Summary: Clinical and coaching frameworks already offer proven methods to reduce cognitive load and improve performance. This article shares five evidence-based system shifts that make neuroinclusion real: structured support options, predictable interviews, clearer meetings, transparent reviews and measuring impact rather than disclosure. When you design for the one in five minds that think differently, everyone works better.

Whether you’re neurodivergent, parenting a newly diagnosed child, managing a mixed team, or leading a business, it’s clear that awareness alone hasn’t moved the dial on neuroinclusion.

Last year, HR teams ran awareness weeks, line managers joined lunch and learns, and leadership panels shared personal stories. But while intentions were good, progress stalled. Disclosure rates barely shifted, and employment tribunals referencing neurodivergent conditions surged. According to Ministry of Justice data analysed by Irwin Mitchell, autism-related claims rose 96% while ADHD-related cases increased by more than 750% since 2020.

All the while, most organisations still rely on volunteer-run employee resource groups (ERGs) with little budget or authority to fix the systems that create strain for neurodivergent individuals.

Neuroinclusion doesn’t belong in the DEI block

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has become a reputational flashpoint, politicised in the US and quietly avoided in UK boardrooms. Neuroinclusion often gets caught in the crossfire, seen as the new kid on the DEI block. But it doesn’t really belong there.

Neuroinclusion isn’t another strand of identity work; it’s about structure. It’s about building systems and environments that enable people to think, communicate, and perform at their best.

This work goes beyond helping the one in five minds that think ‘differently’. Neuroinclusive practices make work itself smarter, enabling clearer communication, sharper meetings, fairer hiring, and feedback processes that reduce anxiety. When we design for neurodiversity, we design for good work, full stop.

If 2025 was the year of awareness fatigue, 2026 must be the year of intelligent design.

Use what’s already proven in clinical and coaching frameworks

If you’ve worked inside a large organisation recently, you’ll know how often good intentions get lost in process or ERG echo chambers. Neuroinclusion doesn’t need another initiative; it needs translation – and that means HR, culture, and communications teams working together, not leaving it all to DEI. The answers already exist, they just sit in clinical and coaching frameworks that businesses haven’t yet borrowed from.

Speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, and psychologists have spent decades refining ways to reduce cognitive load, build attention, and make information stick. Coaches use similar structures of clarity, accountability, and reflection to help people perform under pressure. The methods work, we just need to bring them into everyday practice.

Redesigning systems to help peopleperform better

Working alongside clinicians and coaches, it’s clear how quickly these evidence-based approaches can shift things. When communication scaffolds are tested or environmental design adjusted, the impact is immediate: calmer teams, clearer meetings, less mental effort for everyone. The goal isn’t to medicalise the workplace but to apply proven principles of how people process, focus, and learn. When expectations are clear, people perform better.

Sara Bagheri, Speech, Language and Voice Therapist at Fluence, puts it smartly:

“Speech and language therapy isn’t about ‘fixing’ or ‘treating’ someone’s communication and interaction skills; it’s about creating opportunities where communication and interaction can happen successfully. The same principle applies at work: when we design systems that support understanding, predictability and processing, everyone performs better.”

Clinicians call these supports. Coaches call them frameworks. In business, we call them systems. Whatever the language, the goal is the same: to make clarity, consistency, and confidence part of how work gets done. That’s what universal design really means – building environments where no one has to disclose to benefit, and where adjustments for some become improvements for all.

Five evidence-based system shifts that make neuroinclusion real

1. Replace “How can I support you?” with structured options

What the evidence shows: Open questions sound caring but can overwhelm. People make better choices when options are clear.
How to use it: Give employees a starting point, not an empty question.
Try this: Create a short Workplace Adjustments Menu with options like flexible start times, written follow-ups, meeting agendas in advance, and captions on calls. Train managers to say:

“Here’s what we already offer that helps lots of people. Which of these might work for you – or is there anything missing?”
Then confirm what’s agreed and check in four weeks later.
Why it matters: It turns goodwill into structure. That helps managers act faster, reduces legal risk, and helps employees feel seen.

2. Redesign interviews for predictability

What the evidence shows: People think and perform better when they know what’s coming. Structure reduces anxiety and bias.
How to use it: Treat interviews like problem-solving, not surprise tests.
Try this:

• Share questions and task briefs at least 48 hours in advance.
• Offer choice in how people respond: written, verbal, or recorded.
• Use a clear scoring guide instead of relying on “fit.”
• Explain what happens next and when.

Why it matters: Predictability levels the field and uncovers talent that often hides under pressure.

3. Make meetings easier to follow

What the evidence shows: The brain remembers best when information is structured, repeated, and visual.
How to use it: Build meetings that help people process, not perform.
Try this:

• Send the agenda and decision points the day before.
• Use live transcription or shared notes so no one has to multitask.
• Pause for a one-minute reflection before moving topics.
• Share a short written summary within 24 hours.

Why it matters: Clarity reduces fatigue and boosts accuracy for everyone – not just neurodivergent colleagues.

4. Review performance with transparency, not surprise

What the evidence shows: Feedback lands best when people have time to prepare and when expectations are explicit.
How to use it: Make reviews predictable and two-way.
Try this:

• Share review questions and criteria two weeks in advance.
• Separate performance from development.
• Avoid “gotcha” feedback.
• Let people write or record reflections instead of reacting live.

Why it matters: Clear structure lowers anxiety and raises the quality of conversation.

5. Measure impact, not disclosure

What the evidence shows: Real inclusion shows up in how systems perform, not in how many people disclose.
How to use it: Track what changes, not who speaks up.
Try this:

• Measure how long adjustments take from request to delivery.
• Track manager conversations using the adjustments menu.
• Check the basics: agendas shared, follow-ups sent.
• Ask quarterly: “Did our systems make it easier for you to think and work well?”

Why it matters: It shifts responsibility from individuals to infrastructure, which is the real mark of maturity in neuroinclusion.

Where evidence meets action

By focusing on the one in five minds that process ‘differently’, we end up improving work for everyone.

Clinicians and coaches have already shown what works: predictable systems, clear communication, structured support. The opportunity now is for organisations to apply that knowledge, to make good work the standard, not the exception, if they want to succeed in 2026.

Key takeaways

Where can you start building neuroinclusion into your systems? Here’s what will make the biggest difference in your organisation:

• Move from awareness to design. Stop relying on ERGs alone and start embedding neuroinclusive practices into your core HR systems – hiring, meetings, performance reviews and adjustments processes.
• Borrow from what already works. Clinical and coaching frameworks offer proven methods to reduce cognitive load and improve clarity. Translate these into everyday business practice.
• Make predictability your default. Share interview questions in advance, send meeting agendas beforehand and structure reviews transparently. Everyone performs better when they know what’s coming.