What is neurodiversity awareness training?

Neurodiversity awareness training helps staff and managers understand and support neurodivergent colleagues such as autistic, ADHD and dyslexic staff, and meet the Equality Act 2010 duty to make reasonable adjustments. It is short, organisation-wide learning: what the common types of neurodivergence are, how people experience work differently, how to respond when someone discloses, and what your legal duties are once they do.

What good training actually covers

The provider market is broad, so the content varies, but training that is worth commissioning covers four things. The marketing pages for these courses often skip the last one.

• The common types of neurodivergence. Acas names attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia as the well-known types; good training explains how each can affect day-to-day work rather than reaching for stereotypes.
• Recognising and responding to a disclosure. A worker telling a manager they are neurodivergent is the moment your duties can start. Training should rehearse responding sensitively and what to do next, not just defining terms.
• The reasonable-adjustments duty. Managers need to know they must change a working practice, a physical feature, or provide an aid where a disabled worker is at a substantial disadvantage (section 20 of the Equality Act 2010).
• The no-diagnosis-needed rule. A worker does not need a formal diagnosis to be protected, so support should not be made to wait for one.

Training is recommended, not legally required

Here is the distinction the provider pages tend to blur. The training itself is good practice, not a standalone legal requirement. Both Acas and the CIPD recommend it, and the CIPD says its value across an organisation should not be underestimated. What is legally required is the thing the training supports: making reasonable adjustments for neurodivergent staff who meet the definition of disability.

That duty applies whether or not the worker has a formal diagnosis. The Equality Act test turns on whether someone has a physical or mental impairment with a substantial, long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities, not on a diagnostic label (section 6). Acas is explicit that a worker does not need a diagnosis to be considered disabled, and that you should offer support whether or not they have one. You can read more in what is the duty to make reasonable adjustments.

The business case, briefly

Beyond the duty, there is a gap to close. The CIPD’s 2024 research found only 60% of organisations focus on neuroinclusion and just a third build it into their wider equality strategy. The government’s 2024 Buckland Review of Autism Employment found around three in ten autistic people are in work and urged employers to act. Training is one of the lowest-cost, widest-reach steps you can take: it prepares managers to respond well before a disclosure lands, rather than improvising afterwards.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.