Adam Brown, Cyber Security Engineer, talks about his role, neurodiversity and the support he's received at DWF.
I spoke to my manager regarding my Autism diagnosis and he and my team have been very supportive. I can become overwhelmed when public speaking and therefore sometimes struggle to articulate my thoughts into words. I sometimes struggle with focus because I'm hyper aware of what is going on around me or I can also focus on a task too much and find it difficult to move onto another until I'm happy with what I've been working on and the task is 100% completed.
My manager and team are aware of this and encourage me to overcome these obstacles by setting tasks and helping out if necessary. A great example of one of these tasks is as simple as asking me to writing notes on the board during our group meetings, this has helped to build my confidence.
The best thing about DWF is the culture and the people. The IT function as a whole is highly professional but very friendly and approachable at the same time and that’s for all individuals at all levels of the business.
When I started my new role as an IT Security Engineer, to help me understand the DWF infrastructure and team hierarchy the IT managers from each department came together to create a training schedule for me. I spent a couple of days meeting the various teams and learning all about their roles. All of the teams that I spoke to were very helpful and have given me an excellent insight into how their departments function and contribute to the success of the business. This training didn’t just help to improve my knowledge of the network infrastructure and teams but also made me feel like I'm a valued employee and part of an excellent company.
"Neurodiversity to me is about equality and giving individuals the opportunity to be part of a great team where their skills can be used and developed whilst making them feel valued."