Neurodivergence — what do you see differently?

Objective

Around one in five employees is neurodivergent, and most without a diagnosis. In a team of twenty there are quickly three to four colleagues who process the world differently. In this keynote Elke Van Hoof shows that the challenge rarely lies in the brain, but in the mismatch between that brain and a work environment designed for the majority. You’ll leave with a different view of talent, a clear picture of what neurodivergence is and isn’t, and the insight that it’s not the person who must change, but the environment we shape together.

“A different brain doesn’t need to adapt — it needs room.”

Inside the session

Ask someone what they see differently, and you’ll notice at once that no two brains perceive the same world. Yet we often treat those differences as something to be fixed. Elke Van Hoof starts with the distinction that changes everything: neurodiversity is the natural variation of brains at group level; neurodivergence is about the individual who differs from the neurotypical norm. Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, giftedness and high sensitivity aren’t disorders, but different ways of thinking, feeling and processing.

She then makes you feel what it costs to have a minority brain in a majority world. Masking, the constant fear of being ‘found out’, sensory overload in open-plan offices and a sensitivity to rejection that makes every piece of feedback feel like an attack. These aren’t character traits, but a logical response to an environment that leaves no room. It’s precisely the most motivated employees, the ones who arrive early and stay late, who run the greatest risk of exhaustion as a result.

Then Elke turns the perspective around. The so-called communication problem between neurodivergent and neurotypical colleagues is mutual: both groups find each other equally hard to understand, but the blame is laid one-sidedly on one side. ‘Poor collaboration’ often turns out to be too narrow — a neurotypical definition of collaborating. Someone who works information-driven rather than status-driven scores low on unwritten social rules while their contribution is objectively strong. Change the definition, and the problem often resolves itself.

The keynote ends where change becomes achievable: with the environment. Explicit expectations, psychological safety, neutral feedback and a broader view of good collaboration are bigger levers than any individual adjustment. Elke closes with the STOP exercise, a short, practical technique you can apply right away to stay within your own window of tolerance.

What you’ll take away

• The difference between neurodiversity and neurodivergence, and why that distinction matters.

• Insight into how common it is and why it largely stays invisible.

• An understanding of the hidden cost of masking, sensory overload and sensitivity to rejection.

• A different view of communicating and collaborating: the mismatch, not the deficit.

• The STOP exercise and a first concrete step towards a more inclusive environment.