Abstract
Although the success of neurodiversity programs is noted in existing literature (e.g., Austin & Pisano, 2017; Carrero et al., 2019; Krzeminska & Hawse, 2020), prior research has yet to empirically study why neurodiversity programs fail. Furthermore, our understanding about those responsible for administering neurodiversity programs is limited, as neurodiversity programs have mostly been studied using the experiences of neurodivergent employees, supervisors of neurodivergent employees, or the family members, support staff, and coworkers of neurodivergent employees (Annabi & Locke, 2019; Hedley et al., 2017). Therefore, this study uses interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) (Smith et al., 2021) to explore the challenges of neurodiversity programs, according to the personal lived experiences of neurodiversity program administrators at large public companies in the United States. The results reveal three group experiential themes: (1) corporate culture as a determinant of neurodiversity program implementability, (2) executive sponsorship as a determinant of neurodiversity program sustainability, (3) resource allocation as a determinant of neurodiversity program scalability. The findings provide novel insights into what it is like to be a neurodiversity program administrator, what it means to them, their perceptions of the challenges, how they attempt to address the challenges, and why neurodiversity programs fail.