4-minute read - by Kate Brunton, August 17, 2022
Not everyone at ASML thinks the same way, and we’re proud of it. A large number of employees at ASML are ‘neurodivergent’ – meaning they have neurological variations such as autism, ADHD and dyslexia. Atypical, ASML’s neurodiversity employee network, is helping to raise awareness about how normal brain differences really are.
“To give you an idea of what it feels like to be ‘on the spectrum’: Basically, it feels like being the only sober person in a room full of drunks. Or the other way around,” says Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby in this video describing her high-functioning autism. ‘Basically, everyone is operating on a wavelength you can’t quite key into.”
Arnout Nederpelt, a business analyst at ASML in the Netherlands, is also on the autism spectrum and has frequently felt the same way. “After I graduated from the Eindhoven University of Technology, I applied for jobs for three years and had trouble getting past the interview,” he says. “I eventually sought help from the municipality, and that’s when I did an investigation and discovered that I’m both highly gifted and on the autism spectrum.” Arnout landed a job at ASML, and 12 years later, he’s still enjoying his career (which has spanned Sourcing & Supply Chain, Quality and now R&D).
Several years ago, Arnout was one of the first employees to join what was then known as the ASML ‘autism embassy’ to create awareness about autism among employees. The group has since grown and evolved into Atypical, ASML’s neurodiversity employee network. Arnout serves on its board along with three other neurodiverse employees.
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Carin Pieper, another Atypical board member, wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until her late 20s, after she tried unsuccessfully to maintain a healthy work-life balance. “My life improved so much after understanding what was going on,” she says. “A lot of neurodiverse people, especially women, tend to be diagnosed later in life. I want to help other people at ASML to learn about themselves: to understand where their daily battles are coming from, to learn how to navigate life with neurodiversity and recognize that there’s beauty and tremendous value in being different.”
“In society, there’s still a stigma attached to neurodiversity,” Arnout says. “So I think sometimes people don't want to know if they aren’t ‘typical’, because they’re afraid of being labeled and being discriminated against. But we want to celebrate it and help people to realize that it’s just as ‘normal’ as being left-handed. 150 years ago, left-handed people got punished in schools in the Netherlands for using their left hand, but that seems ridiculous now.”
