Neurodiversity in the Rail Industry

My name is Ewan McDermott,

I have been in the rail industry since 2018 and work for Great Western Railway, currently near the Bristol area. Before that, I moved away from home aged eighteen for my first role in the industry based in the Kennet & Thames Valley.

When I was a young kid, my dream of being around trains and railways shined in abundance. Not necessarily being at the end of a train platform taking photos, but appreciating the fine hard work that has evolved our industry. I struggled in school in many ways. I was diagnosed with Autism at the age of seven. I had a speech delay on top of this and only started to speak fully at the age of six. Throughout my school life, I had a lot of self -doubt and I worried a lot about my future. I dreamt about working on the railway for as long as I can remember. Me being me I am very goal driven and I have never lost touch of a personal ambition. Since being a young lad at the age of four, I dreamt of working around locomotives. Until this very day I have the ambition and the drive to fulfil my dreams of becoming a train driver, no matter what. People around have never doubted me. Many would say I'm dedicated, hard-working and sometimes stubborn. Some would say I'm very "by the book." At the age of sixteen, I became a young author, writing books and publishing them to raise awareness of Neurodiversity and Autism. Considering my age at the time, I feel that this was a great achievement.

In school, I was labelled many things, such as awkward, to name but a few. But over time, I turned this around and I changed the negatives into positives. I am glad to be different; we would all be boring if we were the same! Throughout my childhood years and transitioning into my adulthood, I was having to re-learn myself when I became a teenager. I needed to understand my emotions, or how to feel a certain emotion and how to express it. It wasn't easy, but over a period of time, I overcome it with the support around me.

The word Autism, many years ago, was not diagnosed. It was simply seen as "naughty". Now, within the last 15 years, Autism diagnosing has become more common particularly in females where a female autistic people present different attributes to males living with Autism.

My mother is another example. She dreamt of becoming a police officer and fulfilled her dreams. My mum was a firearms officer before coming a normal PC. My mum is much like me, very goal orientated and hard working. Over a long period time she learnt a lot about herself and realised that she needed to visit the doctor for an assessment to determine many variables. The Autism diagnosis process can take months and years and at the age of 35 she was given a diagnosis for Autism .

Working on the railway as a neuro-divergent ticks many industry boxes as I enjoy following rules, making decisions, strategic thinking processes and problem solving to name but a few. I enjoy that every day is never the same as the next. I enjoy any atmosphere that I may work in be that working on a diesel or steam locomotive in my spare time, or on a train station. I enjoy the adrenaline rush, I enjoy handling pressure as it gets me thinking. It is like solving a puzzle, you have got to find the last piece for it to be completed.

In my time working on the railway so far, I have had a lot of individuals approach me to ask some questions to join the industry. Many have asked questions, but this one stuck with me a while - "My son has recently been diagnosed with Autism, and struggles with his dyslexia, will he be able to apply for a railway job still? I'm worried for his dreams! - I met this person two years ago at a conference. I sat down with this chap and his mum and assured them their differences are not going to define them a single bit. I explained that I lived with the spectrum and I managed to get into the career of my dreams, although I have a lot more hard work to do. But nothing is ever impossible. It is all about mind-set. I explained, that there are thousands who work in our industry who live with Autism and various difficulties and have gone and done amazing things. There's no such thing as “can’t”, or “won’t”. Instead, you just go and do it.

I ended up bumping into this young chap who I had a chat two years ago nearly six months ago and he is now working on-board trains as an apprentice for a Train Operating Company up in the Midlands. I was so pleased! He shook my hand and said, if it wasn't for you talking to me, I wouldn't be standing here right now about to book on for work as if I had not of spoken to you, I would have just given up.

Very recently I read an article, about a lady train driver, who is also the Disability REP for ASLEF - Train Drivers Union and is also autistic. The article was named ‘I am special just like you’ It was very eye opening and made it me feel relieved, because no matter what we live with, we are all different, just like you. And being different has so many positive attributes in our professional and social lives. It has shown me and many in our industry, that we can go and achieve great things.

If there is one message I can give to you today, it is to stick at it, work hard and never give up. We will get to where we need to be in no time.

Keep at your goals and don't let your differences define you!

If you'd like to read the article mentioned the link is here: https://aslef.org.uk/news/i-am-special-just-you