to perform at their best, which may include offering noise-canceling headphones to block out distracting sounds or conversations; providing clear, written instructions to help those who find verbal instructions challenging; and placing desks away from high-traffic areas to relieve any anxieties.

As companies begin to understand the value of neurodiversity, they are exploring how to implement employment programs that recruit, support and retain neurodivergent individuals. To begin this process, organizations can start by introducing these and other simple accommodations at the beginning of employment. It’s also important to bring in neurodiversity-certified team leads who are subject matter experts on the roles themselves and trained in neurodiversity.

Creating a truly inclusive environment goes beyond making physical adjustments. It involves fostering a culture of understanding, empathy and acceptance by educating employees about neurodiversity and unconscious biases and facilitating open conversations.

Incorporating neurodiversity in the workplace is more than just a socially responsible move — it’s a strategic one. It acknowledges that every individual’s unique cognitive wiring can provide business value and contribute to the collective success of a team and an organization.

Ultimately, the strength of a company lies in its diversity, and neurodiversity is a critical aspect of that. By recognizing neurodivergent individuals’ abilities, businesses can unlock untapped potential, drive innovation and gain a competitive advantage in today’s dynamic workforce.

Anthony Pacilio is vice president of neurodiverse solutions at CAI.