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Internal communication and the missing link in fostering neuroinclusive leadership

Inclusion work often focuses on strategy, systems, and policies, and rightly so. But those policies don’t implement themselves. Culture is shaped and sustained in the day-to-day: in conversations, team habits, check-ins, feedback moments, and misunderstandings. And in this everyday context, people managers play a pivotal role.

In my own research on creating a sense of belonging at work, people managers consistently emerge as the biggest enablers of belonging (Verschuur-Ballo, 2021). They set the tone. They hold space. They model what’s acceptable or what’s not.

When it comes to neuroinclusion, this responsibility becomes even more complex, and even more under-supported.

Vibrant 3D rendering depicting the complexity of neural networks.
Many line managers want to support neurodivergent colleagues but are left to figure it out alone. Research shows how internal communication can equip them to lead with clarity, empathy, and confidence.

Line managers are navigating without a map

This is usually the topic I discuss with internal communication professional and researcher May Oostrom-Kwok, whenever we go out for coffee. Her MA study explored how internal communication can support line managers in fostering a neuroinclusive workplace (Oostrom-Kwok, 2024). In her research, she spoke with managers in the UK and the Netherlands who lead neurodivergent employees. Some openly disclosed, others not.

The picture she paints is familiar. Many managers are doing what they can: practising empathy, adapting communication, responding flexibly. But most of them are doing it without training, resources, or a clear organisational framework. They’re not resistant. They’re willing. But they’re also largely on their own.

And they’re not alone in that. Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD, 2024) confirms that most managers want to support neurodivergent colleagues, but don’t feel equipped to do so. A recent EY study similarly found that the quality of line manager behaviours is one of the strongest predictors of inclusion for neurodivergent employees (EY, 2023).

Neurodivergent employees are already here. Are we supporting them?

Neurodivergent individuals, those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other cognitive differences, are already part of our teams. Many don’t disclose because of fear of stigma, bias, misunderstanding, or career impact. And without disclosure, there’s no conversation about accommodations. Without conversation, support becomes ad hoc. And without structural support, inclusion depends entirely on individual effort.

The article Line managers: the missing piece of the neurodiversity puzzle (People Management, 2024) puts clearly that line managers are the most immediate point of contact, yet they are often overlooked in neurodiversity strategies. What’s more, as platforms like Interact Software (2023) have pointed out, the role of communication (particularly internal communication) in supporting inclusive practices is often underestimated or reduced to awareness campaigns alone.

Internal communication's role beyond messaging

This is where internal communication can make a real contribution. Not just in awareness-building, but in shaping the conditions for culture change. In her study, Oostrom-Kwok (2024) outlines four interrelated areas where IC can support neuroinclusion:

  1. Awareness and education
    Building shared understanding of neurodiversity through campaigns, storytelling, and accessible content.

  2. Dialogue and disclosure
    Fostering psychological safety by normalising conversations and encouraging openness across all levels of the organisation.

  3. Training and guidance
    Equipping line managers with tools, language, and peer support, not just information, but confidence.

  4. Corporate commitment
    Encouraging leaders to connect stated values to consistent, visible action. Neuroinclusion is both an HR topic and a leadership responsibility.

These principles echo and build on what others have argued: that inclusion cannot be sustained by awareness days alone. As Wolfgruber and Einwiller (2023) note, inclusive communication is shaped not only by what is said, but by who says it and how often. Dialogue across levels, not just top-down communication, is what fosters real inclusion.

What gets embedded, and what gets lost

Even when organisations say they value inclusion, the reality can be quite different on the ground. As the team at EY (2023) points out, inclusion doesn’t become embedded unless it’s consistently prioritised. In what we say, in what we reward, support, and resource.

May’s research adds to this: managers were aligned with their company’s espoused values, but they lacked the structural support to live them out (Oostrom-Kwok, 2024). That gap between aspiration and implementation is where internal communication can make a strategic contribution.

In other words

Neuroinclusion doesn’t happen at the level of policy only, it happens in teams. And the people shaping those team cultures, every day, are line managers. If we want neurodivergent colleagues to thrive, we need to stop asking managers to improvise inclusion without tools, language, or backing.

Internal communication is not the whole solution, but it is a key enabler. We’re in a position to shift how inclusion is understood, talked about, and practised. That means designing communication systems that are inclusive by default and making sure the people closest to culture have what they need to lead it well.#

References

  • CIPD. (2024). Neuroinclusion at work: Survey report. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
  • EY. (2023). How can action on neuroinclusion accelerate business transformation? Ernst & Young LLP.
  • Interact Software. (2023). Neurodiversity in the workplace: How to build inclusive communication.
  • Oostrom-Kwok, M. (2024). How internal communication can support line managers in fostering a neuroinclusive workplace: An exploratory study. MA Internal Communication Management, Solent University.
  • People Management. (2024). Line managers: the missing piece of the neurodiversity puzzle.
  • Verschuur-Ballo, C.Q. (2021). Wired to belong:  Towards an internal communication framework that designs belongingness in the virtual workplace. Executive MSc Corporate Communication, RSM Erasmus University.
  • Wolfgruber, D., & Einwiller, S. (2023). Diversity, inclusion, and communication: The role of internal communication in creating an inclusive work environment. In B. Röttger & T. Zerfaß (Eds.), Advances in public relations and communication management (Vol. 6, pp. 81–97). Emerald Publishing.
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