If anyone has received manager training that specifically includes neurodivergent people I’d like to know about it.
Managing autistic, ADHD people and those with other neurodivergences is different from managing typical people and there must be something about it somewhere.

@Aniket as a neurodivergent manager (who has managed at least two other neurodivergent people) I feel like I've learned by doing and by thinking about what would help me (or, conversely, what really *didn't* help me). Also as someone in HR I've also encouraged other managers to do things I've learned work.

All that said, I feel like I know bits and pieces and do what I can to help other managers learn, too, but a resource to point others to would also be so helpful.

@allysonf I would love to read about everything, *everything* you’ve learned.
Just yesterday I was telling my spouse that the only way I’m going to get a good answer to this is from another ND manager.

@Aniket a few quick things off the top of my head:

- there's usually not actually one "right" way, so clarify the goal then let people figure out what works for them
- a lot of neurodivergent people need specifics and details, so plan for them to ask questions! And be as specific as you can, especially about what's most important (goals, objectives, parameters)
- especially (but not only) for ADHDers, let them control *when* they work on *what* so they can task-switch

@allysonf thanks this is immediately helpful since I often help my adhd spouse who’s a web developer get things done.
Do you also have advice for me as an autistic manager to manage NTs?

@Aniket

I've found that NTs are more likely to want the one "right" way to do things, so be ready to offer a suggestion if they do need it.

NTs also don't always connect dots like many autistic folks do (seeing parallels/patterns), so there's sometimes a need to slow down and walk through how things connect instead of just naming the pattern/connecting the dots and moving on. What's an obvious connection/pattern to an autistic brain might not be obvious at all to NTs.

@allysonf @Aniket

This is actually something of a lightbulb moment, although it shouldn't be, I knew these things before, I just didn't ... connect the dots.

This can lead to the autistic person getting terribly frustrated at constantly having to explain what they see as the simplest of things to the rest of the team on a daily basis. It can also lead to them either seeing the rest of their team as slow dim-witted fools or at least appearing to do so, which can be a real cause of friction.