Neurodiversity Training for Managers
Practical, manager-focused training that goes beyond awareness, giving your managers the confidence and tools to support neurodivergent colleagues day to day. Delivered personally by Jenefer Livings, Chartered HR practitioner and neurodiversity specialist.
Being completely honest, I was very sceptical coming in but I got a lot out of it. The pace and content were excellent
Your managers want to support neurodivergent colleagues well but often aren’t sure how. This training gives them the confidence and practical tools to get it right, day to day.
Your neurodivergent employees bring real strengths to your team. They also hit barriers in workplaces that were never designed with them in mind and the person who makes the biggest difference to whether they thrive is their manager.
This neurodiversity training for Managers goes beyond awareness. It’s about actionable tools, inclusive leadership and confident day-to-day support.
CIPD research shows organisations which put focus into creating neuroinclusive environments report more cohesive and stronger teams.
Managers play a key role, particularly in the outcome when an individual discloses they are neurodivergent. Neurodivergent includes those who are autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, dyspraxic to name just a few.
Why This Training Is Different
Most neurodiversity training stops at awareness. A definition of ADHD, a list of adjustments, a slide deck and everyone goes back to their desk no clearer on what to do on Monday morning.
Our training is built to do the opposite. We work through the real situations your managers are facing, the conversations they are avoiding and the decisions they keep getting stuck on, so they leave with something they can use that week.
That is possible because of who delivers it. Jenefer is Chartered CIPD with 20 years in HR, holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Neurodiversity and is a qualified Workplace Needs Assessor. She is also neurodivergent herself and parent to a neurodivergent child. Very few trainers in the UK hold real HR and employment law depth and genuine neurodiversity specialism and lived experience. That combination is what takes this past awareness and into practice.
You’re not just ticking a compliance box or sitting through a lunch-and-learn that changes nothing. You’re equipping your managers with expertise from the UK’s leading practical neurodiversity specialist.
Every Silk Helix training session is delivered personally by Jenefer. We deliberately limit on-site training to around 30 sessions a year so each one gets her full attention and current expertise. Training is never outsourced. When you book Silk Helix, you get Jenefer.
Silk Helix has delivered training for organisations including Interactive Investor, EA Games and Wiltshire and Dorset Fire Service, alongside NHS and wider public sector work.
What’s Included in the Neurodiversity Training for Managers Course
Our full-day Neurodiversity Training for Managers builds a genuine understanding of inclusion and the practical skills to make everyday processes and practices inclusive. We work through how to have the conversations that matter, including the harder ones and how to make practical adjustments that close the gap rather than lower the bar. The day is interactive and built around the real situations your managers are facing, so they leave with tools they can use straight away to enable everyone to thrive without compromising standards.
What Your Managers Will Be Able to Do
By the end of the day your managers will be able to:
- Recognise how common neurodivergent conditions show up at work, including ADHD, autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia.
- Handle a disclosure conversation with confidence, knowing what to ask, what to offer and what they can and can’t do.
- Spot and remove the barriers neurodivergent people face across the employee lifecycle, from recruitment onwards.
- Make practical reasonable adjustments that are genuinely reasonable and work, including AI tools such as note-taking, summarising and drafting support, with clear guidance on what to suggest and what to avoid.
- Set fair, clear expectations and give feedback that gets the best from neurodivergent employees and manage underperformance fairly where needed.
- Create a psychologically safe and inclusive environment by adapting both their management style and the physical workspace.
- Reduce legal and reputational risk by understanding where things go wrong and how to get them right.
- Apply the same skills to their whole team because clear communication, structured feedback and explicit expectations are good management for everyone, not just neurodivergent colleagues.
The result is lasting change in how your managers manage day to day, not a one-off awareness session that fades.
Part of a Wider Neuroinclusion Pathway
This training works best as part of a wider approach. For lasting culture change we recommend equipping your HR team first with Neurodiversity for HR Professionals, rolling this Managers training out across your management and embedding the change long-term with Neurodiversity Consultancy.
Book Neurodiversity Training for Your Managers
Equip your managers with the skills to support and get the best from every employee. Training dates fill quickly, often months in advance, so get in touch early to secure your preferred date. Book a free consultation or email jenefer@silkhelix.co.uk to talk it through.
Course Introduction
In this video Jenefer introduces the course and explains a little bit about how she approaches training delivery. Towards the end of the video we include a number of course reviews from those who have attended training sessions with Jenefer.
Skills That Make Better Managers
Here’s what participants often tell us after this training:
“I’m using these approaches with my whole team, not just neurodivergent employees”.
That’s because the skills you’ll develop - clear communication, structured feedback, flexible thinking, explicit expectations - aren’t just ‘accommodations’, they’re excellent management practice that benefits everyone.
When you learn to:
- Give feedback in multiple formats (written and verbal)
- Break complex projects into clear, manageable steps
- Check understanding rather than assuming it
- Adapt your communication style to individual needs
- Create psychological safety for honest conversations
You’re not learning to manage ‘difficult’ employees, you’re learning to be an exceptional manager who gets the best from every single team member.
The neurodiversity lens doesn’t limit your management, it expands it. This is leadership development disguised as inclusion training.
Many managers discover during this training that specific team members would benefit from tailored support, which is where a workplace needs assessment might be something to consider.
Why Neurodiversity Training for Managers Matters
If your managers want to support neurodivergent colleagues but aren’t sure how, the cost shows up everywhere: avoidable grievances, inconsistent decisions, good people leaving and the constant worry that you’re getting it wrong.
This training gives every manager the same confident, consistent approach. It gives leaders the tools to:
- Build manager confidence: turn uncertainty into confident day-to-day support so managers handle disclosures and adjustments well rather than avoiding them.
- Reduce legal risk: understand the Equality Act 2010 and what counts as a disability so your managers apply fair, consistent and inclusive processes that help prevent costly claims.
- Keep and get the best from your people: unlock the productivity, creativity and loyalty of neurodivergent employees and improve retention by creating a workplace where everyone can do their best work.
The Risks of Getting Neurodiversity Wrong
Without the right understanding, the risks to your business include:
- Reputational damage: employees and customers increasingly value employers that take inclusion seriously.
- Legal costs: avoidable tribunal claims under the Equality Act 2010, often arising from a single mishandled conversation.
- Lost talent and low morale: neurodivergent employees who feel unsupported disengage, underperform or leave, taking their strengths with them.
Investing in neurodiversity training helps your managers manage these risks while building a workplace culture where everyone can thrive.
On-site Training
£2,250
- Full Day - in-house, at your workplace
- Maximum of 14 delegates
- Interactive workshop
- Comprehensive workbook for each participant
- CPD certification for all attendees
- Plenty of opportunity to discuss your real life experiences and cases with our expert trainer
All prices are exclusive of VAT.
Prices are correct for courses delivered on your site in Essex, Kent, London and Suffolk. Courses can be delivered outside these areas, please call 01245 910500 for a quote.
Who will Benefit from this Workshop?
This course is built for managers. Anyone who leads people day to day, whether they are new to managing or experienced and want to handle neurodiversity with more confidence:
- Line managers and team leaders
- Supervisors and shift leads
- People managers in any department or function
- Anyone responsible for the performance, wellbeing and everyday support of a team
It is pitched at the practical, day-to-day level: the conversations, decisions and adjustments managers handle themselves. That is deliberate, so it lands right for the people actually managing neurodivergent colleagues, rather than being too broad to be useful.
If you are looking for training for a different audience, we have it:
- For HR teams, who need to handle casework, disclosure, risk and commissioning support, see our Neurodiversity for HR Professionals course, pitched at that level.
- For directors and senior leaders who want to shape strategy rather than manage individual cases, we offer bespoke training and consultancy built around your organisation’s goals.
Not sure which is the right fit? Get in touch and we will point you to it.
All our courses, whether live or recorded, are delivered by Jenefer Livings who has 20 years experience in HR, having designed and delivered training on the whole range of HR topics for organisations across industry sectors. As Jenefer also provides hands-on consultancy work with her clients she maintains an up to date knowledge and experience that shines through with engaging stories in her training.
With our in-person course we'll work through case studies and discuss real life examples to ensure your managers get learning relating to the types of cases they'll be dealing with.
Why Silk Helix?
Every Silk Helix session is delivered by me, Jenefer, in person. Not an associate, not a stand-in, not a recording. I keep on-site training to around 30 days a year so every group gets my full attention and the most current examples from the consultancy work I am doing that same week. Training is the one thing I will never outsource. When you book Silk Helix training, you get me.
My promise to you! There will be no role plays, no embarrassing icebreakers where you have to reveal information about yourself and no one is picked on to speak. In my experience these are the things people dread about training and I see the collective sigh of relief when I start the session with this promise.
I recognise that to get discussion going you need an inviting environment. For in-person training this means a room set up, which includes a supply of fidgets and sweets, usually this in itself creates instant discussion as people enter the room. This sets people at ease and creates an ice breaker of its own.
You get a little hint of my style on our YouTube channel. In-person training is like that just with lots of interaction interspersed.
Why Choose Silk Helix for Neurodiversity Training?
At Silk Helix, we specialise in creating inclusive workplaces through expert training, consultation, and support. With extensive experience in neurodiversity and HR, we provide actionable insights and impactful training to benefit your entire organisation.
Our founder, Jenefer, has a Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) in Neurodiversity and is a qualified Workplace Needs Assessor. Passionate about inclusive workplaces, she brings both professional expertise and personal understanding to every workshop.
Trusted by Leading Organisations
Frequently Asked Questions
If anyone attending our training sessions has a specific need we should be accommodating we ask that you tell us in advance so that we can plan the training accordingly. We will do our best to accommodate any need for whatever reason that need exists.
There are also some common ways we develop our training to take into account the wide variety of learning styles and needs. We know learning styles are not limited to visual, auditory, reading and writing, and kinesthetic. Learning is impacted by a whole variety of things, including underlying medical conditions (diagnosed and not), comfort/ safety in your environment and your past experiences of learning. Our training by design takes this into account, including:
- a welcoming environment for learners to enter
- stress balls or other fidget resources
- workbooks with place for personal notes if the learner wishes
- minimal need to read long pieces of text
- noone is called out or picked on (even to go first)
- no icebreakers that require you to reveal personal information (we do use activities but always related to the learning and with a specific goal)
- no role plays (we find for too many people the issues around acting get in the way of learning)
- regular breaks
- no lengthy period of lectures by the trainer - it’s about discussion of your real life cases or activities that make you think or develop skills
- Yes, we’ve worked with many clients where we’ve delivered multiple courses to allow everyone to attend. We don’t recommend more people in the session for many of the reasons listed above, our courses are designed to be interactive and a safe place to discuss real life situations. Once the groups get much bigger than 14 it starts to become difficult for everyone to participate in these discussions.
- Yes, we’re happy to adapt and design sessions to suit your needs. Book a FREE, no obligation, consultation to discuss your needs and get a quote for bespoke training.
Yes, our in-person training is provided at your venue. Some clients use meeting rooms in their buildings, others book venues. There are a couple of things to consider - we need space in the room to move around. We won’t get you running about but being able to move into smaller groups for discussion, sometimes brainstorming around a large piece of paper are examples of the activities that need space.
In addition, our trainer will need parking as training comes with a lot of kit, plus somewhere to plug a laptop in and either a screen or projector. We don’t use loads of slides (Jenefer isn’t a fan or either producing them or remembering to switch slides) but there are a few occasions where a diagramme or video for example help make the point.
- Our full day sessions are 6 hours, including 30 minutes for lunch and 2 coffee breaks. Our half day sessions are 3 hours with a coffee break. Exact times may vary slightly, training courses are interactive with plenty of opportunities for discussion built into the day, this can impact the end timing slightly.
Yes.
We are a registered provider with The CPD Certification Service- Every session is delivered in person by Jenefer Livings, our founder. Chartered CIPD, a Postgraduate Certificate in Neurodiversity, a qualified Workplace Needs Assessor, 20 years in HR and neurodivergent herself. Training is never outsourced to an associate.
- If you’re ready to go ahead then either book a consultation or email training@silkhelix.co.uk with your requirements and we’ll get dates booked in.