Written by Robert Manson, our Neurodiversity Occupational Health Consultant

We are often asked many questions during our training sessions, from HR, Occupational Health and Line managers, that not only surprise us but also cause us great concern.

The top 3 questions that come up often are:

1. Do managers really need to put any adjustments in place if the employee has not got a diagnosis?
2. Do you not think some employees are jumping on the neurodiversity bandwagon just like with stress and back pain?
3. Can we not just select employees to do their jobs without having to spend so much time supporting them?

This not only highlights a misunderstanding of the Equality Act, a lack of awareness of neurodivergent employees, but a real sense of frustration for the manager in not really knowing what to do. It also emphasises that manager may not see the benefit of having a neurodivergent employee in their team.

Perhaps we should all not be so quick to judge anyone if these questions are raised, especially if they have not had any support or training to manage such a diverse workforce as we are seeing today.

However, there is a principle that ignorance is not a defence in law and therefore employers need to ensure they have the policies, training and supervision in place to support employees.

We often see HR policies on Diversity and Inclusion in place in many organisations and even people take a lead in this area for their organisations. However, in place but not in use, is often a phrase used to highlight the gap in theory and practice.

Are We Seeing ‘Neurodiversity Washing’?

The term ‘wellbeing washing’ is often used to describe situations where employers prioritise the appearance of caring about wellbeing over taking meaningful actions to support it. Perhaps ‘neurodiversity washing’ is also happening within the workplace especially from the evidence I have seen over the past months when talking to colleagues.

So back to our questions;

Do managers really need to put any adjustments in place if the employee has not got a diagnosis for their neurodivergent condition?

The simple answer is yes. It is important to realise that employees do not need a diagnosis for the Equality Act to apply. The only evidence is that the employee’s individual’s difficulties are chronic and substantial (affecting normal day-to-day activities) and long-term (difficulties spanning a period of 12 months or more).

Neurodivergent employees experience everyday challenges in working memory, written and verbal communication and processing information. These are likely to be the basis for asserting disability as a protected characteristic.

There is much evidence suggesting that neurodivergent employee’s are likely to sufficiently justify Equality Act protection as disabilities. Therefore, it is also reasonable to assume that a suspected neurominority will require reasonable adjustments until proven otherwise (1).

Do you not think some employees are jumping on the neurodiversity bandwagon just like with stress and back pain?

The answer is No. There has been greater recognition of neurodivergent conditions, such as Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Dyslexia, with up to 15% of the UK population thought to be neurodivergent (2). Although some research also suggests that there are a greater number of undiagnosed adults in the UK than previously thought (3).  

Also, the increase in diagnoses, particularly in children, is largely thought to be the result of better awareness and improved understanding of neurodivergent conditions (4).

Progress in this awareness among organisations has been slow with only 51% of managers appreciated the value of having a neuroinclusive organisation. Worse still, just 46% felt capable of and confident to support neurodivergent employees at work (5). This lack of awareness can lead to stigma and therefore a lack of support being asked for or provided.

With increased training and awareness managers will start to manage neurodivergent employees the same as they have had to do with the two largest causes of sickness, which are stress and back pain. This just makes good business sense.

Can we not just select employees to do their jobs without having to spend so much time supporting them?

Yes and no. Hiring the right person for the right job is a critical part of the recruitment process as well as a well-planned induction period.  

Companies who have developed recruitment and interview processes that proactively include neurodivergent applicants can be assured that they are recruiting from a wide pool of potential and not missing the right person for that job. (6).

The fear that neurodivergent employees will require such significant support is often unfounded.

Undertaking a specialist workplace needs assessment early will identify the challenges individual employees might be facing at work as a result of their neurodivergence or disability and make recommendations to improve well-being and productivity.

Many adjustments are either no cost or low cost and any assistive technology is now built into many IT systems that other employees use. Also, if there is cost the this is often at less costs than any diagnostic assessment.

Providing a support network and gaining support from mentors or workplace buddies also takes the full responsibility off the manager.

Finally, there are many companies who have seen real business benefits from hiring neurodivergent employees for their unique skills sets. This has resulted in higher performance, less turnover, reduced sickness absence and improvements in health and wellbeing (7).  

References

1. Doyle, N. and Medhurst, B. (2022) Evaluating and supporting Neurodifferences at work. SOM. ISBN 978-1-3999-2138-1.
2. (O’Nions et al, 2023).Autism in England: assessing underdiagnosis in a population-based cohort study of prospectively collected primary care data. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2023 Apr.
3. Russell et al (2021) Time trends in autism diagnosis over 20 years: A UK population-based cohort study. J.Child Psychol Psychiatry. 63.(6). 674-682.Vol 32.Issue 4.
4. ADHD Aware (2024) adhdaware.org.uk/what-is-adhd/neurodiversity-and-other-conditions.
5. CIPD (2024) Neuroinclusion at work report. February. Reference:8545
6. ADHD (2024) Foundation Neurodiversity in the workplace. An information guide for employers.
7. Austin R, Pisan G (2017) Harvard Business Review Neurodiversity as a competitive advantage.