Neuroinclusion at work: why the United Kingdom is worth learning from

Note: I am not an employment lawyer. This text is exploratory. I am interested in the numbers, in the trends and in this simple idea, when someone else has gone first, why not learn from them.

An observation that would not leave me alone

Over the past few months, I noticed something in my reading. Almost every serious book on neurodiversity at work that I held in my hands came from the same place. I devoured Neurodiversity at Work by Theo Smith and Amanda Kirby, then Neurodiversity Coaching by Dr. Nancy Doyle. But beyond those authors, the researchers I was quoting, the studies I was reading, the frameworks that inspired me the most, almost all British.

At first I put it down to language.

Then to publishing chance.

Then I started digging, honestly, mostly out of curiosity. And what I found turned my curiosity into a real question.

Is it a coincidence that almost every reference book comes from there? Or is something specific really happening in the United Kingdom, in research, in how workplaces are structured, in how specialized coaches are trained, in company culture?

The more I dug, the more the coincidence theory fell apart. Over there you find entire firms specialized in neuroinclusion, with multidisciplinary teams of psychologists and coaches. A Centre for Neurodiversity at Work at Birkbeck University, co-directed by Nancy Doyle herself. Coaches with ten, fifteen, twenty years of specialized experience in the field. A body of scientific literature published in recognized academic journals.

And while I was making those observations, I did the opposite exercise. I looked, honestly, at what existed on this side of the Atlantic, in French, in Quebec or elsewhere in the francophone world. Voices exist, advocates have been paving the way for several years, articles come out in specialized journals, initiatives are emerging inside organizations.

But the ecosystem structured around the workplace, the one that would let a leader or an atypical professional get properly equipped in French, is still to be built.

So I asked myself another question, a more important one to me: if someone, somewhere, has already opened a path on a subject that concerns us too, why not learn from it?

Neurodivergence exists as much here as in the United Kingdom. The same proportions of the population, the same workplace issues, the same underused talent. What differs is how mature the surrounding ecosystem is.

What the numbers invite us to look at

Recent data from the United Kingdom shows that neurodivergence has become a central workplace issue. The number of neurodiversity related cases brought before employment tribunals went from 265 in 2020 to 517 in 2025. Cases specifically citing ADHD rose by 750% over the same period.

Those numbers made me think, and not in the direction I would have expected. Does it mean workplaces are getting worse? The answer, when you look closely, seems much more nuanced to me.

What is rising above all is the capacity of neurodivergent people to recognize themselves as such, to name their needs, to ask for what would let them perform at their full potential. It is also the capacity of organizations to take those requests seriously, even when they are still figuring out how to answer them well.

These numbers tell the story of a cultural transition more than a climate of conflict. And the most forward looking British companies saw that moment coming. They chose to structure their approach proactively, and they found stronger teams, better talent retention, more capacity for innovation, and an employer reputation that sets them apart in their sector.

Key point : the British numbers mostly invite us to look at what organizations that structured themselves early are doing, and what they concretely get out of it.

The infrastructure around the law

Here is what surprised me most when I dug into the comparison between the two systems. Our laws in Quebec and in Canada are comparable to those of the United Kingdom. The Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms has protected against disability based discrimination since 1975. The duty to provide reasonable accommodation has existed in Canadian law since 1985. On paper, our legal reference points look a lot alike.

So why this strong impression that the United Kingdom is a step ahead?

Is it really a question of law, or rather of everything that exists around it?

The more I looked, the more it seemed to me that the real difference was in the ecosystem. In the United Kingdom, ACAS, a government body, publishes official, detailed and accessible guides specifically on accommodations for neurodiversity at work. A government program, Access to Work, can help fund workplace accommodations. In Quebec, programs exist, the Contrat d'intégration au travail and the Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities, but they were designed mainly for visible disability and are still rarely used for conditions like neurodivergence.

Here at home, the ecosystem is emerging all the same. Pilot programs in the federal public service. Initiatives in a few large Canadian companies. Conversations taking shape in some specialized journals. It is a start that points to good things, and that is exactly why the moment looks interesting to me for organizations that want to move first.

Key point: Quebec companies that choose to get structured now are not starting from zero. They can draw on a mature British ecosystem and benefit from the ground others have already cleared.

Training managers: a path that looks promising to me

If there is one element of the British approach that speaks to me in particular, it is the place given to training managers. When I look at what organizations there are doing, I see that they all bet, almost without exception, on one thing: equipping their managers.

What sets apart a manager who understands neurodivergence from one who has never been made aware of it?

The first one reads the resume of a brilliant candidate with an atypical path differently. They know how to recognize the signs of an employee who works differently with openness rather than by attaching a label. They know how to adapt their communication practices, their delegation methods, their feedback processes. They know how to make the

cognitive differences in their team become a collective strength.

Training managers in neurodivergence deserves to be seen as a strategic investment that shows up in performance and retention. It is exactly the kind of shift that can be made right now, by drawing on the best practices that already exist elsewhere.

Key point: training your managers in neurodivergence gives you a strategic advantage.

What this means for you, atypical professional

If you are reading this text and you recognize yourself in the profile of brilliant professionals whose intelligence works differently, here is what I would like to tell you.

The Quebec ecosystem is being built right now. Conversations are emerging, leaders are informing themselves, training programs are being set up. It is a turning point and you are part of it, whether you are in a career transition, preparing for an interview, or thinking about your next professional chapter.

What has changed is that the vocabulary now exists. The conversation exists. More and more employers are trying to understand and welcome atypical talent. Your unique way of working, the conditions you need to perform, your particular intelligence, all of that can be named and turned into strategy.

Advice: learn to decode the way you work so you can express it with clarity and strategy. That decoding is what turns an atypical path into a clear value proposition for an employer who knows how to recognize it.

What this means for you, leaders and HR

If you are in a decision making position in a Quebec organization, you have an interesting window today. The companies that move first on neuroinclusion will position themselves as employers of choice for a growing pool of talent.

You have everything you need to start: a solid legal framework, international examples that have already proven themselves, and a conversation that is maturing here. What will make the difference are the choices you make today, in how you train your managers, in how you structure your hiring processes, in the culture you cultivate day to day.

Advice: start with training your managers. It is the fastest and most concrete lever, and the one with the most impact on performance and retention. But above all, listen!

Shall we talk about it?

Whether you are a professional looking to reach your full potential on an atypical path, or an organization that wants to structure its neuroinclusion approach, this is exactly the kind of conversation I like to support.

I work with brilliant professionals in career transition, in interview preparation, in strategic repositioning. I also support organizations that want to train their managers and structure their practices to better welcome cognitive diversity.

If you want to explore what a conversation could look like, I invite you to book a 30 minute tailored coaching call. We look together at where you are and at what could really move things forward.

Perfectly atypical. Deeply formidable.

Sources

• UK tribunal figures (2020-2025) : HM Courts & Tribunals Service data (Ministry of Justice), analyses published by Irwin Mitchell LLP, 2025.

• ADHD and autism tribunal statistics : Fox & Partners Employment Tribunal Report on Neurodiversity, 2025.

• Equality Act 2010 (United Kingdom) : legislative text, gov.uk.

• ACAS guides on neurodiversity : Acas.org.uk, Adjustments for neurodiversity Reasonable adjustments at work, updated 2025.

• British case law cited : Capgemini UK case (2025), Government Legal Service case (on multiple choice tests and neurodivergence).

• Quebec and Canadian legal framework : Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (1975), Ontario Human Rights Commission v. Simpsons-Sears (O'Malley, 1985).

• Canadian programs mentioned : Contrat d'intégration au travail (Quebec), Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities (Canada).

• Reference books :

  • Theo Smith and Amanda Kirby, Neurodiversity at Work: Drive Innovation, Performance and Productivity with a Neurodiverse Workforce, Kogan Page, 2021.

  • Dr. Nancy Doyle, Neurodiversity Coaching: A Psychological Approach to Supporting Neurodivergent Talent and Career Potential, Routledge, 2023.

• Quebec articles consulted : Revue Gestion (HEC Montréal, 2023), Les Affaires (2025), Government of Canada publications on neurodiversity.