Neurodiversity Training for HR Professionals
Give your HR team the confidence, tools and legal grounding to handle neurodivergence well.
The session was very well organised from the room set up, to content, delivery, pacing and tone of the trainer. This will help us with supporting the business with manager coaching and supporting employees with better access and open discussions about any “success enablers” they require right from the candidate journey. The examples that were discussed - both personal and professional from the trainer’s employment/client environment and employment tribunal cases were really helpful. The session was excellent.
This one day, in-person training gives your HR team the confidence, legal grounding and practical tools to handle neurodivergence well, from disclosure conversations to complex casework across recruitment, onboarding and day-to-day management.
Your HR team is usually the first point of contact when neurodivergence is raised. They need to respond well, support the employee and guide managers through the situations that are easy to get wrong.
This goes beyond awareness. Every session is delivered personally by founder Jenefer Livings, a Chartered CIPD practitioner with 20 years in HR, a PGCert in Neurodiversity and lived experience of being neurodivergent. We deliberately limit on-site training to around 30 sessions a year so every group gets her full attention and current expertise. It is never outsourced.
This is not a lecture. It is a discussion-based workshop where we work through case studies, real tribunal cases and your own examples to find practical solutions you can use straight away.
Why This Training Is Different
Most neurodiversity training stops at tick-box awareness. You learn what ADHD is, what autism is and maybe get a list of adjustments. An hour of off-the-shelf e-learning will not get your HR team further than that.
Training that goes Deeper
We work through real tribunal cases, discuss actual scenarios from your workplace and build the expertise you need to navigate the grey areas that trip most HR teams up.
You’ll learn from:
- Jenefer’s 20 years in HR as a Chartered CIPD practitioner and her personal lived experience of neurodivergence
- Real employment tribunal cases - what went wrong and why
- Your own team’s experiences and challenges
- Academic research (Jenefer holds a PGCert in Neurodiversity and is a qualified Workplace Needs Assessor)
This isn’t a lecture. It’s a discussion-based workshop where we solve real problems together.
What’s Included in the Neurodiversity Training for HR Professionals Course
This is not a lecture. Your HR team will learn through real-life scenarios drawn from:
- Jenefer’s personal lived experience and as a neurodiversity-focused HR consultant
- Delegate experiences
- Employment tribunal cases
The training is tailored to the group’s level of knowledge. For those new to neurodiversity, we’ll begin with the essentials. For those more experienced with neurodiversity, we’ll dive straight into complex casework and scenario discussion.
What You’ll Learn
You’ll leave with practical skills you can use immediately:
- Spot and support a wider range of neurodivergence: recognise how conditions like Dyslexia, ADHD, Autism and Dyspraxia actually show up at work and what they mean for the individual
- Recommend adjustments that work: know which practical adjustments to put in place, from hardware and software to work environment and management style, including where AI tools can help as a reasonable adjustment
- Have the difficult conversations with confidence: approach disclosure, adjustment and sensitive discussions with the right language and tone
- Know where the legal line sits: understand what the law expects and where the boundaries are, so you can advise managers with certainty
- Handle discipline fairly when neurodivergence is raised: approach capability, discipline and dismissal fairly and defensibly when someone raises neurodivergence
- Act when adjustments are in place but performance still slips: work out what to do when the adjustments are right but performance is not improving
- Reach the employees who never ask: recognise and support people who are struggling but do not put their hand up
Plus: You’ll understand when and how to commission Workplace Needs Assessments, with personalised reports that give employees and managers concrete strategies for success.
Outcomes
After completing this course, your HR team will:
- Turn uncertainty into confidence when neurodivergence is raised
- Know how to balance legal compliance with employee wellbeing
- Be equipped with practical tools to take back into their daily work
- Reduce legal risk by applying consistent, legally sound processes
- Strengthen relationships with managers by offering clear, actionable advice
Optional add-ons:
- Neuroinclusion audit
- Neurodiversity training for managers
- Workplace Needs Assessments - personalised recommendations to help employees to thrive
Book Your Training
Strengthen your HR team’s expertise and build a culture where everyone can do their best work.
Training is delivered personally by Jenefer and on-site dates are limited to around 30 a year, so they fill early. Get in touch early to secure your preferred date.
Have questions first? 📅 Book a free consultation to talk through your team’s needs.
Ready to go ahead? To book your training or request a quote, contact us directly at team@silkhelix.co.uk | 01245 910 500. Training from £2,250 per day.
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.
From Training to Implementation
This training gives your HR team the knowledge. Here’s how to turn knowledge into action:
- Immediate Application: Your team can start applying new approaches to disclosure conversations, adjustment requests and performance discussions right away. You’ll have frameworks, scripts and decision trees to work from.
- Individual Support: Many organisations combine this training with Workplace Needs Assessments for employees who need personalised strategies. After this training, your HR team will understand exactly when to commission an assessment and how to use the recommendations effectively.
- Manager Development: Once your HR team has deep expertise, you can roll out neurodiversity training for managers across the organisation, knowing your HR team can support managers through any questions that arise.
- Ongoing Consultancy: For complex cases or policy development, you can access ongoing expert advice through our neurodiversity consultancy service.
Why Smart HR Teams Invest in This Training
HR teams don’t wait for tribunal cases to invest in neurodiversity expertise:
- Tribunal cases related to neurodivergence: up 467% since 2018
- Single 2024 tribunal award: £4.6 million (excluding reputational damage, read the original judgement here)
- Companies with neuroinclusive practices report higher innovation and problem-solving capabilities
- Employee retention significantly improves when adjustments actually work
Jenefer has delivered training to HR and management teams at organisations including Interactive Investor, EA Games and Wiltshire and Dorset Fire Service, from SMEs to enterprise and public sector.
What most organisations miss:
The skills that make you excellent at supporting neurodivergent employees - clear communication, flexible thinking, strength-based management and asking better questions - all make you better at supporting ALL employees.
This isn’t specialist training. It’s modern HR practice.
Understanding neurodiversity doesn’t mean creating a separate playbook for neurodivergent employees. It means upgrading your entire approach so it works for everyone.
On-site Training
£2,250
- One 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 the Training Is For
This full-day course is built for the people who handle neurodivergence in the business day to day:
- HR Managers and HR Business Partners
- Heads of HR and People Directors
- People and Culture teams
- Diversity and Inclusion leads
Looking to equip line managers instead? Neurodiversity Training for Managers is the better fit. We also run dedicated courses for recruitment and learning and development professionals and we can tailor a bespoke session for a mixed group.
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.