Use these 17 Strength-Finding Exercises [PDF] to help others discover and leverage their unique strengths in life, promoting enhanced performance and flourishing. The author focuses on the four most common neurodivergent identities that I’ve also covered above. However, this diagnostic label is a poor description of the neurotype and is currently regarded as a placeholder label by many in the neurodiversity movement (Carr-Fanning, 2020).
Unlike many other practices that separate Autism and ADHD into two assessments and often charge separately for each, Neudle takes a holistic approach by exploring both together in one comprehensive report. This recognises how Autism and ADHD often overlap, while also considering co-occurring conditions, different presentations (including masked or internalised profiles), and the role of trauma or other factors where relevant. All of this is reflected in the Diagnostic Report, giving you a clearer and more meaningful understanding of your neurodivergence within a formal diagnostic framework.
After completing workplace assessments and training programs, institutions must establish clear metrics to evaluate program effectiveness. They provide concrete examples of how organisations have overcome challenges and achieved positive outcomes, making abstract concepts tangible. Creating psychologically safe environments where neurodivergent team members can thrive requires careful consideration of these interpersonal dynamics. Understanding these differences is essential for creating an environment where all team members can effectively share ideas and contribute to organisational success. Different communication styles and preferences can significantly impact team collaboration and individual performance. This involves assessing current communication methods and protocols to determine their effectiveness for neurodiverse individuals.
Autism, Dyslexia, and Dyspraxia can be more subtle, particularly in people who mask well. Girls and women, high-achieving students, and professionals are especially likely to compensate quietly for years. They develop coping strategies, perfectionism, or people-pleasing behaviours that hide underlying difficulties until life becomes too complex to manage.
Our sincere thanks to all those who contributed their time, expertise and content to help us create this toolkit. Or imagine having to read everything reversed as in mirror-writing, but without the mirror. Here's what Gallup learned about strengths when we looked at the aggregate data. Both groups found activities such as understanding and following written instructions, understanding and following verbal instructions, and working from home or working remotely relatively easy.
These all have the benefit of focusing on the applicant’s ability to perform the job role. The reality of neurodiversity, then, means that every interaction at work takes place between people with different brains – yet, typically, very few organisations are thinking about neurodiversity or neuroinclusion. Managing mental health issues such as depression, anxiety disorders and more can be very complex in the workplace but is necessary to promote inclusiveness and support employees. Discover SHL’s Neurodiversity Research program insights to learn how the unique strengths of neurodivergent people can be applied within a variety of roles. Employers should recognise the potential risks to neurodivergent workers and undertake a risk assessment to ensure that all employees can work safely. Assess the physical workspace to make sure it’s accessible and welcoming to neurodivergent employees.
If you would like to explore how making neurodiversity an intentional part of how your business works could strengthen your team and your outcomes, Matthew and the team are here to help you start that conversation. It is already part of your team and will continue to shape your capacity to innovate, retain talent, and create products that resonate in the real world. Investors increasingly view people practices as part of long term viability, particularly in early stage companies where execution capacity is a key predictor of future growth. Evidence shows that teams with inclusion at their core make better decisions and outperform their peers in productivity and innovation. Research highlights that people who think differently often bring deep focus, pattern recognition, creative problem solving, and the ability to challenge assumptions in ways that strengthen teams and products. Yet even as this reality becomes clearer through research and practice, many startups still treat neurodiversity as a “nice to have” diversity topic rather than a strategic advantage that shapes how work is done and how teams succeed.
Common employee selection methods may significantly disadvantage neurodivergent candidates. For example, reading-based assessments that require rapid verbal processing speed may disadvantage candidates with dyslexia. Selection methods involving a social component—such as interviews or assessment centres—may disadvantage autism-spectrum candidates. Employers should also consider that hiring algorithms may be biased against neurodivergent individuals if they have been trained on data from neurotypical candidates (Mahto et al., 2022).
When it comes to autistic people, it means not attempting to “cure” autism and instead thinking of autism as a neurotype rather than a disorder. A lack of understanding about neurodiversity is one of the most significant barriers to inclusion. Education is the first step toward creating a more empathetic and supportive workplace. Social cues or indirect communication can be confusing for individuals with autism, leading to misunderstandings in team dynamics. Traditional performance reviews can be anxiety-inducing if feedback is unclear or overly critical.
This uncertainty has led to unemployment and underemployment rates as high as 90% among neurodivergent candidates. By proactively engaging with a broad employee spectrum of age, gender, experience and ability, diverse workforces become a Occupational Health Services harbinger of success, productivity and efficiency. A divergent employee might be taking their first ever job at your company, or living on their own for the first time.
Through engaging with our offering, employers and line managers are reporting improved confidence in their ability to make their workplaces more neuroinclusive. We believe this work has the potential to improve workplace inclusion, ultimately improving the employment opportunities for neurodivergent people. A study from 2020 estimates that perhaps one in seven or even one in five of the global population is neurodivergent. Yet two polls conducted by IOSH in 2023 showed that the extent of stigma attached to neurodivergence is high. IOSH found that two thirds of neurodivergent workers would not reveal their condition to their employers.This implies two things.