{"id":1941,"date":"2020-02-25T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T10:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/developmenttwo.marymount.edu\/blog\/at-design-athon-2020-students-tackle-interior-design-challenges-that-face-neurodivergent-employees-in-the-workplace\/"},"modified":"2020-02-25T10:15:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T10:15:00","slug":"at-design-athon-2020-students-tackle-interior-design-challenges-that-face-neurodivergent-employees-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/at-design-athon-2020-students-tackle-interior-design-challenges-that-face-neurodivergent-employees-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"At Design-athon 2020, students tackle interior design challenges that face neurodivergent employees in the workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diversity is an issue that is championed by Marymount University\u0092s students, faculty and staff. The campus is consistently recognized for its welcoming and inclusive environment, with a solid representation of various backgrounds, races and nationalities.
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\nNot to be overlooked is an appreciation for neurodiversity as well. While most people fit somewhere in the middle along the spectrum of neurodiversity, people can be neurodivergent in some circumstances. These are people who have neurological differences that result in ADHD, autism, dyslexia, Tourette syndrome and other conditions.
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\nDemonstrating awareness at a community-wide scale, Marymount\u0092s Interior Design department selected \u0093Neurodiversity at Work\u0094 as the focus topic of its annual Design-athon, which took place last week. The event is a service-learning initiative through Community Engaged Design (ID528SL), a graduate-level elective in the department. Serving as community partner for the course is Melwood<\/a>, a D.C.-based nonprofit that has provided jobs and opportunities for people of differing abilities for over 50 years.
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\nOn Friday, nearly 40 participants were divided into six teams, all tasked with delivering solutions to design problems or challenges centered around the typical office break room. Team members formed ideas around products, furniture, technology, smartphone apps, spatial arrangements and other aspects of the interior environment in order to improve outcomes for neurodivergent individuals.
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\n\u0093I really enjoyed this experience because it opened my eyes to how office spaces don\u0092t always fulfill everyone\u0092s needs, and that we have options to fix those problems,\u0094 said Daniela Eguiguren, senior Interior Design student at Marymount. \u0093More people should be getting to know others who are different, so we can understand everyone\u0092s needs and create a better space for everyone.\u0094
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\nExamples of solutions include isolation pods, which give hypersensitive or fatigued employees a space where they can decompress and be free of distractions such as noise, bright lights and intrusive smells. Another is the wiggle seat, a type of fidget furniture that may benefit hyposensitive people by allowing them to be stimulated by movement and therefore feel more comfortable and be able to focus more intently.
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\n\u0093It\u0092s really exciting to run events like this because it helps our students see that there are so many ways they can directly help people through interior design,\u0094 said Assistant Professor Jessica Bonness, organizer of Design-athon 2020. \u0093Our students often visit firms and see cool spaces that are out there, but what they don\u0092t always get to do is interact with the users of those spaces \u0096 talk to them about what works for you, what doesn\u0092t, what would you do if you could change things. But they got to do that here today!\u0094
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\nThe 2020 event began with a Speaker Series on Thursday, which consisted of empathy-led discussions on topics such as enabling neurodiverse talent and the importance of designing a workplace that allows neurodivergent employees to thrive.
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\nIn addition to Interior Design students, participants included students from Graphic Design and other majors, faculty and staff members from Marymount and graduates of Melwood\u0092s \u0093abilIT<\/em><\/strong>” training program<\/a>. This program is designed to help people of differing abilities enter the cybersecurity field through professional skill development, job shadowing, mentorship opportunities and more. By pairing these neurodivergent professionals with future interior designers currently studying at Marymount, organizers believe the field will change for the better in a more inclusive way in the near future.
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\n\u0093We want workplaces where everybody is included, and how we get there is by having conversations like this,\u0094 said Scott Gibson, senior vice president of people and programs at Melwood. \u0093I think we\u0092re developing a future of interior designers who, when they design workplaces, are going to think about neurodiversity. They\u0092re going to break down barriers\u0085and we\u0092re going to build inclusive workplaces.\u0094
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\n\u0093Let me tell you, there are a lot of difficulties in the average workplace for us individuals somewhere on the spectrum or with some other condition \u0096 what with all of the light, sound and noise,\u0094 added Joshua Nelson, a graduate of the abilIT <\/em><\/strong>program and a cybersecurity professional. \u0093A lot of the ideas that people came up with here today could actually be very useful if implemented in workplaces. We made a point of designing solutions that would be economical and also benefit all employees, not just neurodivergent individuals.\u0094<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diversity is an issue that is championed by Marymount University\u0092s students, faculty and staff. The campus is consistently recognized for its welcoming and inclusive environment, with a solid representation of various backgrounds, races and nationalities. \u00a0 Not to be overlooked is an appreciation for neurodiversity as well. While most people fit somewhere in the middle […]<\/p>\n

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