The term "neurodivergent" was coined by autistic sociologist Judy Singer in the late 1990s and popularized through neurodiversity advocacy to describe minds that process information, regulate attention, and experience the social and physical environment in ways that differ from the statistical majority. The umbrella covers autism spectrum conditions, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, Tourette syndrome, and a range of other conditions whose common feature is not impairment per se but difference in cognitive profile — specific areas of significant strength alongside specific areas of difficulty, with the pattern of strengths and difficulties varying by condition and by individual.
The workplace was not designed for this range of profiles. Most conventional workplaces were designed around the assumption of neurotypical workers: continuous open-plan offices (which punish sensory sensitivities and attentional differences), unstructured social expectations (which punish social communication differences), evaluation criteria built around speed and conventional communication (which penalize people whose processing style is different), and cultural norms that treat preference for routine, depth over breadth, or atypical social presentation as personality flaws rather than cognitive differences.
The neurodivergent worker navigating this environment is dealing with what Nick Walker calls the "neurotypical normative model" — the assumption that neurotypical cognition is correct cognition, and that deviation from it is deficit. This model has deep roots in psychiatric classification systems, in education, and in workplaces. Its alternative is not the claim that all cognitive styles produce equal outcomes in all contexts (they don't) but that the mismatch between neurodivergent cognition and neurotypically-designed environments is at least partly a design problem.
ADHD, affecting an estimated 5–10% of adults, is characterized by variability in attentional deployment, impulsivity, and difficulties with certain executive functions — not an absence of attention, but difficulty modulating it voluntarily. The ADHD worker may hyperfocus on work that engages them to a degree that neurotypical workers cannot match, while failing to sustain attention on work that doesn't. The environment that gets the most from this profile is one that aligns interest with task, allows variable intensity, and does not punish the inability to perform uniform attention on demand.
Autism brings variation in social communication and sensory processing, alongside often intense domain expertise, systematic thinking, direct communication style, and unusual reliability on matters of fact and routine. The autistic worker who is in a role that matches their cognitive profile and in an environment that accommodates their sensory and social needs can be among the most productive and accurate workers in any organization. The autistic worker who is in a mismatched role in a neurotypically hostile environment is spending most of their cognitive budget on masking — performing neurotypicality — and has little left for work.
The disclosure question for neurodivergent workers is as complex as for disabled workers generally, with additional dimensions. Autism and ADHD carry specific workplace stigmas: the autistic worker risks being seen as difficult, uncollegiate, or inappropriate; the ADHD worker risks being seen as unreliable, disorganized, or unmotivated. These stigmas are cultural products, not accurate assessments, but they are real in their effects.
The Unity premise for the neurodivergent worker is identical to the general premise: you are a full human subject, your cognitive profile is one dimension of you, and the job is accurate accounting of what you do well and what you need in order to do it. The cultural work of neurodiversity advocacy has been to make that accounting possible by providing vocabulary, community, and evidence that challenge the deficit-only narrative. The personal work is applying that to specific career choices, specific workplaces, and specific accommodation strategies.