We recently ran a Neurodiversity Celebration Week webinar with two specialists: a workplace mental health consultant and a neurodiversity trainer who’s neurodivergent himself, and honestly, it’s one of the most practical sessions we’ve hosted. Less theory, more “here’s what actually helps and here’s what it costs you” (spoiler: usually nothing). This blog pulls together the best of it.
If you only take one thing from this post, take this: neurodiversity at work isn’t a niche HR topic affecting a handful of people in your organisation. It’s more likely to be sitting in your team already, diagnosed or not, and the adjustments that help are usually cheap, simple, and good for everyone, not just the person who asked for them.
What Is Neurodiversity?
Our panel’s definition was refreshingly simple: neurodiversity is just the difference in how people think, process information and experience the world. It’s a natural variation in the human brain, not a deficit, and a useful way to picture it is biodiversity. Nature doesn’t have one “correct” way for an ecosystem to function; brains are the same.
Under that umbrella sit conditions like ADHD, autism, Tourette’s syndrome (diagnosed clinically) and dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia (usually identified through educational assessment). In actuality, though, the term “neurodiversity” technically describes everyone, since no two brains work identically. In practice, workplaces use it to mean neurodivergent colleagues specifically, whose thinking and processing differ from what’s considered “neurotypical,” which is really just shorthand for what’s common. Getting that definition right matters, because it shapes how neurodiversity at work actually gets talked about, or misunderstood, in your organisation.
How Common Is Neurodiversity at Work?
Neurodiversity at work is more common than most people assume. The CIPD estimates that as many as 20%, or 1 in 5, of people may be neurodivergent in some way, an umbrella figure covering conditions like autism, dyslexia and ADHD (CIPD, 2024). Our panel put the working estimate even higher once you factor in undiagnosed cases, with some studies suggesting over half of neurodivergent adults have never received a formal diagnosis, often because NHS assessment waiting lists can stretch to five or seven years.
That gap between awareness and action shows up clearly in the data too. CIPD research found that while 60% of senior managers say neuroinclusion is a focus for their organisation, only a third have actually built it into their equality, diversity and inclusion strategy, and nearly a third of organisations aren’t focusing on it at all (CIPD, Neuroinclusion at Work, 2024). The same research found that one in five neurodivergent employees have experienced harassment or discrimination at work specifically because of their neurodivergence (CIPD, 2024).
Interestingly, neurodiversity doesn’t only show up as a lifelong trait. Hormonal shifts during perimenopause and menopause can bring existing neurodivergent traits to the surface for the first time, which is part of why some women receive an ADHD or autism diagnosis later in life. We covered this crossover with neurodiversity at work, and what it means for support, in our menopause and mental health at work blog.
What the Law Actually Says
Neurodiversity isn’t, in itself, a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. What matters legally is impact. Where a neurodivergent condition has a substantial, long-term effect (generally meaning over 12 months) on someone’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, it falls under the Act’s definition of disability, and that triggers a legal duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments (GOV.UK, Equality Act 2010 guidance).
Two points from our panel are worth repeating to anyone in HR:
- A diagnosis isn’t required for protection. Given how long NHS assessment routes can take, someone can be covered by the Act, and entitled to adjustments, without a formal diagnosis in hand.
- Ignoring a disclosure, or having policies with no flexibility built in, is where discrimination claims come from. Cases against major UK employers have hinged on scenarios like this – not malice, but a lack of understanding of neurodiversity at work that never made it from leadership down to line managers.
Getting Disclosure Right
When someone discloses a neurodivergent condition, or you become aware of one without a formal disclosure, our panel’s advice was consistent: thank them first. Disclosing can take real courage, and how you respond in that moment sets the tone for how safe neurodiversity at work feels to everyone watching, not just the person involved.
Then, resist the urge to jump straight to solutions. Explore the actual impact first: what’s difficult for the person, what it means for the team, what it means for the wider organisation. Adjustments that come out of that conversation tend to work. Adjustments picked off a generic checklist (a coloured screen overlay because “that’s what helps with dyslexia”) often don’t, because neurodivergent conditions affect everyone differently. This applies whether or not someone has a formal diagnosis, and it applies just as much to a “performance issue” that might actually be an unmet support need in disguise.
Employee passports came up as good practice here when looking to support neurodiversity at work. It’s a simple, living document recording someone’s adjustments and ways of working, which travels with them if they change manager, team or role, so nobody has to start the conversation from scratch every time. Several UK neurodiversity charities offer free templates you can adapt, and Acas’s own guidance is a solid starting point too.
Practical, Low-Cost Adjustments That Actually Work
Supporting neurodiversity at work doesn’t require a big budget. Most of what follows costs nothing at all.
Environment. A quiet space away from an open-plan office, noise-cancelling headphones, and somewhere separate to eat lunch (sensitivity to smell and noise is a common issue, not a fussy preference). Options for hybrid working help too, where the role allows it.
Communication. People process information differently, so offer it in more than one format: written instructions, a short video, a visual or pictorial guide. Some people need bullet points and colour, not a dense paragraph of text; others need the opposite. Ask, rather than guess.
Structure. Clear priorities and expectations matter enormously, since ambiguity is difficult for pretty much every neurotype. Practical tools our panel use themselves include task chunking (working in fixed time blocks with a short break, sometimes called the Pomodoro technique) and staggering deadlines into smaller milestones rather than one distant end date. Sending meeting agendas in advance is a five-minute habit that makes a real difference to some colleagues and costs you nothing.
These adjustments can help far beyond the person who asked for them. A quiet room helps someone with ADHD and someone who just didn’t sleep well. Clear written instructions help a new starter as much as a dyslexic team member. Good practice for neurodiversity at work is, more often than not, just good management.
Burnout and Sensory Overwhelm
A question from the audience asked specifically about burnout for autistic employees, and our panel’s answer applies to neurodiversity at work more broadly: everyone’s experience is different, so there’s no single fix. The starting point is the same conversation again – what in someone’s environment is causing stress, and is there anything you can realistically change?
Sensory overwhelm is a real and often underestimated factor. Sensitivity to light, noise or a busy office isn’t a preference; it’s a genuine barrier to someone doing their job comfortably, and it’s worth taking seriously rather than dismissing as fussiness.
Why This Comes Down to Your Managers
Every practical fix in this blog depends on one thing: a manager who’s confident enough to have the conversation in the first place. Our panel were clear that most discrimination cases don’t come from bad intentions, but instead come from managers who simply didn’t know what to do, because the understanding never made it past senior leadership.
That’s a training gap, and it’s a fixable one. Get it right, and supporting neurodiversity at work stops being a policy document nobody reads and starts being something your managers just do, day to day, without thinking twice about it.
If you missed the live session, catch the full webinar recording and register for future sessions here.
