01
Strategy and governance
Neurodiversity that lives in your business strategy, not parked in a side initiative. Board and executive visibility, resourcing that backs the commitment, and measures that track real progress.
Neurodiversity at work
Build a workplace that works for the way your people think.
Around one in eight of your people think and process the world differently. We help you see what they need, focus on the changes that count, and build a workplace that works for all. Led by registered psychologists.
The picture
The talent is already in your organisation. The design is the gap.
13.1%
of New Zealand workers are neurodivergent. The people are already on your team, whether the workplace is built for them or not.
Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, 2022.
61%
of workplace adjustments cost nothing, and the rest are usually a few hundred dollars, once. The gap is design, not budget.
Job Accommodation Network, 2024.
90%
retention in SAP’s Autism at Work programme, well above the corporate average. The design is what keeps people.
SAP, 2019.
Why this matters
Everyone has heard of neurodiversity. Almost no workplace is designed for it.
You’ve probably done the awareness work. A session, a module, a post on the intranet. It lands, then the work carries on unchanged.
Awareness is information. It doesn’t change how meetings run, how roles are shaped, or how a manager handles a disclosure. That’s the gap.
What we look at
Four domains, shaped to how you actually work.
We don’t assess you against a generic checklist. We build the framework around how your organisation works. Each domain is where neuro-affirming practice makes a real difference, to your people and to the work.
02
Talent and capability
How you find, hire, develop and keep neurodivergent people, with recruitment that doesn’t screen them out by accident. Plus the role-specific skill that managers and team leads need to lead them well.
03
Work environment
The practical conditions that decide whether someone copes or does their best work. Sensory load, predictable scheduling, information in formats that suit different processing styles, and tools that support focus.
04
Voice and representation
A properly resourced way for neurodivergent staff to shape the work, with Māori and Pasifika voices included. And where it applies, how your organisation shows up outside it, in accessible communication and respectful representation.
The pathway
From a clear picture to change you can see.
1
Discovery
A baseline assessment across the four domains: surveys, key informant interviews, policy review, and an environment walkthrough. We find where you are strong, where the risks are, and where effort will count most.
2
Roadmap
A gap analysis and a prioritised, co-designed action plan with lived-experience input. Written for the people who have to deliver it, with a board-ready summary for leadership.
3
Implementation
Training, coaching, policy development and advisory as you embed the changes. Scoped from what the assessment reveals and where you choose to focus, so you can match ambition to budget.
Recommended start: the Foundation Phase, covering Discovery and Roadmap together. It gives you the clarity and the evidence base to move forward with confidence, before you commit to a full implementation scope.
Recognition
Recognition for the work you’ve done, not a badge you can buy.
There’s no industry-wide neurodiversity standard for workplaces in New Zealand. What we offer is our own framework, built by psychologists from what actually works. When you complete the programme, we recognise your organisation as a neuro-affirming workplace under that framework.
Who you are working with
Registered psychologists who work with complex New Zealand organisations.
We work with organisations including Kāinga Ora, NZ Police, MBIE, Airways New Zealand and TVNZ, and what we’ve learned from supporting complex systems is that real change has to be practical, measurable, and owned by the people inside the organisation.
Common questions
What organisations ask us.
What is neurodiversity?
Neurodiversity is the simple idea that brains work in different ways, and that variation is normal. Around one in five people is neurodivergent, with ADHD, autism or other differences in how they think, focus, communicate or process the world. It isn't a deficit. Neurodivergent people often bring real strengths, and do their best work when the environment fits how they think rather than working against it.
What is a neuro-affirming workplace?
A neuro-affirming workplace is one designed so neurodivergent people, those with ADHD, autism and other differences, can do their best work without having to mask or fight the environment. In practice it means recruitment, management, work design and the physical space all account for different ways of thinking, so support is built in by default rather than bolted on.
Can you certify our workplace as neuro-affirming?
Not in the formal sense, and we’re careful about the word. There’s no recognised national standard to certify against. What we do is assess your workplace, build the framework with you, and recognise the work once it’s done, under our own framework and reviewed by our psychologists. That’s recognition of completed work, not an external certification, and we think that honesty is worth more than a badge that doesn’t mean anything.
Is there a legal obligation to support neurodivergent staff in New Zealand?
The bar on what counts as doing enough is rising. Disability discrimination in employment is unlawful under the Human Rights Act 1993, and the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 makes managing psychosocial risk a governance-level duty. Organisations that can show they’ve actively built neuro-affirming practice are far better placed than those that can’t.
What does your neuro-affirming workplace recognition cover?
The four domains: strategy and governance, talent and capability, work environment, and voice and representation. Each is assessed at the start and reviewed at the end.
Who delivers your neuro-affirming workplace programme?
Psychologists with experience in neurodevelopment and workplace practice, partnering with neurodivergent lived experience. Not generalist trainers.
What about staff who haven’t disclosed they are neurodivergent?
The biggest gain is for people who never need to disclose. When the workplace is built for different ways of thinking by default, far fewer staff have to ask for individual adjustments. Disclosure becomes a choice, not a precondition for being supported.
Do you support individuals as well as organisations?
Yes. We also provide neurodiversity assessment and support for individuals.
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