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Why did you want to work in STEM?

Ever since I was little, I’ve wanted to know how things work. It turns out if you keep asking that question with smaller and smaller things you end up being a particle physicist. I’ve also always loved taking things apart and making bits of technology work with each other and it turns out there’s quite a lot of that in experimental science too.

What’s your favourite thing about your job or about working in STEM?

My favourite thing about working in STEM is getting paid to spend my day finding out the answers to questions I find interesting. If I’m allowed a second thing, it would be being part of the large organisations that are required to answer these questions in particle physics. Seeing a group of people from around the world come together to design and build a huge piece of equipment out of scientific curiosity that they then operate together for decades really restores your faith in humanity.

What are your top tips for a young disabled person interested in STEM as a career?

Don’t be afraid to ask for the help you need, whether that’s specific to your disability or not. Letting the people around me know what’s likely to make me twitch or get overwhelmed and need to go and sit on my own for a while helps them help me not get to that point in the first place. Early in my career I’d worried asking for accommodations would be seen as being a burden. On the contrary, my managers have all seen it as a way to know how they can help me be more productive and happier in my job.

What advantages has your disability given you in the field?

The first advantage my Asperger’s syndrome has given me is the ability to really focus deeply on my special interest subjects. The other advantage is that the experience of having to consciously interpret what other people are trying to communicate means that I don’t find it so much different talking to people from different cultures. I just assume there’s another set of unspoken rules that I need to learn.