Rosie Russell
Rosie Russell
Director of Environment, Health, Safety, and Sustainability (EHSS)
MeiraGTX
Neurodiversity: Unmasking Hidden Abilities
Suddenly Neurodiversity is everywhere. After all, we are all different from one another so aren’t we all a bit neurodiverse?
Not exactly. In fact, most neurodiverse individuals are hiding behind a mask. They are using much of their energy, and talent to appear ‘normal’. With this, they are also hiding many unique talents that have been shown to boost productivity in whole teams.
With upto 20% of the global population being neurodiverse, many of our colleagues, friends and family are using their energy to mask their neurodiversity and appear outwardly ‘normal’ rather than using their energy to thrive at work and at home. This masking, and being forced to operate in an outwardly neuronormative manner, can be limiting and, for some, disabling yet, the changes that are needed to allow neurodiverse people to thrive are simple and inexpensive.
Rosie Russell is the President of IIRSM, Director of EHS & Sustainability at MeiraGTx and probably Neurodiverse. She started her career as an Organic Chemist working in R&D moving to Laboratory Management and ultimately EHS & Sustainability.
Despite being trained as a physical scientist and being somewhat suspicious of the social sciences, in her search to understand why people do what they do, she was drawn into the world of psychology and human factors including neurodiversity. Rosie splits her time between Edinburgh and London and, when not working, will be found reading, listening to an eclectic range of music, cooking and going to the theatre.