Logging onto the Teams call, I was feeling reflective of the first session. I was excited to embark on the second, which really felt like the transformation was underway.
The first had been the introductory ‘welcome’ with a chance to ask any questions and be acquainted with the process, and the second being when we really get into what I want a strategy for.
Before we got properly started I was asked, “Do you feel like you want a clear strategy for something, or is this an exploratory session?”
I said I was unsure. Even with my hesitancy, that was good enough for the workplace strategy coach.
“Ok then, let’s explore something that you feel you want some answers to; whether that be something you might be finding challenging or something you want me to run through and we can go from there”.
We spoke for a while about my job, the responsibility I have and what my dyslexia causes me to find difficult.
I know I’ve come far in my journey already because I was immediately correcting myself when I mentioned aspects of me being ‘weaknesses’. Because they’re not hindering me, it’s the neurotypical society that is.
Good question.
My challenges lie with the external interpretation of my actions. Things like stress, anxiety and depression all stem from my dyslexia because of how I believe it’s being perceived by others.
Knowing that I stutter causes me to overthink scenarios in my head – they can be taken as hesitancy, nervousness and angst instead of the challenges I have with word recall. Which, the thought ironically makes me hesitant, nervous and angst.
With this clearly on my mind, I wanted to learn more about anxiety and stress.
My workplace strategy coach asked me if I wanted an explanation of how stress affects us neurodivergent people more than the average neurotypical. And the science was far more than reassuring; it was validating.
What happens when we feel stress (and I’m not claiming to give the workplace strategy coach justice on this explanation, I’ll keep this short for the purpose of the blog) it comes from our own body’s warning system telling us we’re in a life or death situation.
Being in the modern day, it’s extremely unlikely that we get to experience those scenarios. Especially not when we’ve just opened an email from our boss.
The key thing here is those stress chemicals don’t discriminate. They’re so cleverly wired that they don’t offer differing levels of functionality – you’re opening an email from your boss or you’re being chased by a lion, and the response is the same.
A neurodivergent brain operates with stress a lot differently than a neurotypical one, because they work a lot faster. It’s funny to learn that my brain processes stress faster than it does anything else – when the first sign of stress hits we immediately begin to overthink. Our brains work overtime to build elaborating Plan As, Bs, and all the way to Plan Zs in anticipation of what might happen.
But only so much can happen when you’re sat at your desk at 8am.
Note down every time you get anxious or stressed and keep a record of what triggered this.
Now you have a list of triggers, try to assess why those circumstances cause you that emotion.
Try different ways to get you out of that emotion before you begin to overthink – is this getting out in nature for 5 minutes or is it facing the emotion face-on to destabilise the irrationality?
The above is what I want to get started on before the next session.
So, now session 3 (nearly halfway through) awaits me!
Armelle works in the data industry as a marketing professional, alongside running Girls with Dyslexia where she advocates for dyslexia awareness, support and empowerment. Her most recent accomplishments include speaking at the Dyslexia Show 2023, and has been featured in the Indeed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report 2023.
Armelle was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia during her final year of Loughborough University studying BSc International Business, where the transition from study to work life prompted her to embark on her Girls with Dyslexia journey.
