Company Corner: Social Cipher

Company Corner: Social Cipher

Here at Patchwork Hub, we believe it’s important to share the work of revolutionary technology organisations. Continuing our Company Corner series, we recently caught up with Vanessa Castañeda Gill from Social Cipher. Social Cipher is a game-based social-emotional learning platform for youth of all neurotypes and the professionals who work with them.


What is Social Cipher?

Social Cipher is a game-based social-emotional learning platform for youth of all neurotypes and the professionals who work with them. In other words, we build space pirate video games to help youth understand themselves and those around them. Our software also helps the professionals who work with them better understand their students’ social-emotional well-being.

What led to the creation of Social Cipher?

I started this company because of my own experiences as a neurodivergent individual (autism/ADHD). After 6 years of being ashamed of my conditions, I realised through the power of play and imagination that I never needed to be fixed; I just needed a different way to learn. I started Social Cipher to make sure that every young person finds that truth.

Why are accessibility and disability important to your company?

As a 50% neurodivergent team, disability inclusion is super important for us. The reason we’re able to create such nuanced characters and moving stories in our games is that we include neurodivergent voices in our team from the beginning. We believe in the idea of ‘nothing about us without us’ and test with neurodivergent youth because they’re the experts in their own experiences. 

We know that with the right support, folks of all neurotypes can absolutely thrive. If that means flexible/remote work, having tasks organized in a visual manner, or simply being able to turn your camera off during video meetings, it's a no-brainer. We encourage those supports, even if it's not the "norm”, whatever this means.

Do you have any tips/advice on how to create a more inclusive working environment?

Definitely! Here are a couple of things that Social Cipher has done to build a 50% neurodivergent team:

  • In job descriptions, include neurodivergence as a strength/something you're looking for.
  • Not assuming that every neurodivergent person wants to be a consultant on their experiences (unless they're hired as a neurodiversity consultant, of course). It's more about leaving the opportunity open if they'd like to give feedback/share about it.
  • Getting feedback from neurodivergent team members on your hiring process! 
  • Encourage folks to give feedback on current processes and how they work out for them. Do your processes work well with their own learning styles/preferred ways that they process information?
  • At the interview stage, we're working on incorporating accommodations into the interview itself! As a neurodivergent person myself, when I've been on the applicant side of things, this step has been a huge indicator to me of a company's inclusivity.
  • These accommodations during interviews can include:
    • Identifying audibly who is talking/asking questions. 
    • Sending questions in advance.
    • Writing questions in chat as we ask them.
    • Closed captions.
    • Sending questions afterwards for more elaboration.
    • Camera off/phone call instead.

What do you think is the biggest challenge your industry will face in the next 5 years?

I believe there exists polarization in the neurodiversity space. The thing is, we all want the same things for neurodivergent folks: to thrive and live happy, healthy lives where people feel supported. The issue is that there's disagreement on how to achieve those goals. There are some amazing disability advocates and organizations doing the work every day to make progress on that though, and with the rise of the Neurodiversity Movement. I have faith that we'll see a lot of positive change in the coming years.

What have you found most helpful in the progression of your company?

We meet monthly to do what we call product roadmap refreshes, which allows us to look at a visual timeline and see all of the goals of each department lined up together in one place. It really allows us to be real about our goals and what may have to change, and it bridges the natural divides that occur between the product and business sides of our company. We also love doing show and tells during our core team meetings – we have super talented and passionate people on our team. This really helps us bond when we share our passions and interests!

Is there anything else you’d like us to share?

Our team is full of a bunch of amazing geeks! We have a fossil hunter, an escape room builder, a master cosplayer, and many more interesting talents on the team. The creativity and passion we have is truly this team's greatest strength (as a bonus, they're incredibly fun to work with!)

 

Want to find out more about Social Cipher? Check out the links below:

Social Cipher’s Website

Follow Social Cipher on Instagram

Follow Social Cipher on Twitter

Follow Social Cipher on LinkedIn

 

Published: 4th October 2022

All Tags
Accessibility Accessibility int he workplace Accessibility ramps Adaptive fashion Advocacy All Saints Alt text Assistive technology Autism Awareness Blog Bullying Burnout Business Businesses Cancer Candidates Captions Cerebral palsy Characters Charity Charity sector Chronic pain Closed captions Clothes Clothing Cognitive disabilities Communication Companies Company Company Corner Confidence Confucius Consultant Consultation Content designer Data talent Diagnosis Difference Digital transformation Disabilities Disability advocate Disability advocates Disability community Disability confident Disability inclusion Disability Policy Centre Disabled Disabled people Disabled People’s Direct Action Network Disabled-led Diverse Diversity Diversity and inclusion Diversity Recruitment Platform Domestic violence Dysfluency Education Employment opportunities Empowerment Ethnic minorities Fashion Fashion industry Feedback Flexible work Freelance Game Gaming Gareth Walkom Garment technologist Gastrointestinal conditions Gender Guide dog Healthcare HR Hybrid working Inclusion Inclusivity India Inspiration Intellectual capabilities Interviews Invisible disabilities Invisible disability Istituto Marangoni Jack Wills Job descriptions Job interviews Job opportunities Learning disability Leeds Leeds trinity university Legislation LGBTQ+ Long-term health condition Long-term health conditions Maya angelou Meta Metaverse Migrants Motivation Musculoskeletal conditions Neurodivergence Neurodivergent Neurodiversity consultant Neurodiversity space Neurotype Neurotypes New Delhi Non-profit Partially sighted People Phase Eight Phone calls Physical disabilities Pirate video games Policy Poverty Presentations Primark Public speaking Puneet Singh Singhal Race Raising awareness Registered blind Remote work Rights School Scope Self-employed Self-employment Senior staff Sexuality Shaw trust Shaw trust power 100 list Sign language Social mobility Social-emotional learning Social-emotional learning platform Software Speaking situation Speech differences Speech disabilities Speech impediment Spotlight series Spotlight stories Ssstart Staff Stammer Stammering Stories Stuttering Sweaty Betty Tech industry Tech talent TEDx Tesco Think tank Underrepresentation Unhidden Unhidden Clothing Universities Vanessa Castañeda Gill Victoria Beckham Video game Violence Virtual reality VR Web accessibility Women Work environment Work from home Working conditions Working from home Youth Access to work Accessibility in the workplace Accessibility test Accessible work Acting Adhd Adjustments Administrative Adrian lord Advice Advocacy and campaigns Allparty parliamentary group for inclusive entrepreneurship American civil rights movement Android Anglonorman App Artificial intelligence Bad grammar Barriers to work Bbc Benefits Blind persons act Blue badge Blue badge service specialists Care Career Carer Celtic languages Center on everyday lives of families Ceo Cfs Chloe tear Chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic health condition Chronic illness Community Community story Community, community story, founder, feature, accessible work, disability employment gap, making a difference Companies house Compressed hours Computer science Computers Coronavirus Councils Covid19 Crystal mark standard Deaf Demo Design Dialects Dictionary Digital accessibility Disability Disability discrimination act Disability employment gap Disability rights movement Disability services Disabled peoples direct action network Disabled persons employment act Easy read Email address Employers Employment English English speakers Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship Epilepsy Equality Equality act Equality and diversity Equality of access Esources, disability, disability services, support services, community story, features, adjustments, social support network Eugenics Facebook Feature Features Fibromyalgia First world war Flexi Flexible working Flexitime Flextime Founder Francesco cirillo Freelancing French Gcses Gdpr General data protection regulation Good Good grammar Google Government policy Government support Graduate Graduates Grammar Grammar schools Health Health condition Health conditions Hearing impairment History History of language Holistic Ico Impact Imposter syndrome Inclusive entrepreneur network Inequalities Inequality Information commissioners office Information governance Instagram Internet Jacqueline winstanley Language Latin Law Learning difficulties Lexicographers Limited company Local councils Local government Making a difference Marketing strategy Mecfs Medical conditions Medical model of disability Medical vs social models of disability Medicines Mental health Middle english Mindfulness Mlm Mobility issues Multilevel marketing National league of the blind Neurodiversity Niya Normans Old english Old french Onboarding and retention Online Out of work Oxbridge Parent Passwords Patchwork hub Payment details Planning Planning for work Podcasts Pomodoro Preposition Private schools Psychiatric Psychiatry Punctuation React Reasonable adjustments Recruitment Remote working Resources Resources and support Rest Retinopathy of prematurity Sales Scam Search engine Second world war Shell shock Slang Social Cipher Social interactions Social media Social model of disability Social support network Socialising Spelling Spoken language Spotlight stories Standard english Startup State schools Student Students Studying Suffragette movement Support Support services Syntactician Syntax Technology Test Blog The Disability Policy Centre The elderly Then barbara met alan Trafalgar square Turkish United nations Universal inclusion University University of arts london University of cambridge University of hertfordshire University of hull University of leeds University of oxford Victoria Jenkins Visual impairment War Ways of working West germanic dialects William shakespeare Windsor consultations WithVR Wordpress Work structure Workforce recruitment Working environment Workplace barriers World war one World war two Young carer

Cookies

By continuing to use this website you are agreeing to the use of cookies. For further details, review our Cookie Policy.

Change Settings