This month, our Leeds studio welcomed 17-year-old Daniyaal for work experience and a chance to experience life in an Architecture Practice. For Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2025, Muneebah Shaheen, who leads on work experience within the Leeds Studio, has shared an insight into this unique week.
“We met Daniyaal through one of Corstorphine & Wright’s nominated charities Women’s Whispers. It was clear from the first day that he had a passion for design and came prepared with a semi-realised concept for a Refuge centre. He’d even previously built a physical model of this centre in his free time.
The week started by us discussing what we wanted to achieve, as we do with all our students, and we decided to develop his Refuge centre concept further. This was a project he was already passionate about gave a focus to develop professional skills further. Over his time with us Daniyaal worked with Revit, created plans, elevations, and visuals in Twinmotion – and he flew through it all like a pro!
To round off his time with us, we displayed images of the work he had done as well as his physical model on our crit board and asked my studio colleagues to do a silent review. This involved feedback through sticky notes on the display rather than verbal feedback.
We value open discussions and feedback during work experience placements as vital development tools. For Daniyaal, who is neurodiverse with Autism and Panic Disorder, we tailored our approach to ensure he felt comfortable by assigning him a consistent seating arrangement, minimizing or turning off music, and allowing him to engage with tasks at his own pace. This personalised focus required minimal effort but made a significant impact.
He thoroughly enjoyed his time at Corstorphine & Wright, and it was lovely to see him grow more comfortable in the office each day. No matter the young person little support goes a long way in helping develop talent.”
