World Autism Awareness Day

We spoke to Tamsin O'Luanaigh, Chief People Office at nDreams and Autistica Play Ambassador, about World Autism Awareness Day and what practises and policies nDreams has in place to support neurodiverse employees.

As someone who has direct personal experience of autism through family and friends it’s incredibly important to me that we continue to raise awareness around the challenges that autistic people can face navigating a neurotypical world.  

I’ve spoken before how many autistic people find support, relief and feelings of belonging through playing computer games. It’s important to keep reiterating that if we can put the right support structures in place, we can help young autistic people and their parents see that our industry can also be a safe space to work and thrive, and that games can be a very positive experience. 

Here at nDreams we are in the process of strengthening our processes around inclusivity for all staff, and we know that policies and practices for neurodiverse employees will benefit everyone. Our newly refurbished office will have a wellness room equipped with sensory aids to give staff the opportunity for time out if they feel overloaded. We are looking at our working practices to see what adjustments can be incorporated as standard across the company so that no one feels singled out, and our HR team will soon be developing Wellness plans – specifically outlining accommodations, preferences, safe spaces, methods of recovery and so on - starting with our neurodiverse team members and then moving on to the wider team.

We’re proud to support the great work being done by Autistica Play through our fundraising today. Autistica are charity who are working to drive progress for autistic people by partnering with the games industry to make it more inclusive, helping the games industry and players to understand autism and raising vital funds for research that matters to autistic people. 

To donate please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ndreamsautistica 

To find out more about Autistica please visit: https://www.autistica.org.uk/   

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