The following blog post is the transcript I wrote for my 5 minute presentation at the Neurodiversity Awareness & Networking event on Friday 20th March organised by Sue Garner
I’m Sarah Wood from Small Business Web Support. I was diagnosed with autism at the grand old age of 61 after a lifetime of feeling weird. I have 2 ADHD autistic kids that didn’t get it from their father, and you know it must come from somewhere.
I am no neurodivergence expert at all, and there are many, many more qualified people in this room, but I am an expert in running Small Business Web Support as a neurosparkly person.
I just want to give you a few tips today on things I found that are helpful, so I’m going to start with number one:
Number 1 . Website tips
When you’re looking at your website, make sure that it’s easy to read. If you have built your website yourself and you’ve not used an expert copywriter, I can promise you that you probably need to cut out at least half of the words on your website.
You need to break those words up into chunks and make your website easy to digest, and this isn’t just helpful for the neurospicy: it’s helpful for everybody, and especially helpful for your SEO, because Google likes websites with good content, and the longer people stay on your website, the better for your SEO. So not only did you get to help us neurosparkly people, but you also get to improve your SEO, so it’s a win-win.
Remember, put your content in manageable sections. Don’t give us a great big walls of text. We will hate it!
Move away from the flashy, swishy, lots of movement. Don’t get me wrong, some movement is good. But it is going to overwhelm some people, so keep your websites as simple as possible and laid out well. A useful thing for website videos (if you must have them) is to set them to be automatically silent – no one likes a random blaring noise when they’re trying to read a website!
Number 2 . Be kind to yourself
Let’s talk about what can make life easier as a neurodivergent business. Business is difficult, whether you’re sparkly or not. Everybody is different, and the biggest piece of advice I can give is to be kind to yourself.
We don’t get the accommodations for running our businesses that we would if we worked for a corporation. You can ask for help when you’re employed, and you should get what you need, but you don’t get that in self employment, so try to make sure that you give yourself the support and accommodations you need.
For example, networking. Networking has always been a big struggle for me, and I know it is for other people too.
I walk into a room, and as I walk through that door, my brain is going, “it’s very busy, that is very, very bright, ooh, cookies! Who shall I talk to – do I have to? What shall I cook for dinner tonight? Maybe I can go and talk to them? OK, I’ll go and talk to them.
Is it a good time to interrupt?
Is it a good time to interrupt?
Is it a good time to interrupt?
Is it a good time to interrupt?
What were they saying?
This is exhausting!!”
That’s my experience – yours may be different, but a lot of people are overwhelmed by networking, so make sure that you look after yourself, make sure if you need a bit of quiet that you take some time out. People won’t judge you for it, and I find that if I disappear to get away from the overwhelm for 10 mins, somebody will often ask me, “Do you need help? Can I get you a coffee?”
Simple things like walking onto a stage, seeing that there’s no chair: park your butt onto the edge of the stage because you can’t stand up for too long, because you’re tired.
I had a project where I was this close to giving up and walking away and taking the reputational and financial hit. A good friend suggested I phone the client, and yes, I know phone calls can be hard, but this was one of those “pull on your big girl pants” situations, and make that phone call.
I explained that I couldn’t get this done on time for him. I was really sorry, and I really wanted to deliver on the original time scale, but it just wasn’t going to happen.
The world didn’t end. He was absolutely great, we worked on the priorities, and we’ve got those done.
So ask for help, and treat yourself kindly.
Number 3 – Surround yourself with people who get it
The last tip I’m going to give you is to surround yourself with people who get it.
That’s who I called when I was struggling with the overwhelm.
Somebody who will help you understand when that email from the client says, “No thank you. I don’t want your service right now,” is not a personal rejection. It’s not that you’re terrible. It’s probably that they’re just not ready for your services at this time, and you are still awesome.
I am really lucky to be part of The Square Pegs network. This is a group of female business owners who are neurosparkly or have chronic illness (there’s a huge overlap). They are really supportive. They’re there for
- No judgement – because they know it’s what you need – when you turn up
- in PJs
- crocheting
- sitting on a bouncy ball
- for celebrating your wins
- supporting your downs, and helping you see that you are a wonderful person, and bloody good at what you do
- Body-doubling
- And just “getting” it
I was really struggling a few weeks ago. I had a couple of projects I could not do because I was fighting from that demand avoidance thing that stops you from doing things you are directly asked for, even if you want to do them.
I just managed to do a little bit, and I posted that little bit of movement in the group every day. Everyone celebrated and helped keep me going.
That’s it! Please come talk to me about how to make your website friendly, and for any other suggestions I can help with. Go and talk to Laura-Anne at info@squarepegs.network if you want to find out more about Square Pegs.
