Support the person, not the label: what the neurodiversity panel found
What happened
On 2 October 2026, the government published the final report of the Expert Academic Panel on Neurodiversity, an independent panel chaired by Professor Amanda Kirby, alongside its own response. The panel's central conclusion is deceptively simple. Neurodivergent people do well at work when support is matched to their individual strengths and needs - not to their diagnosis. The report sets out a gap that explains why this matters. In 2024-25, only 34% of disabled autistic people were in work, compared with 55% of all disabled people. Its recommendations include: - support based on a person's strengths and needs, rather than on their diagnostic label - stronger disability employment policies - more research, because the evidence base has real gaps - adopting Universal Design principles across workplaces - evidence-based strategies that let neurodivergent employees do well The announcement set out progress on existing schemes. By June, 1,000 people on the specialist Connect to Work pathway had moved into employment, 470 of them young people. More than 100,000 people have been helped by 1,000 Pathways to Work advisers. The government points to £3.5 billion for disability employment investment through to the end of the decade, and nearly 500,000 jobs and training opportunities created through a £2.5 billion youth employment package. Pat McFadden, Work and Pensions Secretary, said: "When we get the right support in place, neurodivergent people thrive at work." Professor Amanda Kirby said: "Neurodivergent people have enormous talent to offer the economy."
Why this matters
"Neurodivergent" covers a wide range of ways of thinking and processing - autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, Tourette's and others. Many people have more than one. The 34% figure deserves to be sat with for a moment. Fewer than four in ten disabled autistic people are in work, against 55% of disabled people overall. That is a gap within a gap. Autistic people are being left behind even relative to other disabled people, who are themselves well behind the general population. The panel's "strengths and needs, not diagnosis" recommendation is the most practically important part, and it is worth explaining why. Two autistic people can need almost opposite things. One may find an open-plan office unbearable because of noise; another may find working alone at home isolating and lose track of tasks. A support system keyed to the word "autism" will give them the same adjustment, and will be wrong for at least one of them. It also matters because diagnosis is a bottleneck. Waiting lists for autism and ADHD assessment in the UK are long - often years. If support requires a diagnosis first, then thousands of people who already know what they struggle with are stuck waiting for permission to be helped. Universal Design points the same way. Build the environment so that it works for a wide range of people from the start, and fewer individual adjustments are needed later.
What the evidence actually says
A few careful distinctions. This is an independent panel's recommendations plus a government response. Recommendations are not policy until they are implemented. The government response is the document to read if you want to know which recommendations are being taken forward. The report explicitly says more research is needed. That is a finding, not a formality. Much of the evidence on what helps neurodivergent people at work is thin, small-scale or drawn from specific settings. Anyone claiming certainty about the single best approach is going beyond what the evidence supports. The 34% and 55% figures are for 2024-25 and describe disabled autistic people and all disabled people. They are employment rates for groups, and they do not describe any individual's chances. The scheme numbers are counts, not success rates. One thousand people moving into employment through Connect to Work by June is a real figure; it does not tell us what proportion of those referred got a job, or how long those jobs lasted. And "neurodivergent" is not a medical diagnosis in itself. It is an umbrella term. That is part of why the panel's argument against diagnosis-led support is coherent: the label is a poor guide to what any one person actually needs.
Practical advice
If you are neurodivergent, or waiting for an assessment: 1. You do not need a diagnosis to ask for an adjustment. Under the Equality Act 2010, the duty is to make reasonable adjustments for a disability - a formal diagnosis is helpful evidence but not the only route. Describe the barrier and the fix: "I find open-plan noise makes checking work accurately very hard; headphones and a quiet hour each morning would help." 2. Be specific, and small. Requests that cost little and are easy to trial are agreed far more often. Written instructions after verbal ones. A consistent desk. Agendas before meetings. Deadlines in writing. 3. Look at Access to Work. It is a government scheme that can fund equipment, support workers and travel. You apply yourself; you do not need your employer to start it. 4. Keep a short written record of what has been agreed. Managers change. If you are an employer, especially a small one: 1. Most useful adjustments are free. Clear written instructions, predictable notice of change, a quiet space, flexibility over start times, and asking rather than assuming. 2. Change the recruitment process, not just the workplace. Send interview questions in advance. Ask about tasks rather than hypotheticals. Avoid judging eye contact. 3. Ask every new starter what helps them work well. Framed for everyone, it stops being a disclosure conversation - which is the heart of Universal Design.
What to know
The Expert Academic Panel on Neurodiversity, chaired by Professor Amanda Kirby, published its final report and recommendations on 2 October 2026, alongside the government's response. Its headline finding is that neurodivergent people do well at work when support is tailored to individual strengths and needs rather than to a diagnosis. In 2024-25, only 34% of disabled autistic people were in work, against 55% of all disabled people. Recommendations include strengthening disability employment policy, closing evidence gaps through more research, and adopting Universal Design principles in workplaces. The government cites 1,000 people moving into work via Connect to Work by June, over 100,000 helped by Pathways to Work advisers, and £3.5 billion for disability employment investment to the end of the decade. You do not need a diagnosis to request a reasonable adjustment, and Access to Work can be applied for directly by the individual. Sources: Department for Work and Pensions, "New report backs government action to help neurodivergent people succeed at work", 2 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-report-backs-government-action-to-help-neurodivergent-people-succeed-at-work ; Department for Work and Pensions, "Expert Academic Panel on Neurodiversity: final report and recommendations", 2 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/expert-academic-panel-on-neurodiversity-final-report-and-recommendations This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. For workplace adjustments, speak to your employer, occupational health service or a specialist employment adviser.
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