Dani Maskit

Background

About Dani Maskit

I am an advocate, writer, and speaker in the areas of Neurodivergence and Autistic Rights. This work covers a fairly wide range including a TEDx talk, presentations to investors and business leaders on Neurodivergence in the workplace, blog posts (on zenmasterbear.net), magazine articles, and academic philosophy. I am a strong believer that companies, schools, and broader society are harming themselves as well as Neurodivergent people whenever they attempt to fit Neurodivergent people into a conformity model designed around how Neurotypical brains work. In many instances a significant number of Neurotypical people are also kept from achieving their potential within these narrow systems. If you have any interest in creativity, innovation, or deep and/or large-scale systems thinking I believe that you will fall short of your goals if you do not understand how to help Neurodivergent people thrive. This isn't about doing the right thing for broken people, it is about making your organisation (or society) smarter and better. I am also Chief Ursine Officer and a Trustee at Heading for Change: The Suzanne Biegel and Daniel Maskit endowment. You can read more about us, and what it means to be a Chief Ursine Officer, on our website. My day job is as a Creative Technologist. In this role I can help you: Focus on where you want to get to without getting bogged down in implementation details. Rework technology to free artists to allow them to focus their time on creativity. Make your technology more flexible, better structured, and more supportive of innovation. See the world differently. My talents include: Exceptionally strong abstraction skills and clarity of vision. Seeing the simple solutions behind complex problems. Clearly explaining deep concepts. Asking the questions that will help someone understand what they really want. Deep and active listening. Interpreting between the languages of the technical and non-technical worlds. Communicating effectively, especially through writing. I am: Obsessed with usability. A practitioner of User-centred and Artist-centred Design. Solution minded. Versatile. Observant. Analytical. Creative. I believe: The value of technology lies in its ability to improve people's lives. Every question asked is an opportunity to improve. We should never stop asking "Is the technology working for you? Or are you working for the technology?"