Neurodivergent Employees - Workplace Masking & Accommodations
15-20% of your workforce is neurodivergent. And you probably don't know who they are.
That means in a team of 10, at least 1-2 people are dyslexic, autistic, have ADHD, dyspraxia, or are highly sensitive.
And in 70% of cases, you won't know.
Why? Because they're hiding it. They're masking their natural way of thinking to fit into workplaces that weren't designed for them. And it's exhausting.
Here's what most people don't realize:
Neurodivergent employees aren't "struggling to keep up." Many are working twice as hard just to appear "normal." They're forcing eye contact when it drains them. They're suppressing stimming behaviors that help them focus. They're burning through energy in open-plan offices that feel like sensory assault. They're translating vague instructions into clear action plans in their heads.
And then they go home completely depleted.
In this month's Health @Work Monthly Insight, we explore:
1. What neurodiversity actually means
2. How neurodivergent conditions impact work
3. What simple accommodations look like
4. Why this is a business issue, not just an HR one
The workplace wasn't designed for neurodivergent brains, but it can be. And when it is, everyone wins.
Whether you're neurodivergent yourself or work alongside neurodivergent colleagues, I want to hear from you. What does your workplace do well? What needs to change?
Jeremy Nagel Focus Bear Martin McKay Everway Anne Lepetit, MD Nadia Boughaba Audrey Vissac Nathan Danet Juliette Wachowiak
Sources :
Délégation interministérielle à la stratégie nationale pour les troubles du neurodéveloppement, La neurodiversité en entreprise : repenser, recruter, déployer, développer - mars 2026, CIPD, "Neurodiversity at Work" (2018), Harvard Business Review, "Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage" — R. Austin & G. Pisano (2017), National Autistic Society (UK), "The Autism Employment Gap", ACAS, Workplace Neurodiversity Research, CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), American Psychiatric Association / DSM-5, International Dyslexia Association, Dyspraxia Foundation UK, Dr. Elaine Aron, Job Accommodation Network (JAN), SAP "Autism at Work" Program, JPMorgan Chase "Autism at Work" Program, Microsoft Neurodiversity Hiring Program, EY Neurodiversity Centers of Excellence.