Coaching A-Z

Neurodiversity coaching

Written by Bonnie Gifford (Read)

Reviewed by Paul Coombes

Last updated 2nd September 2025 | Next update due September 2028

Neurodiversity coaching can help you to celebrate the way you think, find new ways to thrive and excel at work and in your personal life. Here, we explain more about neurodiversity-informed coaching, the benefits, and how a coach can help you.

What is neurodiversity coaching?

Neurodiversity coaching (also known as neurodivergent coaching, neuro-affirming coaching, and neurodiversity-informed coaching) helps neurodivergent people accept and celebrate their strengths. This includes helping people with ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette’s syndrome, as well as autistic people. Neuro-affirming coaching works around the idea that we should celebrate neurological differences.

Neurological differences are natural variations and not ‘deficits’ or something to be ‘fixed’. A neurodiversity coach can help neurodivergent people understand and advocate for themselves. They can also work with businesses to help them make changes to support everyone.

As with many other types of coaching, neurodivergent coaching sessions are led by you. They are based on your goals, needs, and areas you want to explore. A coach will help you to identify and set goals. They will then share tools, resources, and ideas to help you learn the skills and techniques to help you achieve these goals. Approaches can be changed to best suit your needs.

What are the benefits of neurodiversity coaching?

What you focus on with your coach will depend on your individual goals, wants and needs. A flexible, individualised approach helps meet these diverse needs. Some of the benefits neurodiversity coaching can offer include:

Helping to improve your confidence and self-esteem.
Introducing you to strategies to improve your performance and productivity at work or with your hobbies or interests.
Assisting you with developing personalised coping strategies and improving your resilience. This will help you handle unexpected stress and deal with situations or events that make you feel anxious or overwhelmed.
Supporting you in finding communication approaches that work for you and your environment.
Working with you to suggest ways in which your home or work environments could better support your needs.
Supporting you in setting individual goals and facing unique challenges you may be experiencing (e.g. following a late diagnosis as a neurodivergent person, supporting neurodivergent women who may socially mask or be experiencing burnout).
Helping you to recognise when you may be socially masking and to change your behaviours.

What is masking?

Masking, also known as camouflaging, is something that neurodivergent people may do consciously or unconsciously to try and blend in with those around them or to fit with what they feel may be more neurotypical behaviours or expectations. Over time, social masking can impact your self-esteem and sense of self, leaving you feeling physically and emotionally exhausted, isolated or disconnected from those around you.

What does a neurodiversity coach do?

Neurodiversity coaching can help you in your personal and professional lives. A neurodiversity coach can talk with you to find out which areas you want to work on, if there are any particular challenges or goals you have in mind. As well as helping you learn to work more effectively, a coach can help you to feel more satisfied at work and in your personal life. A coach may be able to help you:

Learn to focus on your strengths

Many autistic people and those with ADHD may try and suppress or mask neurodivergent traits. Coaching can help you to learn to recognise your own strengths, talents, and areas of interest. With the help of a coach, you can develop strategies to focus on your strengths, rather than areas you may not be as skilled or confident in.

Personalise strategies to suit your needs

Your coach may focus on introducing strategies, tools, and techniques to best suit your needs. This could mean introducing you to visual planning techniques or new time management techniques and tools to help you focus. They may suggest strategies to help navigate social situations in a way that can help you to feel more comfortable, confident, and in control.

Help you to accept yourself and to become more self-aware

A coach can help you better understand yourself, how your mind works, and how that impacts your life. They can help you to foster a sense of self-awareness of areas in which you may not realise you are struggling with. For example, you may not be aware of how your low self-confidence may be impacting you socially or in your career.

With the help of a coach, you can start to advocate for yourself, your needs, and build your confidence. Through increasing your self-awareness, you can also begin to work towards better self-acceptance. Neurodiversity coaching can help you to embrace neurological differences. Coaching can help you see the positives in how you see the world, and approach tasks and situations in unique ways.

Address challenges while focusing on strengths

Coaching can help you to recognise and find ways of working with your strengths. It can also help address specific challenges. These can include helping with issues around executive functioning (e.g. time management, starting tasks, remaining focused), as well as with different communication styles.

Creating a neuro-affirming environment

A neurodiversity coach helps introduce you to new strategies and ways of embracing neurological differences. They also help create a safe space where you can learn, explore, and thrive. In a judgment-free space, you can explore your experiences, thoughts and feelings. You can also focus on challenges you may be facing and find ways to tackle and overcome these without feeling pressured to socially mask.

Neurodiversity coaching in the workplace

As well as working with neurodivergent individuals, neurodiversity coaches can work with employees, leaders, executives, and workplaces. Together, they can help create a more neurodivergent-friendly environment that can benefit everyone.

An estimated 15-20% of people ( around 1 in 5 to 1 in 7) are neurodivergent. 64% of neurodivergent employees believe their workplace could do more to offer support. By creating a neuroinclusive workspace, you can support neurodivergent and neurotypical employees. This can also remove the burden of having individuals ask for adaptations.

Reasonable adjustments can often be simple and beneficial for many people. For example, being allowed to use noise-cancelling headphones, creating a quiet workspace, or allowing for flexible schedules or remote work can all help while costing companies little to no money.

Employers in the UK have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled staff (which includes many neurodivergent conditions). ACAS publishes guidance to help employers support neurodiverse staff, highlighting good practices management can adopt. Coaches can help draw on these principles to promote them within HR practices and organisational culture.

Remember: Small changes can be meaningful and can benefit everyone.

Coaching VS therapy: What's the difference?

Different professionals can offer help and support in different ways. It's important to remember that neurodiversity coaching is not therapy, nor is it a route for official diagnosis. Therapists and coaches have different focuses, goals, approaches, experience, training and qualifications.

A therapist may be able to help you focus more on your mental and emotional well-being, addressing related concerns such as low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, trauma, or burnout. A coach can help focus more on practical skills, setting goals, self-advocacy, navigating your career, and learning organisational and time management skills.

Further links and support

Find a neurodiversity coach

Working with a neurodiversity coach can offer unique insight and guidance to help you towards your goals. Remember: It’s OK to speak with different coaches to find out their experience and what kind of help and support they offer. Finding someone you feel comfortable working with is key. Coaching is an iterative process, with methods tailored to suit your individual needs.

While searching for a coach, consider what you might want to look for, and what you might want from a coach. Asking about their experience working with neurodivergent individuals, their training, approaches used, if they follow a code of ethics, and if they have supervision can all be helpful things to consider.

Ready to find a neurodiversity coach? Search for a neurodiversity coach that can support you in-person, online, by telephone, or at-home sessions.

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