Rooted in the lived experiences of the presenters – a neurodivergent employee and their manager, this session provides an authentic dialogue about how working through the process of accommodations shaped personal and professional relationships and well-being.
This dialogue-style presentation will provide tips and advice, practical tools, and learnings from failures related to the following themes:
- Advocacy & relationship building
- Communication & transparency
- Fostering well-being
- Navigating Challenges
- Supervision & evaluation
- Managing up & sideways
- Organizational culture/climate
This case study offers practical recommendations for creating neurodiversity-friendly workplaces in academic libraries and beyond. It also invites attendees to reconsider the narrative of accommodation as a solitary journey. Instead, it underscores the transformative power of teamwork and dialogue in fostering a truly accessible and equitable workplace.
By sharing our story, we hope to contribute to a broader understanding of neurodiversity in the workplace and inspire others to embrace accessibility as a collective effort.
Director, Goizueta Business Library, Emory University
I've been both a corporate librarian (at an accounting, tax, and consulting firm) and an academic business librarian. In both instances, my roles were both as director/leader of the library and as one of the "boots on the ground" business librarians.
Our department has gone through several changes, leaving colleagues split between two campuses. Trying to facilitate collaboration and create a unified sense of community was a critical need. To address this, we created a goal for everyone to share their expertise. This presentation details the design, implementation, and outcomes of our department's in-house professional development (PD) model, where each person developed and led a session for their colleagues. This approach shifts PD from a passive, top-down mandate to an active, collaborative, and person-centered management strategy. Specifically, the model fostered community by creating structured, positive interactions that bridged our two campuses and established a shared vulnerability and commitment to growth among colleagues.
This presentation will explain how this model addresses core tenets of person-centered management, specifically fostering autonomy, recognizing individual expertise, and promoting holistic skill development, by turning every colleague into both a learner and an educator. The session will cover the practical steps for implementation, the challenges encountered, and results demonstrating increased employee engagement, skill transfer, and a stronger sense of departmental community, collective ownership, and a unified professional identity.
