How I navigate when working at Microsoft with autism, ADHD diagnoses

This share-to-essay is based on a conversation with Jade Wilson, a 31-year-old senior software engineer at Microsoft, about the diagnosis of autism and ADHD. Business Insider has verified Wilson’s employment and diagnoses. The following has been processed for length and clarity.

When I first started working at Microsoft as a software engineer in 2022, I didn’t know I was autistic or that I had ADHD. I just knew that I responded differently to things.

I was especially sensitive to noise. It was difficult to sit still in meetings without fiddling, and the office lighting felt over -stimulating.

Making eye contact was always difficult and social interactions sometimes confused me.

I would have had outbursts of overwhelming, where I would become emotional and could not stop crying.

I have never seen anyone who struggled as I was. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what.

A diagnosis of later in life

I had previously been a main software engineer at another company. Participating in Microsoft was a dream come true.

I have put so much effort to prepare for the interview process. If you told me as a little girl that she would work for one of the largest technology companies in the world, she would not have believed you.

About a year when working at Microsoft, I started to consider a diagnosis.

Only in my late 20s did I realize that what I experienced could be autism and ADHD. When I described my struggles to people, some asked me if I had considered that I might be autistic.

In January I was diagnosed with autism at 30. A month later I also received an ADHD diagnosis.

It helped me to understand myself better.

In earlier jobs where I regularly had to go to the office, I would stimulate without even realizing it.

I would get a headache from fluorescent office lighting. Background noise made it difficult to concentrate during meetings. At my desk I usually wore headphones, which meant that I didn’t speak much to my colleagues.

I also discovered that I had to move. When I had to sit in meetings, I would become restless and I have to have to keep myself in the gesture.

Fortunately, Microsoft has worked remotely for Microsoft a big difference. I still go to the office occasionally, but usually work from home where I have a setup that works for me.

I avoid hard, overhead lighting and rely on natural light instead. There is a hiking cushion under my desk for when I feel restless.

Working in this industry still throws challenges, but my diagnoses helped me to better understand my reactions.

I have spent a lot of my life to hear that I am rude

Network events were – and are still – difficult for me. I sometimes have trouble initiating conversations with strangers.

For my diagnoses I drank at these events such as coping mechanism. Now I accept myself more. I don’t feel the need to drink and I give myself permission to leave a networking event early if I want.

How I communicate with colleagues is also a challenge. People often tell me that I am rude when I am actually directly.

I am good at GAP analysis – finding what is missing, identifying requirements and building robust solutions.

My autism formed my interests and made me better at math, which gave me the opportunity to identify gaps and to gather demand well.

But it is a power that can sometimes be read wrong. For others it may seem as if I find constant errors in everything when I try to solve.

It is mainly about how I ask questions about work. From my perspective I am just thorough. Colleagues can consider it criticism, even if that is not my intention.

Since I was diagnosed, I have made more effort to consider how my words could land.

I make sure that when I write things like Emails, I actually stay, but consider the emotions that people might associate with certain words.

I sometimes struggle with cognitive empathy – the ability to understand someone’s emotions without experiencing them. I find it easier to get in touch with rational empathy, so I spent a lot of time trying to rationalize how my wording could make someone else feel.

If a colleague takes something in the wrong way, I will now explain that I am autistic and have ADHD. I will say something like: “I didn’t mean it as a criticism, and my favorite communication method is direct language.”

It helps others to understand that my communication may be different.

So far I think it has been taken well, and I think it has increased the consciousness of the struggles and strengths that people with autism and ADHD have.

I have had constant communication with my manager, who is very supportive, and also my team, and they have all been very broad -minded.

The growth mindset

A big thing at Microsoft is the growth mindset – always looking for ways to improve yourself, regardless of your situation.

Working on my communication is something I have done since I find out that I am autistic and have ADHD. For me this is constant self -growth.

I want people to understand that I am not deliberately difficult, and I want to do well like everyone else.

We all need to know how people work and communicate differently. I don’t evoke neurotypal colleagues because they are light or abstract in their communication. I try to understand their position and I hope they understand mine too.

That consciousness should not stop with autism, ADHD or other labels. The point is to respect everyone’s differences and to take the trouble to understand perspectives that are not ours.

Do you have a story to share about being Neurodiverse at a large technology company? Contact this reporter on [email protected].