EmployAbility

A 6-Week Neuro-Affirming Pathway to Sustainable Employment

EmployAbility is NeuroDiverse Community CIC’s structured six-week employment programme, created to support neurodivergent and disabled people to discover their strengths, understand how they work best and move towards meaningful, sustainable employment.

Rather than asking people to fit themselves into traditional employment systems, EmployAbility starts with the individual.

We explore strengths, cognitive style, sensory needs, communication preferences, lived experience, interests, working patterns and aspirations before looking at the jobs and working environments in which that person is most likely to thrive.

The programme combines vocational profiling, career discovery, neuro-affirming CV development, self-advocacy, reasonable adjustment planning, employer engagement and a two-week supported work placement, followed by structured reflection and progression planning.

Our aim is not simply to help somebody get a job. It is to help them understand what sustainable employment looks like for them.

How does EmployAbility work?

EmployAbility takes place over six weeks, with each stage building on the one before it.

Week 1 – Discovering Your Strengths

The first stage is about understanding the person behind the CV.

Participants complete NDC’s Skills Discovery activities, exploring skills that may have been overlooked by traditional employment assessments. This can include strengths developed through employment, education and qualifications, but also through lived experience, hobbies, caring responsibilities, special interests, self-directed learning, problem-solving and everyday adaptation.

Participants begin identifying cognitive and workplace strengths such as:

• Hyperfocus and deep concentration

• Pattern recognition

• Logical and systems thinking

• Attention to detail

• Creative problem-solving

• Information processing

• Direct communication

• Resourcefulness and adaptability

• Self-advocacy

• Organisation and prioritisation

The focus is on asking:

What am I good at?

What gives me energy rather than taking it away?

How do I work best?

What have I learned through my lived experience that could be valuable in the workplace?

This information begins to form the foundation of the participant’s NDC EmployAbility Passport.

Week 2 – Finding the Right Work, Not Just Any Work

EmployAbility then moves into occupational discovery.

Instead of beginning with a list of job titles and asking a participant to choose one, we work in the opposite direction.

Participants explore their strengths, sensory profile, preferred environment, communication style and task preferences first, before identifying occupations that are compatible with them. The Occupational Discovery process considers factors such as noise, lighting, working patterns, social demands, task structure and how instructions are communicated.

Potential roles can then be assessed against:

•Skills fit 

• Sensory and environmental fit 

• Task and working-pattern fit 

• Reasonable adjustment feasibility

The aim is to identify roles where there is a genuine chance of long-term success rather than placing somebody into an environment that may quickly become unsustainable.

Building a Neuro-Affirming CV

Participants also receive support to develop a Neuro-Affirming CV.

We recognise that neurodivergent and disabled people do not always have traditional, uninterrupted employment histories.

Career gaps, periods of burnout, caring responsibilities, volunteering, self-directed learning, short-term roles and non-traditional experience do not mean somebody lacks ability.

Our approach shifts the emphasis from simply “time served” towards capability, cognitive strengths, transferable skills and practical impact.

Week 3 – Self-Advocacy, Adjustments and Preparing for Work

Week 3 prepares participants for entering the workplace.

Sessions explore:

• Workplace self-advocacy

• Understanding reasonable adjustments

• Identifying barriers before they become problems

• Communicating workplace needs professionally

• Preparing for recruitment and onboarding

• Considering when, whether and how to disclose a disability or neurodivergence

• Exploring relevant Access to Work support

• Preparing for the work placement

• Introducing the participant and employer

• Agreeing appropriate support before the placement begins

EmployAbility supports participants to think strategically about disclosure rather than assuming personal or medical information must automatically be shared. The programme explores different points at which someone may choose to discuss their needs, including during recruitment, interview, onboarding or once in employment.

By this stage, the EmployAbility Passport can be used as a practical bridge between the participant, NDC Job Coach and employer.

Weeks 4 & 5 – Supported Work Experience

Participants then undertake a two-week supported work placement.

Placement hours can be tailored to the participant’s capacity and may include full-time, part-time or shorter working patterns where appropriate. This is where the learning from the first three weeks is tested in a real workplace.

Before the placement, NDC works with the host employer to consider the participant’s EmployAbility Passport, reasonable adjustments, sensory environment, workstation, communication arrangements and workplace support. Employers are also encouraged to identify a lead manager and workplace buddy.

Participants are not simply placed and left to manage alone. An NDC Job Coach remains available during the placement, with opportunities to review how the placement is progressing and make adjustments where necessary.

This gives participants the opportunity to put their skills into practice while learning more about:

What type of work suits me?

Which environments help me concentrate?

Which adjustments genuinely make a difference?

How much structure do I need?

How do I communicate effectively with a manager?

What does a sustainable working pattern look like for me?

It also gives employers practical experience of neuro-inclusive recruitment, onboarding and workplace support.

Week 6 – Reflect, Refine and Move Forward

The final week is not simply an end-of-programme assessment. It is an opportunity to turn the placement into career intelligence.

Participants complete their Placement Reflection Logbook, exploring which tasks allowed their strengths to shine, which environments supported or depleted their energy, how well their reasonable adjustments worked and what support should be carried forward into future employment.

The participant’s CV and EmployAbility Passport can then be updated using evidence from the placement.

Together with their NDC Job Coach, participants develop an Individual Progression Plan, which may include:

•Direct job applications 

• Further training 

• Supported internships 

• Continued employment support 

• Progression into sustained employment

The Reflection Logbook also supports practical next steps for the following 30–60 days, including updating the CV, finalising the EmployAbility Passport and progressing towards identified target roles.

The NDC EmployAbility Passport

Your strengths. Your needs. Your way of working.

At the heart of the programme is the NDC EmployAbility Passport.

The Passport is not simply another assessment form. It is a living document owned and controlled by the participant, designed to bridge the gap between the individual and their employer, supervisor or placement manager.

It helps turn statements such as:

“Workplaces are difficult for me.”

into practical information such as:

“I work best when priorities are provided in writing, I have uninterrupted periods for focused work and unexpected changes are communicated clearly.”

The Passport builds a professional, strengths-based picture of the individual and can include:

Strengths & Capabilities

The person’s cognitive strengths, practical skills, specialist knowledge, interests, work styles and target employment areas.

Communication & Working Preferences

Whether someone processes information best through written, verbal or visual instructions; whether processing time is helpful; preferred approaches to meetings, feedback, check-ins, task management and organisation.

Sensory & Environmental Profile

The conditions that enable someone to work effectively, including considerations around noise, lighting, workspace, movement and breaks.

Reasonable Adjustments

Clearly identified workplace barriers alongside practical adjustments and the person or service responsible for supporting them.

Wellness & Overwhelm Action Plan

Participants can identify early indicators that they are becoming overwhelmed and agree supportive, non-intrusive responses that a manager or workplace buddy can use.

Most importantly, the participant remains in control.

Relevant sections of the Passport are shared with an employer or placement provider with the participant’s permission, and the document can be reviewed and updated as their experience, role or needs change. This means the EmployAbility Passport does not disappear when the six-week programme ends. It can continue with the participant into job applications, interviews, onboarding, future placements and employment, giving them a practical tool for self-advocacy throughout their working life.

Supporting Employers Too

EmployAbility recognises that sustainable employment cannot be achieved by preparing the individual while leaving workplace barriers unchanged. That’s why NDC also works with placement hosts and employers.

Employers receive practical guidance around onboarding, communication, sensory considerations, reasonable adjustments and supporting the participant in the workplace. The programme encourages employers to review the EmployAbility Passport, establish clear support arrangements and create an accessible first-day experience.

At the end of the placement, employers provide structured feedback on the participant’s strengths, performance and development while also reflecting on their own organisation’s confidence and ability to support neurodivergent employees. Employers can also indicate whether they would like to provide a reference, explore paid employment or host future EmployAbility participants.

This makes EmployAbility a two-way programme:

We support people to understand the workplace — and we support workplaces to better understand people.

What does success look like?

EmployAbility is not built around the belief that success means placing somebody into the first available vacancy.

Success might mean securing employment. But it might also mean discovering a completely different career direction, recognising previously overlooked skills, understanding why previous workplaces were unsustainable, confidently requesting reasonable adjustments, developing a strong CV, completing a successful placement or becoming ready to take the next step towards work.

Participants leave EmployAbility with much more than a completed course. They leave with greater self-awareness, practical employment experience, a neuro-affirming CV, clearer career direction, evidence of their abilities, improved self-advocacy and their personalised NDC EmployAbility Passport.