Neurodiversity Celebration Week – Ayo Babatunde

As part of our continued support of Neurodiversity Celebration Week (NCW), we asked associate Ayo Babatunde to share his personal experiences with dyslexia and dyspraxia. NCW is a global initiative aimed at challenging stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences.

Hello, my name is Ayo. I am an associate solicitor at Fenchurch Law, and I am dyslexic and dyspraxic.

If you are not familiar with dyspraxia, it’s a disability that affects movement, co-ordination and working memory. Our Deputy Managing Partner, Dan Robin, also has it, and has spoken about it as part of Neurodiversity Week (Q&A with Daniel Robin).

I was diagnosed with dyslexic and dyspraxic when I was 19. One of the things I have found hardest is acknowledging that my brain processes information differently. Part of my journey has been figuring out how my brain works to allow me to do my best in university and more recently the workplace.

I have put in a lot of time and effort (much through trial and error!) into understanding what specific techniques work for me. I’ve discovered that I really like mindmaps, tables and schedules, as they neatly organise information in a way that I can always refer back to (sort of like a crib sheet).

Part of managing my neurodiversity has been putting in place processes and frameworks to help me. For example, I love my regular walks around the City on my lunchbreak, as this gives time for my brain to reset (sort of like a brain-break!) which in turn allows me to be more productive.

For people with neurodiversity who have just been diagnosed, I would offer the advice that it’s important to understand what specifically works for you. We are all very different, even people with the same neurodiverse disability, so it is about putting in the time to figure out what best helps you individually. As alluded to above, this is unlikely to be a hole-in-one, but through trial and error you’ll get there. When you do, it is very rewarding.

Since joining Fenchurch Law, the conversation around neurodiversity is has been really honest and I’ve felt that I can be vulnerable about how my disabilities affect me in my day-to-day life. Through having a great support network at work and my own coping mechanisms,  I have the confidence that I can achieve whatever I put mind to.

Thanks for reading!

Ayo Babatunde is an Associate at Fenchurch Law