Mayo Clinic Employee Experiences: On being neurodiverse and finding your potential

By In the Loop • July 10, 2019

Mayo Clinic is a unique place: the culture, the values, the people. "Mayo Clinic Employee Experiences" explores the experiences of Mayo Clinic staff as they navigate life personally and professionally. Sharing these experiences can increase understanding of others and ultimately contribute to finding connections, belonging and inclusion at work.

In this episode of "Mayo Clinic Employee Experiences," you'll hear from Georjina Dowdell and Francie Dahlin as they share the challenges and triumphs they've experienced as people who are neurodiverse. Dowdell, a previous intern of Project Search who has a mild cognitive delay, now works in Comparative Medicine with colleague Dahlin who has autism. They discuss their journey to becoming Mayo Clinic staff and their support for one another.

Listen as Dowdell and Dahlin share their journey:

Read the transcript, edited for length and clarity:

DOWDELL: I learned from Project Search you shouldn't judge somebody because they have more difficulty than you do.

NARRATOR: In this episode, you'll hear from Georjina Dowdell and Francie Dahlin, colleagues and friends in Comparative Medicine, as they share their challenges and triumphs as people who are neurodiverse.

DOWDELL: I have a cognitive delay, very mild. The challenge that I really faced was accepting the fact that I am different from my peers in high school. It was very, very hard for me to accept that because I thought 'Why am I going to these Special Education classes?' or 'Why am I so different from my peers?' The day that I got accepted to Project Search, I hopped on the city bus and I went to K-Mart and I screamed to the top of my lungs. I called my parents right away and said I got accepted in to Project Search at Mayo Clinic. I was so happy.

DAHLIN: I had undiagnosed autism and I didn't know until I was 30 years old. I graduated college at 24 and then I worked whatever job I could get. I did the best I could every day. I just had that incremental dream that I couldn't see how anything would turn out to be. I just knew I had to take one step at a time and do the best I could. And maybe something would come out of it. I never expected to work for Mayo.

DOWDELL: What led me to Comparative Medicine was that I was a Project Search intern last year. I was there for 10 weeks. They taught me stuff about animals. It was really nice to have that opportunity and it was a nice goal to have of working in Comparative Medicine.

DAHLIN: I was an appointment coordinator, and that job was not the right fit for me because I have autism. It was multitasking on complex software and dealing with difficult patients, and you had to have all these social connections. I wanted to continue my career, and the recruitment specialist took me on a tour. I remember I saw the animals, and right away I knew I wanted to be there. I got hired. That was a good feeling. How about you, how did you feel when she hired you?

DOWDELL: I felt really, really good, and really excited. I wanted to work with Mary and Rebecca and Francie, who helped me along the way getting my dream job. That's what my goal was and I made it. I climbed the mountain, and I finally made it to the top with your help, Francie.

DAHLIN: It's interesting how life works out and you end up where you don't expect.

I wanted to talk a little about neurodiversity because, for me, that's the small part of the dream that I can't really see what it's going to end up to be. I just know that I'm always reaching for something. I have autism, and I have mental health challenges as well. That's my neurodiversity. That's my brain being connected differently. I feel like Mayo Clinic is the most amazing perfect place in the world for neurodiversity, with all these great minds we're surrounded by. Our brains are connected differently, and it gives us ideas to work together. 

DOWDELL: There are many different pathways. There are many different snowflakes, different people who have different struggles. There are people who don't have disabilities, and people who do have disabilities.

Project Search showed me that it's OK to be different. It's okay to be yourself. You're no different from anybody else that works here. You just take a longer time to learn something.

DAHLIN: That's really true. You're moving my heart because I struggle too, just in a different way. It's just socially. Socially, I never caught up to people my age, ever. It's just such a struggle when you can't read body language and you can't read faces very accurately. You don't know how to respond to social cues. I got really good at faking it, but I learned that I can only fake it so long. At some point, I just have to be myself and hope I have the right people around me. I would say the people at Comparative Medicine and Mayo are definitely the right people and the right place for any kind of diversity or neurodiversity.

DOWDELL: I did a reverse job fair last year for people who have disabilities. I feel like that's a really good thing because it gets the employees out of their comfort zone and to talk to individuals who have disabilities and are willing to work for them, too. I remember on the poster board we put quotations that said "It takes courage to make a warrior." I always think of that every time. It's cool to have a quotation like that to inspire you.

DAHLIN: Now you've got me speechless because I'm just so moved. I agree. I think you, Georjina, are at the forefront. You are changing lives just by doing what you do and showing people what we can do as persons with disabilities. You're showing the world and it takes courage just to do that — to step out and put yourself out there.

DOWDELL: I'm very proud of you too, Francie. The first day in Comparative Medicine, I didn't know that you had a disability until you said, "I have autism." It's like, "Wow, you're pretty brave to tell somebody that you really didn't know that you have a disability, too." I thank you for giving me the courage and strength, too. 

DAHLIN: You have been a friend to me and a true friend. You were willing to be my Facebook friend. I know a lot of people don't think that's a big deal, but I think it's pretty awesome. I just appreciate your friendship. When you have autism, you don't always have a lot of relationships and friends and colleagues that you can talk to. 

DOWDELL: I always have told people in the past to keep an open mind. There's no such thing as just black and white. There are people out there who are willing to work and especially disabled people who are capable of working. I came from a job that didn't really care. I decided that it was time to take a next step, encourage myself and surround myself with people like Francie and others who have disabilities and are willing to work.

DAHLIN: They always say that a first impression is in 6 seconds and, after that, they've made up their mind, even if it's unconscious. I guess all I'd say is try to move beyond the 6 seconds. You never know someone's struggle. You never know if someone has a worse struggle than you. Get to know them. Don't back away because what seems like "That's too much trouble or I'm afraid" sometimes can be the richest reward.

DOWDELL: You don't know their story, as well as they don't know your story. We're here, and we're willing to work. We're not just handicapped people. We're more than what you think.

DAHLIN: Human potential. We have potential, too.

NARRATOR: Respect your colleagues and go beyond the 6 seconds. Truly get to know a person's story before your first impression sinks in and stays with you.

About Project Search

Project Search is a work-based educational program that helps young adults with cognitive disabilities gain the skills they need to enter the workforce. Mayo Clinic launched the program in Rochester, Minnesota, followed by a program in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and in Phoenix, Arizona.

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