Rochelle Beluso-Tadique talks to Accountancy Ireland about her experiences as the parent of an autistic child, and her hopes and expectations for the future
Rochelle Beluso-Tadique is an Auditor and Associate Director with KPMG Ireland. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to Dublin in 2008 and has worked with KPMG since then.
Rochelle and her husband Sherwin Anthony Tadique welcomed their elder daughter Kate in 2012 and, Khloe, her younger sister, was born one-and-a-half years later. Khloe was diagnosed with autism aged three-and-a-half.
Here, Rochelle tells
Accountancy Ireland about her experiences as the parent of an autistic child, and about how she would like to see the world of work change to better support the needs of people who have autism and other forms of neurodivergence.
Tell us about your daughter Khloe; when she was born and your journey to learning that she has autism.
Khloe was born in November 2013. She had a routine check with a Public Health Nurse who found that she was not meeting her milestones both developmentally and behaviourally.
The Public Health Nurse recommended that Khloe be assessed but it was a long journey from that point on because of HSE waiting lists. Khloe was about three-and-a-half when she was finally diagnosed.
I struggled a bit when the diagnosis first came. I was aware of autism but there is a big difference between being aware of autism and having a child who is autistic.
There is a lot to learn. Autism has a very wide spectrum. Some people with autism can manage very well with social communication and interaction. Khloe is non-verbal. She doesn’t talk.
What have you learned about autism and how Khloe experiences and interacts with the world around her?
Khloe experiences sensory overload. She doesn’t like strangers or closed spaces and noise upsets her. She is wearing headphones now, which help to eliminate noise and make life easier for her.
Because she is non-verbal, she uses an iPad as her communication tool. This helps her to tell us what she wants to eat, when she wants to play, when she wants to wash. It really helps her to communicate her needs.
How has your experience with your daughter influenced the way you see the world of work?
Fully functioning autistic people tend to have very good attention to detail. They can be very good with numbers and working in fields like data analytics.
The challenge right now is that it can be difficult to get these people into the workforce, despite their strengths, because most companies do not have strategies for supporting and managing neurodivergent employees.
It can even be challenging to get internships for people who are neurodivergent.
Do you think employers are well prepared to work with people who have autism and other neurodiverse conditions?
This is a complex area. If you look at the hiring process alone, someone who is autistic may have different ways of communicating that are not facilitated in the recruitment process.
They may not engage in eye contact, for example. They may speak very loudly and excitedly. Ideally, companies should have managers and other people involved in the hiring process who have been trained to interview neurodivergent people.
Supporting people who are neurodivergent at work isn’t just about hiring. Employers also need to think about how these people experience work day-to-day and how best they can support them.
If you have someone who is neurodivergent in your organisation, you must be aware of their needs, including intolerance to noise in some instances.
You could allow this person to wear headphones, for example, or give them access to a room where they can get away from noise.
There is a lot to think about, but it is manageable with the right approach. My advice is that employers link up with organisations that are working with and serving the neurodivergent population.
These organisations can help companies develop strategies to manage the specific areas they need to address.
Based on your own experience and knowledge, what do employers need to know and understand about people who are autistic so they can offer them the right support?
A lot of companies have policies on diversity and inclusion in areas like ethnicity and physical disability, but the majority do not address neurodiversity.
Every one of us has our own unique traits, characteristics and preferences, but we need to pay special attention to employees who have neurodiverse conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia.
This process must be collaborative and prioritise talking to these employees, listening to them, and using their feedback to decide on the approach that works for them.
How would you like the world of work to be when your daughter Khloe grows up?
I used to worry a lot about Khloe’s future but less so now. At the moment she is non-verbal and I don’t know if she will be able to read or write because her literacy skills have not been assessed.
There is a long way to go for Khloe so we will just have to wait and see what happens.
How would you like to see the wider world change to better meet the needs of neurodivergent people?
There will always be challenges but I want people who are neurodivergent to be given the same opportunities as neurotypical people.
Ideally, companies should have neurodiversity policies and strategies in place, not just to support, but also attract neurodiverse employees.
Neurodivergent people have a lot to offer. They have unique talents. They think outside-the-box and they can bring something unique and beneficial to the companies that employ them.
On a wider scale, there is now better awareness of neurodiversity because of media coverage in newspapers, magazines, radio and TV shows.
In Ireland, I can already see companies like Starbucks employing people who are neurodivergent. Hopefully in the future, more companies will integrate more neurodiversity into their workforce.
It’s a very long journey, however, and right now we need a lot more support from government and health organisations and from society in general to be able to really move forward.
How is your employer supporting you as the parent of an autistic child?
I was very grateful that I was given the flexibility to work my own hours specifically at the early stages of Khloe’s diagnosis when I needed to attend therapy sessions with her, usually for two to three hours per week over six to eight weeks each time. This was offered in addition to my existing leave entitlements, such as parental leave, carer’s leave, etc.
KPMG has also introduced wellbeing initiatives, hosting sessions to help parents deal with the challenges we face.
In the latest session I attended, they mentioned that they planned to introduce sessions specifically for parents of neurodivergent children. This will be very helpful for me, I think, and it is very welcome.
Are there any books you have read that have been particularly helpful or organisations you lean on for advice and information?
One of the best books I have read is The Reason I Jump. It was written by Naoki Higashida, a non-verbal autistic boy who was 13 at the time. Reading about Naoki’s experiences really helped me to understand Khloe’s experiences because she is also non-verbal.
I am currently reading Not What I Expected by Rita Eichenstein, who is a Paediatric Neuropsychologist based in the US. This book is about helping people like me to navigate our lives as parents of children who are neurodivergent.
In terms of organisations, AsIAm (asiam.ie) has been very helpful for me because it provides up-to-date information and a forum for connecting with other parents and people in the autistic community.
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