What has the law actually said about neurodiversity? This week in The Journal, Tik Man Cheng provides a case analysis examining key decisions under the Equality Act and what they mean for neurodivergent practitioners and clients.
Read here: buff.ly/RbnFKYQ
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📖 Read Michael's full story here: www.neurodiversityinlaw.co.uk/post/michael...
💭If you are an autistic legal professional or student, our Community is here for you. Join us at neurodiversityinlaw.co.uk/membership
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His story is a reminder that diagnosis and support can make a profound difference; and that nobody should have to navigate the profession feeling entirely alone.
He draws a distinction worth sitting with: masking versus camouflaging. Masking with intent is purposeful; using strategies that work for you, without the world needing to know. Camouflaging is trying to be someone else. One is sustainable. The other is not.
By the time of his diagnosis, Michael was close to autistic burnout; not from the work itself, but from the travel, the unpredictability, the social demands, and the relentless effort of masking.
This Autism Acceptance Month, we are revisiting our NCW 2025 'Our Voice, Our Stories' series.
First up: Michael Dougherty, junior barrister, diagnosed with autism in his third year of practice. He had been autistic for 45 years. He had known it for two.
For Autism Acceptance Month, Jonathan Andrews shares what it has meant to be open about being autistic throughout his legal career. A genuinely moving read.
Read here: neurodiversityinlaw.substack.com/p/autism-leg...
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April is Autism Acceptance Month. All month, The Journal is exploring autism in the legal profession. We open with Molly Robinson's clear and grounded introduction to autism.
Read here: open.substack.com/pub/neurodiv...
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His closing message was simple: instead of presuming, ask, and follow through. Two years on, that question remains unasked for too many.
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We mark this day every year. We talk about acceptance. And yet the lived reality for many autistic people has not meaningfully shifted.
He addressed the underdiagnosis of autistic women, often misdiagnosed with BPD due to social masking, and the deeply troubling rates of violence faced by autistic individuals.
⚠️ Content note: the article discusses violence and sexual assault.
Chris, who has a combined diagnosis of ASD, ADHD, and Dyslexia, wrote honestly about the limitations of the term "spectrum"; how it obscures individual needs and leads to assumptions rather than understanding.
Today is World Autism Acceptance Day. Two years ago, our former Trustee Chris Blake asked whether society truly accepts the autistic community, or whether it is merely lip service.
The uncomfortable answer, in 2026, is that very little has changed.
(🔗 link at the end of this thread)
What does autism acceptance mean to you? Reply here or join the conversation in our Community.
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This month, we will be exploring what acceptance actually looks like in legal workplaces and education: myths, adjustments, and lived experience.
In the legal profession, that distinction is especially important. The culture, its social demands, its environments, and its unwritten rules can make it particularly hard for autistic people to thrive.
Awareness presents autism as a problem to be solved. It operates in stereotypes, not real people.
Acceptance is harder; it asks us to confront assumptions and actively make room for autistic people as they are.
A lilac sticky note pinned to a calendar on Thursday 1 April 2026, reading "Autism Acceptance Month" in bold white text with a dark outline, with the subtext "Awareness tells you something exists. Acceptance means making space for it." The Neurodiversity in Law logo sits in the bottom right corner.
April is Autism Acceptance Month. At Neurodiversity in Law, we are marking the occasion and being intentional about the word "acceptance."
Dyslexia affects 10% of the UK population, but in law, it is still widely misunderstood. This week in The Journal, Joe Royster makes the case for what dyslexic lawyers genuinely bring to the profession.
Read here: neurodiversityinlaw.substack.com/p/dyslexia-l...
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An EHCP is a legally binding document. With proposed SEN reforms in the news, many families may be uncertain about where they stand.
This week in The Journal, Erin Smart explains clearly what neurodivergent young people are entitled to right now.
Read here: buff.ly/ldJctvW
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💬 What does a truly neuroinclusive legal profession look like to you? Tell us in the comments or join our community at neurodiversityinlaw.co.uk
A full summary of The Neuroinclusion Brief will be available on our website next week.
#NeurodiversityWeek #LegalInclusion #Neuroinclusion #LawSky
The most common mistakes are treating neuroinclusion as a tick-box exercise and relying on self-disclosure to drive adjustments. Sustained inclusion requires real listening, genuine accountability, and leaders who champion it when no one is watching.
Neuroinclusion does not happen through a single policy or one-off training. It requires consistent leadership, regular review, and a culture where neurodivergent colleagues feel safe to speak up. The firms that get this right treat inclusion as an ongoing commitment, not a project with a deadline.
Engagement surveys that include neuroinclusion questions, retention and turnover data, uptake of reasonable adjustments, and equity in promotion and pay progression all tell part of the story. So does direct feedback from colleagues. Used together, this data reveals what good intentions alone cannot
Awareness weeks open conversations. Without follow-through, they risk becoming an annual gesture rather than a genuine commitment. What happens in the weeks and months after matters just as much as what happens during.
Day 5 of The Neuroinclusion Brief, our NCW 2026 series for employers, managers, and allies in the legal profession. 💼
Today's topic: Measuring and sustaining inclusion. 🧵
#NeurodiversityCelebrationWeek #NeurodiversityInLaw
💬 If you have SPD or APD and work in the legal profession, what has made the biggest difference in your experience?
Tell us in the comments, or join our online community: neurodiversityinlaw.co.uk
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Beyond adjustments: have open conversations, offer frequent check-ins, make an occupational health referral, signpost to Access to Work, offer a workplace needs assessment, provide colleague training. What works for one may not work for another.
What actually helps? Anticipatory adjustments before someone asks: quiet workspaces and break-out rooms, hybrid/remote working, reduced reliance on phone calls, improved acoustics and lighting, written summaries of verbal instructions, and flexible working environments.
... Fast-paced verbal communication without summaries. The lack of quiet spaces. The assumption that everyone processes sensory information the same way. These aren't personal failings. They're systemic barriers.