Councils called upon to pledge commitment to ‘neuro-inclusive’ work cultures

Local authorities are being urged to sign a social work-created pledge to create neuro-inclusive workplaces.

The campaign is being driven by members of BASW’s neurodivergent social workers special interest group and backed by the Social Workers Union.

Deb Solomon, a social worker from Derbyshire who is among the leaders of the campaign, said: “Our pledge will give employers of social workers an opportunity to promote acceptance and understanding of neurodiversity among all members of staff.

“We will also expect signatories of the pledge to create a neuro-inclusive culture of appreciation, celebration and belonging in their organisations. 

“Another area we are keen to explore is how employers are able to take direct action to create psychologically safe work environments that empower the neurodivergent members of our profession to thrive."

Jenni Guthrie, principle curriculum lead at Frontline, who is on the steering group for the campaign, said: “We need to challenge the stigma around neurodiversity and celebrate the numerous skills neurodiverse individuals can bring to the social work profession. 

“But a first step to doing this is to ensure that employers become more neuro-inclusive. It has never been more important to value every member of staff and our workplaces should be psychologically safe spaces for neurodivergent social workers to be themselves.”

David Grimm, a social work student from Glasgow, who is also part of the group, said he hoped the pledge would help “remove existing stigmas and barriers to social work” and enable neurodiverse people to flourish.

He added: “The major benefit of this is that services are able to provide more understanding and a better experience to the people who need their help. In many cases, social work clients won't have had this unless their social worker also happened to be neurodiverse.”

Find out more about the campaign here