Willemijn van Hagen did not finish her IDE course after a burnout. The diagnosis was autism. She is now back at Industrial Design Engineering, as a support staff member. She falls under TU Delft’s participation programme for people who find it hard to get regular jobs. “There is space for me here to be different.”
IDE employee Willemijn van Hagen (left) together with her supervisor Erik Schoorlemmer. (Photo: Thijs van Reeuwijk)
Willemijn van Hagen got her first burnout when she was only 14 years old. “At the time it was never recognised as autism. It was simply one year in which I did not go to school.” After examinations, talks with psychologists and doctors, she scrambled back up again but then dropped out two years later. “It has always been like this. Two years on, one year out.”
While graduating in the Industrial Design Engineering master’s – and getting good grades and completing all the subjects – she got a very big burnout. “I was out of the picture for eight years.” A diagnosis was finally made: autism. “I get completely overstimulated in some situations. And I sometimes have to really do my best to do social things. Other people don’t even need to think about it. My brain just works differently.”
Permanent contract
She came into contact with Werkse through the UWV (Employee Insurance Schemes Implementing Body) and the municipality. Werkse helps people who are not able to get a regular job when looking for employment. “I then had this great opportunity to come and work at TU Delft. I am part of the support staff and enjoy helping people with graphics and illustrations. But I also help with processing research data and have helped teach students who are learning to make animations.”
She now has a permanent contract as a participation staff member at TU Delft. In her work space at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, she talks about her work and what it is like to have autism. She does this in the presence of her supervisor, Erik Schoorlemmer, Secretary of the Human Centered Design department.
What is a participation employee?
Van Hagen is one of the more than 100 people who have found work at TU Delft since 2015 through the Participation Act. The Act ensures that more people, including people with an occupational disability, can find work. TU Delft currently has more than 100 people in employment on a participation contract.
“This includes people with physical, mental or psychological disabilities who find it hard to work. We want to help them,” says Monique van Ewijck. She is the Coordinator of the Participation Programme at TU Delft. She and her colleague Monique Straman select, coach and support the participation employees. They work all over TU Delft, at faculties and at the University Services. “Through this programme, TU Delft demonstrates that it works on becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation.”
Central budget
Participation staff are paid from a central budget so they do not fall under the department or service’s budget where they work. TU Delft makes a budget available every year from which their salaries are paid.
For now, TU Delft froze this budget from 31 December 2024 onwards because of the cutbacks. The number of participation employees can thus not grow now. “We do not need to dismiss anyone. Everyone who is already employed here may stay, including the people on temporary contracts,” explains Van Ewijck. “But we cannot grow. We can replace people so that if someone leaves, we can look for a new participation employee.” This does not need to be in the same place, but can be elsewhere at TU Delft.
‘My brain sees everything as important’
Participation employees are mentored by an external job coach, a buddy in their team and, just like all employees, a supervisor. Erik Schoorlemmer, the Departmental Secretary, is Willemijn van Hagen’s supervisor. “We have a consultation meeting every week,” he says. “They are often about what needs to be done, but they are usually about how things are going with Willemijn. And then we look at how we can do things differently.” One example is taking breaks. “It is hard for me to stop if I am working on something,” Van Hagen admits. “And I then get stuck.”
One plus point is that she communicates very well, says Schoorlemmer. “She knows her pitfalls and knows what she needs.” This brings clarity. She needs to know what she can expect. “This is how it works with people with autism,” Van Hagen explains. “Our brains cannot set priorities that well. My brain sees everything as important.” She also needs more time to process information. Schoorlemmer finds this a big advantage. “Willemijn asks unbiased questions and does not take things for granted.”
Van Hagen is now working on a job that suits these qualities. She is making drawings for the website that expresses the identity of new research groups at the Human Centered Design department in images. Is it her quality of being different that makes her an asset to the team? “Willemijn talked to the staff members about what that identity means. Who are we now, what we stand for etc. She asks questions very systematically.”
A lot of understanding for people who are different
How can you see that Van Hagen has autism? She is sometimes silent. This is because it takes her a bit longer before she gets something. This may make some people feel uncomfortable and they tend to fill in the silence. “I make eye contact intensively and that makes people feel very uncomfortable. Do you feel uncomfortable too? But a lot of people with autism do not make eye contact at all.” She continues. “I do not understand the acts that people put on all day long. Those superficial chats which you are supposed to understand and are expected to give the right response to.”
‘This job is good for my self-confidence’
Van Hagen sees that there is much understanding for people like her at TU Delft. “There is space for me here to be different, and this was not always the case. This job is good for my self-confidence. People take me into account. I do, after all, come with an instruction manual. The fact that this is taken seriously is very good.”
Good for TU Delft
Schoorlemmer stresses why the participation programme is good. “There is a budget to create a job. The usual way of doing things is that there is work to be done and you look for an extra staff member. We now have a staff member who can do a lot of things and we can organise the work in a way that suits that staff member.”
They both hope that TU Delft, despite the cutbacks, will continue with the participation programme. “It is good for an organisation that different kinds of people work there in their own ways, apart from whether they bring added value or not.”
Van Hagen shows her drawings that will soon be on the Human Centered Design department’s new website. Does she have any goals for the future? “I will increase the number of hours I work. I am now working 16 hours and will go to 19 hours. When I was diagnosed with autism, I had to adjust my expectations. My goal is not a 38 hour working week. If I reach 24 hours, I will be happy with myself.”
- More information about TU Delft’s participation programme: intranet.tudelft.nl/participation-act
- More on autism.nl (in Dutch)
Managing editor
Katja Wijnands
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