A ‘proudly autistic’ workplace expert says putting neurodivergent employees in a typical office is like dropping a polar bear in Austin, Texas

Daniel Wendler knows what it feels like to be a polar bear in the wrong climate.

A “proudly autistic” clinical psychologist, author, and workplace advocate, Wendler has spent his career arguing that most companies aren’t failing their neurodivergent employees out of malice — they’re doing it by default.

“Because most people are neurotypical, organizations are designed according to neurotypical needs, which means that people with neurodivergent needs get left out,” Wendler said May 20 at Fortune’s Workplace Innovation Summit.

His go-to illustration: imagine taking a polar bear — an apex predator, unrivaled on Arctic ice — and dropping it in Austin, Texas. The animal doesn’t suddenly become less capable. It’s just been placed in an........

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