April Book Chat: Canary Code by Ludwila Praslova, PhD

The Canary Code by Ludmila Praslova—a book that’s been sparking a lot of honest conversation around neurodiversity, workplace culture, and what “inclusion” actually looks like in practice.

The idea behind the title is simple but powerful: canaries were once used in coal mines because they’d sense unsafe air before anyone else. In many workplaces today, neurodivergent people often notice friction, overwhelm, or misalignment earlier, too.

Not because something is wrong with them—but because something in the environment might be off.

This book explores what happens when we actually pay attention to those signals—and what it could look like to design work differently.

For our book chat, we’re less focused on “getting it right” and more interested in hearing real experiences and suggestions from people who want to contribute to a meaningful discussion about universal basic design and inclusive design in the workplace. 

We encourage all to read the book, but…