Most organisations put neurodiversity adjustments in place at the start of the year. Most don’t check whether those adjustments are still working six months later. The result is predictable: support that was genuine and well-intentioned in January has quietly eroded by June, and the employees who needed it most are struggling again without anyone realising why.
The drift problem: why good intentions aren’t enough
Adjustment drift is not the result of bad intent. It is the result of a system that treats adjustments as a one-time event rather than an ongoing commitment. Once the initial conversation is had and the adjustments are documented, most organisations assume the work is done. But organisations are not static. Teams change. Managers change. Roles evolve. And adjustments that were carefully put in place don’t automatically travel with the person through those changes.
The consequences are real. A neurodivergent employee whose adjustments have quietly lapsed will typically not raise it directly. They will compensate. They will mask. The energy required to mask while simultaneously performing their role is significant. Over time it produces the same outcomes as burnout: withdrawal, declining quality, disengagement, attrition.
Only 46% of employers feel their managers are confident supporting neurodivergent staff. Without regular training and review, that confidence gap widens as teams change. CIPD Neuroinclusion at Work, 2024
Where neurodiversity support typically breaks down
These three patterns account for the majority of adjustment drift we see when organisations run a proper mid-year audit. None of them require anyone to have made a deliberate decision to withdraw support.
1. Onboarding decay
Adjustments agreed when someone joins a role are set up for a specific context: a particular job description, a particular team structure, a particular manager. As any of those factors change, the adjustments may no longer fit. A neurodivergent employee whose responsibilities have evolved significantly since January may now be working in conditions that the original adjustments weren’t designed for.
The employee rarely flags this proactively. They assume the HR system has been updated. They assume their new manager knows. In practice, neither of these is usually true.
2. Team-move and manager-change handover gaps
When an employee moves to a new team or gets a new line manager, their adjustment record typically doesn’t travel with them. The incoming manager has not been briefed on what adjustments are in place and why. The employee, often relieved to have made a fresh start, doesn’t necessarily raise it. The result is a new manager who is effectively starting from zero, managing a neurodivergent employee without the knowledge base that would make them effective.
This is one of the most consistent gaps we encounter. It is also one of the easiest to fix with a structural process: adjustment handover as a standard item in manager offboarding, not an afterthought.
3. New-manager knowledge gaps
Any manager hired or promoted since the start of the year who has not received neurodiversity training is managing neurodivergent employees without the knowledge framework to do it well. They are not being careless. They genuinely do not know what to look for, what to ask, or how to have the adjustment conversation in a way that feels supportive rather than intrusive.
Only 12% of employers have designed their onboarding processes with neurodivergent hires in mind. CIPD, 2024 If new-manager onboarding doesn’t include neurodiversity training, those managers are entering their role already behind.
Mid-year is the natural moment for this audit. H2 brings a new set of pressures, performance cycles and organisational changes. Running the check now, before H2 begins, gives you the opportunity to close gaps before they compound into something harder to address.
A five-point mid-year check for HR managers
This check takes less than an hour to run across your manager cohort. It is not a compliance exercise. It is a practical way to find out where your neurodiversity support has drifted and to close the gaps before they produce avoidable problems.
- Adjustments on record vs. adjustments in practice. For each neurodivergent employee with a documented adjustment plan, check with their line manager whether those adjustments are still being followed. The plan in the HR system and what is actually happening are often different.
- Team and manager changes since January. List any neurodivergent employees who have changed line manager or team in the past six months. For each, confirm that the incoming manager was briefed on existing adjustments.
- Managers hired or promoted since January. Identify managers who are new to the role. Flag those who have not received neurodiversity training and include them in the next scheduled session.
- Direct check-in conversations. For employees with known adjustments, schedule a brief conversation in the next four weeks. Ask open questions: “What’s working well? What isn’t?” Let them lead.
- New starters who haven’t yet had an adjustment conversation. Any neurodivergent employees who joined since January and haven’t had this conversation yet should be prioritised. The first six months is when the adjustment conversation is most easily had.
A mid-year audit is valuable. A mid-year audit that becomes a standard calendar event, and that is complemented by adjustment handover in manager transitions and neurodiversity training in new-manager onboarding, produces a system that doesn’t rely on remembering to check.
Equip your managers before H2 begins
Our Neurodiversity for Managers session gives your manager cohort the knowledge and confidence to have adjustment conversations and support neurodivergent employees effectively throughout the year.
Enquire about Neurodiversity for Managers