Breaking Down Barriers: How AI is Empowering Neurodivergent Individuals in the Workplace

Call Design on March 31, 2023

Let me start by saying I’m no diversity expert, neurodivergent or otherwise. I own the fact that most of my experience comes from a position of the majority in America. White, male, heterosexual, cisgender, Christian, middle class, etc, etc. But I try to keep an open mind, eye, and ear to those different around me. I understand that they view problems differently than I do and can help me create a more holistic solution to issues (check out a recent Call Design blog about the importance of difference). I also realize that I can grow by trying to understand the perspectives of those different from me, which is exactly what happened when I recently hired a forecasting analyst with autism. Through my relationship with her, she has opened my eyes to the incredible value of AI and especially generative AI (ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, Bing Chat) for those that are neurodivergent and how it can help them function with more comfort, safety, and confidence in the workplace.

1 – One of the biggest impacts is communication. Platforms like ChatGPT can provide amazing translation services between people that think and function differently.

1a. Conversations, whether verbal or written, can be challenging for people that think differently than you do. The way that people off the spectrum connect dots is different than those on the spectrum. Generative AI allows people the opportunity to take emails or requests and translate them in a way that can make sense. “What is this person asking me to do” *paste copied email*. This option can empower them to not only execute their work quicker but reduces the anxiety that comes with asking someone to clarify for the second, fourth, or eighth time.

1b. Sometimes communication is easier with math. It’s straightforward and logical, and it avoids all of the nuances of communication. “This number has gone up because it’s bigger than what it was last month.” Even for people without communication challenges, such as myself, explaining how a calculation works can be confusing, even for the person that wrote it. “I know it works but give me a few minutes to try and explain it.” Generative AI can take a calculation and explain it in a common language for other people to understand. It can also expand upon data analysis and provide a storytelling approach to better relay and explain the importance of the data.

1c. We all know that generative AI can write emails and blogs (maybe it even helped with this blog!?!), but did you know that it can also remember your tone of voice? Often people with autism might miss or forget small nuances that soften requests in emails. So their emails may come across as blunt, harsh, or at worst, confrontational. Using AI to create their emails is an easy win, but it can feel inauthentic to use language and a tone of voice so different from their own. This is where teaching AI how to write for them comes in handy. It allows them a way to communicate with facts, statements, and logic that is comfortable for them but softened in a way that makes it easier for the end user to consume and interact with.

2 – AI is already impacting daily life for neurodivergent people in amazing ways.

2a. Neurodivergent doesn’t just mean autistic people, it also includes people with ADHD. ADHD makes it difficult for many people to remember tasks or stay on schedule. My wife (who has ADHD) is notorious for running late, hyper-focusing on something and then not finishing it, and getting lost in the story she’s telling someone. AI is already helping these individuals by allowing them to simply say “remember X appointment” or “remind me of so-and-so’s birthday”. The ability to simply say it out loud is huge. Because the calendar app might just be a few clicks away, but there are dozens of distractions on their phones waiting to trip them up from putting their next appointment into their schedule.

2b. AI can provide some basic companionship without the fear of judgment. Social interactions can be exceptionally triggering for some and the ability to have a conversation with a bot can allow them an element of companionship with minimal anxiety. This isn’t to say that I believe bots can replace humans but they can remove a small element of loneliness in a way that minimizes fear and stress. AI can also help them improve their communication skills by allowing them to practice interpreting someone’s communication and responding with an appropriate and logical next statement. That back and forth can be taxing but like with building muscle, with repeated practice it can get easier.

3 – AI will continue to evolve and provide additional help that may not be here yet. 

3a. Learning and remembering information is often a challenge for neurodivergent people. When you think differently, you’re likely going to learn differently as well. AI can help with this by providing personalized learning to both their learning style and ability. Personalized learning increases the chance for retention and use of information, regardless of personal limitations or challenges. However, for people with autism, this type of learning could greatly increase their ability to contribute to a professional environment and grow their career.

3b. I can also see where AI will eventually provide an on-screen explanation of when someone is getting frustrated, using sarcasm, or other communication cues that can be difficult for people with autism to pick up on. This real-time translation will empower people to pivot their conversation for greater effectiveness with their audience. AI will also be able to read the body language of people on video and help someone know when the audience is actively engaged or losing interest because they are fidgeting a lot or looking away from their monitor. These efforts will benefit everyone but will have a particularly positive impact on those that naturally are challenged with social cues and reading body language.

We still have a lot to learn about generative AI and we are only starting to see the beginnings of how it’s going to change our world. However, I am incredibly excited about how it’s already making a positive impact, especially for those that are neurodivergent. I know we may take a few steps back as we walk down the AI road, but I’m hopeful that platforms like Bard and chatGPT will only increase our ability to include people of differing backgrounds and perspectives and make them feel like they belong.


At Call Design we believe employees have the right to be Happy, Engaged, Fulfilled, and Aligned at work and that has to include intentional use of technology to bring in diverse voices. Reach out to us today if you’re interested in learning how you can build a similar culture for your contact center!

– Dan Smitley

What I Learned by Hiking the Koko Crater Railway Trail

Call Design on February 1, 2023

You still try. That’s the lesson.

This is the Koko Crater. One of the many trails, mountains, and craters my family and I hiked on our recent trip to Hawaii.

The length is manageable, between 1.4-1.6 miles depending on which website you look at. But it isn’t the length that gets you, it’s the +1000 steps and 900 feet of elevation gain that will destroy your legs.

My wife was the one that did most of the research and planning for our trip and she was excited to try it.
“I hear the views are beautiful!” – Sarah
“Right, but there’s no way we are making it up that thing” – Me

We had to change some of our plans that morning and so we pulled into the parking lot way too late in the day. “This sun is going to destroy us” but we still started the hike.

The tree-lined and paved path up to the trailhead is no problem at all. However, the people coming back were a bit concerning. The amount of sweat and hard breathing they are doing made me a bit nervous. And that was them coming down, not going up!

“I really don’t think we have a shot of finishing this thing!” but we still kept moving forward.

We got to the bottom of the stairs and took in exactly how high up we’ll be going and how many steps we’ll be covering. I hadn’t seen the numbers before then and every step looked like it would do us in.

“Babe, one of us is going to end up in the hospital, if we do this” but we still started the climb.

Blame it on my negative mindset. Blame it on the late-day sun and lack of water. Blame it on the moody teenagers that didn’t want to go on a hike. You can blame it on whatever you like but the fact of the matter is we got about 0.3 miles into the 1.6 and decided we had seen enough. Our Low Country lungs and sedentary lifestyle had finally caught up to us and we turned back to the car.

But before we turned back, we stopped. My wife looked up to see what could have been. My girls looked down to see what we had accomplished. All of us took a second to think about how the day could have been more. More relaxing in the hotel, more hiking up this crater, more water, more shade, more energy, more… but we still tried.

And as I already shared, that’s the lesson of the story, you still try.

Yes, there’s a good chance you don’t have the skills they are looking for and they might not ask for an interview. You still apply.

Yes, your company has never paid well, and you don’t think they’ll give you the raise you want. You still ask.

Yes, you aren’t seeing the results you want from your projects and things are moving too slowly. You still push for change.

Would it have been amazing to get to the top of Koko Crater and take in the views? Yes! I’ve seen the pictures and it looks beautiful. But honestly, I’m glad we at least tried.

I’m glad that we saw the crazy amount of stairs in person and appreciated how hard of a hike that trail is. I’m glad that my girls have something to tackle and overcome if they ever head back to Oahu. Most importantly, I’m glad that we tried to do something hard and failed.

Sometimes I think that accomplishing our tasks softens just how hard the challenge was for us. By finally getting the job, or the raise, or the change we wanted we forget how hard it really was. I think sometimes failure is necessary for us to see how far we can push ourselves and appreciate that hard things are hard.

Our hike was challenging, and we didn’t even make it close to the top, but I still have these pictures and this story that I find valuable. I still benefited from the experience and appreciate what we were able to accomplish.

I doubt my girls have internalized all the life lessons from our trip yet, but I’m hopeful this seed was planted in them. Sometimes things are too big for you, and you won’t be able to overcome them, and yet you still try.

– Dan Smitley

3 Tips to Help You Jump From Manager to Director

Call Design on January 18, 2023

Throughout my career I’ve had the opportunity to lead and network with some amazing individuals and from time to time they have asked what it takes to move from Manager to Director. I think it’s one of the hardest transitions.

I’ve seen plenty of individual contributors get promoted to managers, not because they are solid leaders but because they are great contributors. They know what buttons to push, what processes to work through, and how to execute the role. Because of this, they see their value add to the organization in doing and executing vs. delegating or casting vision and this makes the transition into a director-level role incredibly challenging.

At a director level, or above, you need to be more comfortable delegating than doing. More comfortable making decisions than giving proposals, or possibly casting vision vs. following a direction. That isn’t to say those other skills aren’t still valuable and an important role in any job. However, the priority of these skills pivots and suddenly decision making > giving proposals, for example.

Here are a few tips that I’ve given to people looking to make the jump from Manager to Director.

One: Serve Your Team

The most important thing you need to know about leadership is that your primary job is to serve your team. Period. Bottom line. Notice that I didn’t say “directing is that your primary job…” or “managing” or even “holding people accountable…”. This can be applied at all levels, even as a manager, but the point is that you are there to serve. 

What does that look like? It means keeping them informed of the larger trends in the organization they might not be aware of. Helping them see how their efforts are connected to the larger picture and the wins of the organization. Protecting them from outside forces that are toxic or counter-cultural to what you’re trying to achieve. Serving your team means that you realize they don’t work for you but you work for them and that means their success is more important than your own.

A boss helping his worker with an issue on the computer.

Two: Ask Questions and Listen

One of the greatest mistakes that new directors can make is thinking that they now need to have all the answers. People are coming to them to make decisions, and as I already highlighted decision making > giving proposals. Decision making is important but the best way to make decisions is to not just assume you have the right perfect answer out of the gate. 

As a leader and director, you need to make sure you’re asking questions and lots of them. You likely aren’t in the weeds like you used to be and you also have a limited purview, we all do. So you need to take two steps 1) ask questions and 2) actually listen. Don’t listen to confirm your original answer. Don’t listen to poke holes and show weaknesses in the answers given. Listen to understand and see the issue from another person’s perspective. You likely know your perspective backward and forwards, but you need to do the heavy lifting of trying to see from another person’s perspective. That only happens when we get comfortable asking questions and then actually listening.

Three: Pull Your Head Up

As an individual contributor, and as a manager, you likely added value by looking down. Looking at your particular job and executing it well. Looking in on your team and meeting the needs of your direct reports. As a director though, you need to pull your head up and look around. This isn’t to say you stop paying attention to your team (see above about serving and listening!), but as a director you need to stop only looking at your team and consider the larger lay of the land. 

You need to lift your head up and see how your team is interacting with other teams and how they are perceived amongst those teams. You need to lift your head up and see where you and your team sit in your field. Are you on the cutting edge or way behind, or do you even have access to what others are doing in your field? You need to lift your head up and try to understand where your team, organization, and field are going. What’s up next and how are you and your team going to get there? As a director you need to get comfortable casting vision and to do that you need to be looking towards a horizon, not at the details of the ground in front of you.

Moving from a manager to a director is hard. It’s a large pivot, that requires new skills, especially if leadership wasn’t a focus in your manager role. However, if you realize that what made you successful as a manager won’t make you successful as a director, then you are taking the first steps to jump to director!

– Dan Smitley

What are the 2 golden rules of customer experience?

calldesignapi on September 21, 2022

Positive customer experiences are critical to cultivating a loyal following for your business. What are the key areas contact centers should be focusing on to create the best possible experience for their customers? Let’s take a look at the two golden rules and how Call Design can help.

How to Coach Your Contact Center Agents

Call Design on November 18, 2020

If you want to facilitate an environment for your contact centre agents to succeed, you need to start coaching. Coaching is a great way to encourage, enable, and empower your agents to not only want to be better at their jobs but perform better. Coaching is also a great opportunity for your agents to learn new skills, get feedback on the work they are doing, and resolve the problems they might be having with calls.

4 Ways to Reduce Agent Turnover in Your Contact Center

Call Design on July 23, 2020

One of the most significant challenges that contact centres face is an incredibly high rate of agent turnover, creating a cyclical problem where the Learning and Development team is continuously training new agents for them only to stay with the company for a couple of months. This can be expensive. In this blog, we have four strategies for contact centres that are hoping to retain their agents and reduce turnover.