About Lydia:
Lydia is a Family Practitioner working with her local council. She works with families to identify and develop early interventions to improve their relationships and living situations. Her work enables children and young people to have their voices heard and express their own views on the situations they are in and the help they may need.
Why Lydia came to us:
Lydia first came to Exceptional Individuals when she was experiencing difficulty working from home during the Coronavirus pandemic, she felt her neurodiversity was misunderstood and that communication barriers were made worse due to remote working. She was interested in finding support from other neurodiverse people who had personal experience and knowledge of dyslexia and dyscalculia and could use that expertise in assessing her workplace needs and offering one-to-one coaching support.
Required
- A deeper understanding of her neurodivergence
- Greater attention & focus
- Ways to manage stress
Delivered
- Coaching that helped with self-realisation & acceptance
- Supportive software & practical solutions
- Tools to find her own answers which led to reduced anxiety
What Did We Do?
We interviewed Lydia to see how we could help her and provided specific pieces of software that could support her working from home. Lydia highlighted to us how important it was for her to have someone who really understood her neurodivergence work on her needs assessment.
“In the past, I have had workplace needs assessments which have been extremely shallow. I have felt that the people doing my needs assessments were reading from a script and didn’t take the time to understand my neurodivergence. However, when I came to Exceptional Individuals for my assessment I felt accepted, at ease, and really understood. My assessor identified areas of support I didn’t even realise I needed, but have had a real impact on my ability to work with my dyslexia.”
Lydia is also currently undergoing one-to-one coaching sessions with one of our expert mentors, focusing on the key development areas we had identified together. Lydia’s coaching sessions look at deepening her understanding of how her brain works in regard to her neurodivergence, identifying Lydia’s individual issues and giving her the tools to overcome them.
“For me, the cherry on top of the cake is the coaching sessions. The sessions have enabled me to have a rich understanding of myself and the way my brain works. I used to be embarrassed about my neurodivergence, and was worried about disclosing it at work.
“I needed to find out who I was, feel confident with the brain I have, and learn ways to adapt to my dyslexia and dyscalculia. My coach has given me the tools so that I can find the answers myself and that’s really reduced my stress levels.”
What happened next:
Since working with our mentor Lydia has commented that she has experienced a drastic change in her outlook, memory, attention, and focus.
“I really understand my dyslexia and dyscalculia and the unique way my neurodiversity impacts my life. I now know how complex my needs are and this has helped me look after myself properly.”
“I used to feel stigma and worry that I was lazy, but now I realise that for me, just having a conversation can take a great deal of brain power. Through my coaching sessions I’ve been able to focus on developing my other strengths, rather than feeling ashamed about what I find challenging.”
What Lydia said:
“Before I came to Exceptional Individuals, I felt dependent on others. Now I am learning how to be more independent and trust myself to make the right decisions. It took me years to accept that I have dyslexia, but now I feel more empowered to explain to people what I need so that I can thrive.”