Structured Common Sense: the things nobody says about neurodiversity at work

I did something totally bonkers a few years ago.

I listened to my amazing wife, Maria Sadler

She gently whispered to me that I had "a lot of traits of someone on the autistic spectrum."

Intrigued, I began to research my favourite subject (me!) and a momentous journey began, which brings me neatly to where I find myself this evening.

After getting my diagnosis, such was the power of that self-realisation that I made a conscious effort to give the people around me the same chance to know that they mattered. That they were "enough".

So I'm starting something new:

Structured Common Sense: the things nobody says about neurodiversity at work

Every Wednesday, I'll take one thought people have about neurodivergent colleagues but rarely say out loud, and answer it honestly from my side of the desk.

Common sense isn't all that common: what's obvious to one brain often isn't to another.

First up, this Wednesday: "Is this an adjustment, or am I being played?"

Whatever your views on neurodiversity, I hope you'll be curious enough to walk the path with me towards a more inclusive workplace.

So, what's the thought you've heard, or had yourself, but never said out loud? Send it to me here. It might just become a future post.

This first appeared on LinkedIn on 26 September 2026. Join the conversation there.