S26 Working with Neurodivergent Clients

Adapting your practice

• S26.1

  Ask every client how they prefer to communicate, take in information and work, without expecting them to disclose a diagnosis or condition, and act on what they tell you

• S26.2

  Adapt how you deliver support and share information, for example by sending agendas and questions in advance, confirming what was agreed in writing, offering shorter or more frequent sessions, giving the client time to process and respond, and using plain language, visual summaries or recordings made with the client's consent

• S26.3

  Agree meeting arrangements that suit the client, including the channel, place, time of day and sensory environment (for example lighting, noise and whether cameras are on in online meetings)

• S26.4

  Keep anything the client tells you about being neurodivergent confidential, record it only with their agreement and only where it helps you support them, and handle it in line with data protection requirements

Building on the client's strengths

• S26.5

  Help the client identify their strengths, interests and ways of working, and how these can give the business an advantage, without assuming that a particular diagnosis brings particular strengths or limits

• S26.6

  Help the client shape their business model, role and working patterns around how they work best, including deciding what to do themselves and what to delegate, outsource or automate

• S26.7

  Help the client set up practical systems for planning, prioritising, deadlines, money and record-keeping (for example reminders, templates, routines, and assistive and AI tools), and adjust them until they work

• S26.8

  Help the client prepare for situations they find harder, such as networking, pitching, negotiating or handling complaints, and find approaches and support that suit them

Wellbeing and wider support

• S26.9

  Recognise signs that the client may be overloaded, close to burnout or under strain from hiding their differences (often called masking), talk about it with care, and help them adjust their workload and pace

• S26.10

  Help the client decide whether, when and how to tell others, such as customers, funders, partners or staff, that they are neurodivergent, leaving the decision with them

• S26.11

  Help the client find and apply for funded workplace support and assistive technology they may be eligible for, including as a self-employed person

• S26.12

  Direct the client to assessment services, health professionals, mental health support or specialist organisations, or connect them with peer networks, role models and mentors (including other neurodivergent business owners), as they need and wish

Employers and organisations

• S26.13

  Help clients who employ or work with neurodivergent people to understand good practice in recruitment, communication and reasonable adjustments, and refer them to HR or legal advice where needed

• S26.14

  Seek feedback from neurodivergent clients on how well your support works for them, and raise with your organisation the parts of its processes, forms, eligibility rules, materials and venues that create barriers, suggesting changes

• S26.K1

  What neurodiversity and neurodivergence mean; the main forms of neurodivergence (for example autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and Tourette's syndrome), how often they occur together and how much individuals vary; and the difference between specific learning differences, such as dyslexia, and learning disability

• S26.K2

  Respectful language: the different preferences people have (for example identity-first language such as "autistic person" and person-first language such as "person with ADHD"), why to follow each person's own preference, and terms to avoid, such as functioning labels and language that presents neurodivergence as suffering or as a superpower

• S26.K3

  The social model of disability, and how the design of services, systems and environments can create barriers for neurodivergent people

• S26.K4

  Executive function (for example planning, organising, prioritising, starting tasks, working memory and managing time), how it affects running a business, and practical strategies and tools that help

• S26.K5

  Differences in communication, social interaction, sensory processing and information processing, and how to adapt support for them

• S26.K6

  The strengths often associated with neurodivergence, the evidence on neurodivergent people in self-employment and business ownership and its limits, and why generalisations about any group can mislead

• S26.K7

  Masking, overload and burnout, how they can show, how they relate to mental health, and when to refer

• S26.K8

  Routes to assessment and diagnosis, waiting times, and why many neurodivergent people are undiagnosed or self-identify

• S26.K9

  Equality legislation as it applies to neurodivergent people, including when a person may meet the legal definition of disability, the duty of service providers to make reasonable adjustments (including anticipating the needs of disabled people), and the duties of employers

• S26.K10

  The data protection requirements for information about a person's health or disability, including the extra protection for special category data

• S26.K11

  Funded workplace support and assistive technology for neurodivergent people in work and self-employment, specialist organisations and peer networks, and how to keep up to date with changes to schemes

• S26.K12

  Good practice for employers in recruiting, managing and supporting neurodivergent staff, at an awareness level, and when to refer