Reasonable adjustments for ADHD and autism at work
A practical guide for employees and employers — what the law says, what adjustments look like and how to fund them.
What reasonable adjustments are
Under the Equality Act 2010, your employer must make reasonable adjustments so that workers with a disability or health condition are not put at a substantial disadvantage doing their job. It is a positive duty: once your employer knows, they should take steps to remove or reduce the disadvantage, and it works best when the changes are agreed with you. You can read the core duty on GOV.UK and in the ACAS guidance.
The duty covers you where you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Substantial means more than minor or trivial, and long-term means 12 months or more. Many people with ADHD, autism and other kinds of neurodivergence are covered: being neurodivergent will often amount to a disability under the Act where the effect is substantial and long-term, even if you do not think of yourself as disabled.
What counts as reasonable is not fixed. It depends on things like the cost of the change, how practical it is, how effective it would be and the size and resources of your employer — so what is reasonable for a large organisation may differ from a very small one. In many cases the adjustments are simple, straightforward and low-cost.
You do not need a formal diagnosis to start the conversation. Your employer should consider support whether or not you have one, so it is fine to describe the difficulty and the change that would help, and sort out any paperwork later.
What adjustments look like
The most useful way to think about adjustments is by the friction they remove, not by anyone's diagnosis. Two people with the same label often need different things. Here are five common areas, with concrete examples you can adapt.
Remembering and organising
- One trusted place for tasks and notes, so nothing lives only in your head
- Written follow-ups after verbal instructions or decisions
- Tools that organise information automatically rather than by hand
- Checklists for routine or multi-step work
Time and planning
- Big deadlines broken into visible stages, each with its own date
- Seeing now, next and later rather than everything at once
- Protected focus time with fewer interruptions
- Extra notice before priorities change
Meetings and communication
- Agendas shared in advance so you can prepare
- Notes or actions written up afterwards
- Async or written updates instead of on-the-spot verbal answers
- Clear, direct instructions rather than hints
Status updates and reporting
- Reducing manual status reporting where you can
- Progress visible from the work already done rather than chased in meetings
- One regular written update instead of repeated check-ins
- Templates so updates take less effort each time
Environment and sensory
- A quiet space, a fixed desk or permission to wear headphones
- Camera-optional video meetings
- Written instructions instead of verbal where possible
- Some control over lighting, noise or seating
Access to Work
Access to Work is a publicly funded government scheme that can pay for practical support to help you start or stay in work, on top of the adjustments your employer makes. It sits alongside the Equality Act duty rather than replacing it — it will not pay for the reasonable adjustments your employer must make by law, but it can cover support that goes beyond those. You can apply on GOV.UK.
Who can apply
You apply yourself — it is your application, not your employer's. You can apply if you are employed or self-employed, or have a firm job offer. If you are employed there is no earnings or savings limit; if you are self-employed you need an annual turnover of at least £6,500.
What it can fund
Depending on your needs, a grant can help pay for specialist equipment and assistive software, support workers such as a job coach, support to manage your mental health at work and the costs of getting to work if you cannot use public transport.
How it works with your job
Access to Work assesses what you need and agrees a grant towards it. Your employer stays responsible for making reasonable adjustments; the grant covers the extra support around that.
Good to know
A grant will not affect any other benefits you get and you do not have to pay it back. There is no set amount — how much you get depends on your circumstances.
Adjustments that do not single people out
For many people the hardest part is not the adjustment itself — it is the fear of being marked out as different for needing one. That fear stops a lot of good requests before they are ever made.
The best adjustments sidestep this, because they help the whole team. Agendas shared in advance, written follow-ups, protected focus time and clear async updates are easier for almost everyone, not just the person who asked. Nobody has to explain themselves to benefit from them.
When an adjustment is adopted across a team it stops being a special case and becomes simply a better way of working. That is the quiet goal: change the default so that fewer people ever have to ask, and the ones who do are asking for something ordinary.
If you want a tool to help
Humble is a neurodivergent-first tool for organising your tasks, notes and progress, built alongside ADHD and autistic users. It is one option, not the point of this guide — but several of the adjustments above can be put in place with it:
- One trusted place for tasks and notes, so nothing lives only in your head
- Now, next and later instead of everything at once
- Progress that shows from the work you have already done, rather than chased in meetings
Work plans also include reasonable adjustment documentation for People teams, so support can be agreed and written down in one place.
Common questions
ADHD is a form of neurodivergence, and it will often meet the Equality Act 2010 definition of disability: a mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Whether it applies depends on how it affects you rather than the label alone, and the same is true for autism. See the ACAS definition of disability.
No. You do not need a formal diagnosis to be covered or to start the conversation. ACAS is clear that an employer should consider support, including reasonable adjustments, whether or not you have a diagnosis. A diagnosis or an occupational health assessment can help explain what would work, but it is not a requirement.
Yes. Reasonable adjustments can include doing things a different way and changing or providing equipment, which covers giving someone different tools or software to remove a disadvantage. Whether a particular tool is reasonable depends on its cost, how practical it is and the size of your employer. Access to Work can also help fund specialist equipment and assistive software.
Your employer pays for reasonable adjustments — that is their legal duty, and the cost of a change is one of the things that decides whether it is reasonable. Access to Work is separate: it can fund support that goes beyond what is reasonable for your employer to provide, and it will not pay for the adjustments your employer must make by law.
An employer does not have to make changes that are genuinely unreasonable, but they should still look for other reasonable ways to help. If you cannot agree, you can raise it informally and then through your employer's formal process. ACAS offers free, impartial advice, and a failure to make reasonable adjustments can be a form of disability discrimination.
Keep it simple and practical. Describe the difficulty and the change that would help, rather than leading with your diagnosis. Scope suggests putting the request in writing so there is a record, and you can ask to talk it through or bring someone with you. Many adjustments cost little or nothing, so it is often a short conversation rather than a big ask.
Sources
The guidance on this page is drawn from the current official sources below.
- GOV.UK — Reasonable adjustments for workers with disabilities or health conditions
- ACAS — Reasonable adjustments at work
- GOV.UK — Access to Work
- Equality and Human Rights Commission — Employing people: workplace adjustments
- Scope — Reasonable adjustments at work
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Guidance and the law can change, so check the sources above for the current position, and for advice on your own situation contact ACAS or a qualified adviser.