The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work

Create workplaces where neurodivergent talent--your organizational canaries--can thrive, benefiting everyone, with this award-winning guide.

Despite valuable skills and strong work ethics, neurodivergent individuals (such as members of ADHD, autism, Tourette's syndrome, and learning differences communities as well as others who bring different ways of thinking and experiencing life) face significant employment barriers. It means that their unique talents and perspectives are often excluded, and their canary warnings about problems like bullying, ineffective work organization, or ethical slippery slopes that harm all are ignored.

This practical guide helps CEOs, managers, HR leaders, and changemakers build truly inclusive workplaces by addressing systemic problems and improving work for everyone. Drawing on over twenty-five years of global experience and research on uniquely inclusive organizations, the book offers the following tools:

• An intersectional approach to neuroinclusion
• Holistic understanding of human differences (social, cognitive, emotional, physical)
• Comprehensive talent practices from job descriptions to leadership development
• Global perspectives celebrating diverse neurodivergent voices
• Actionable strategies for change at any organizational level

With a blend of lived experience, academic rigor, and accessible writing, this groundbreaking work clearly distinguishes between academic, applied, and personal content, allowing readers to navigate the material according to their needs and interests.

Author: Ludmila N. Praslova
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Published: 05/07/2024
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.20w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9781523005840


Award: Independent Publisher Book Awards - Gold Medal Winner

About the Author
Ludmila N. Praslova, PhD, SHRM-SCP, is a professor of psychology and the founding director of graduate programs in industrial and organizational psychology at Vanguard University in Southern California. Prior to her academic career, she built and led successful intercultural relations programs in global organizations. Her current consulting is focused on supporting organizations in creating systemic inclusion informed by an understanding of neurodiversity. Her other areas of expertise include organizational culture assessment and change, workplace justice and civility, productivity and well-being, and training and training evaluation. She is the editor of Evidence-Based Organizational Practices for Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Equity (Cambridge Scholars). She is a member of the Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2024, a cohort of thirty up-and-coming thinkers whose ideas are predicted to shape management in the coming years.