Neurodiversity Coaching Workshop – Key Takeaways

On Wednesday 18^th June 2025, our ‘Positive Action to Support Neurodiversity’ event in Glasgow, featured a highly informative and interactive coaching workshop to support neurodiverse individuals in the workplace led by Robin Macdonald, an experienced iDiversity coach. In this blog, we will look into the insights from the workshop, highlighting the strategies presented and reflections shared by Robin.

The workshop was delivered to provide an understanding of coaching, covering several key areas: a welcome and introduction, a deep dive into what coaching is and why it works, the specific roles of coaches, an exploration of various coaching models, coaching strategies tailored for Dyslexia, ADHD and Autism and coaching for wellbeing.

Robin discussed how professional coaching operates within a well defined structure. Sessions are confidential and ethical, with the coachee’s agenda always taking precedence.  And that essentially, a coach helps individuals navigate from their current situation to their desired goals, assisting them in finding more efficient paths to achieve these objectives faster.

Robin defined coaching as collaborative, offering thought-provoking conversations designed to help individuals reflect, clarify their thinking, and move forward in ways that are effective and authentic to them. He differentiated coaching from mentoring or counselling, emphasising that it is about creating a safe space for exploring possibilities and developing practical next steps, rather than purely providing direct solutions. The essence of effective coaching, as highlighted in the workshop, lies in curiosity (exploring with open questions), trust (creating safe spaces), personalisation (flexing to individual needs and preferences), and empowerment (building confidence and autonomy).

He explained this works because it honours the individuality of each person and places the relationship at the centre. That coaching is not just a technique to be applied but a partnership to be built — where the coach brings structure, presence, and deep listening, and the coachee brings their lived experience and goals. When curiosity is met with trust, and when support is personalised rather than standardised, people are more likely to feel safe enough to think clearly, speak honestly, and take meaningful steps forward. And this is what makes coaching not only effective but sustainable — a process that builds clarity and confidence, and lays strong foundations for meaningful progress.

Robin underscored that the practice adheres to rigorous professional standards set by globally recognised bodies such as the International Coach Federation (ICF), the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), and the Association for Coaching (AC), which serve as the guardians of industry best practices.

The workshop delved into widely used coaching models that provide structure and direction to sessions, enabling individuals to explore challenges and define their own solutions. Key models discussed included:

The OSKAR model¹: A framework used in coaching, focusing on solutions and guided conversations to help you move forward effectively.

The CLEAR model²: A structured approach to coaching, ensuring clear communication and a focus on actionable steps and review.

The GROW model³: A widely adopted framework, particularly effective for problem-solving and goal setting. It helps individuals clarify their objectives and create a pathway to success.

Robin then discussed specific coaching strategies designed to support colleagues with neurodivergent conditions.

Coaching Strategies for Dyslexia

For individuals with dyslexia, he emphasised strategies centred on building confidence and optimising learning processes:

• Repetition: This involves revisiting concepts, reinforcing understanding and actively checking comprehension. This process helps solidify learning and builds confidence, reducing anxiety that can be associated with information retention for those with dyslexia.
• Visual Tools: Recognising the strong visual processing strengths often found in individuals with dyslexia, Robin mentioned how visual tools can be effective at supporting them. tools such as mind maps can organise thoughts and ideas hierarchically, diagrams can illustrate complex processes and strategic colour coding can categorise information and highlight key points.
• Verbal Processing: A key recommendation was to incorporate verbal processing, as well as using written responses. This means encouraging individuals to talk through their ideas, thoughts and understanding.
• Building Confidence: Beyond specific learning techniques, Robin highlighted the importance of celebrating progress and acknowledging past achievements. Coaching in this context involves actively drawing attention to successes, no matter how small, to build confidence, countering any negative perceptions that may have developed due to past challenges.

Coaching Strategies for ADHD

When coaching individuals with ADHD, the workshop placed emphasis on structuring environments and tasks to support focus, organisation and emotional regulation:

• Establishing Rhythm: Robin discussed the importance of developing and maintaining a predictable rhythm in daily routines and task management. This helps create a sense of structure and consistency, which can be highly beneficial for individuals with ADHD in managing their energy and attention.
• Time management tools: These could include planners, timers, task lists, or digital applications that help break down large tasks into smaller, more manageable segments and provide external cues for staying on track.
• Start small on tasks: A common challenge for individuals with ADHD can be initiation or feeling overwhelmed by large projects. By starting small or breaking down tasks it can help makes it easier to build momentum and reduce procrastination.
• Accountability: Accountability involves establishing clear commitments and regular check-ins within the coaching relationship, providing an external structure that helps individuals follow through on their intentions and maintain focus on their goals.
• Emotional space: Robin discussed how to create a supportive “emotional space” within coaching sessions. This can allow the coachee to express their feelings and help them process emotions without judgment, offering a sense of psychological safety.

Coaching Strategies for Autism

For coaching individuals with autism, the strategies presented focused on clarity, energy management, communication, and predictability to build trust and reduce stress:

• Make expectations clear: This involves spelling out exactly what is meant, avoiding ambiguity, and being direct and precise in language. This reduces misunderstanding and anxiety caused by unspoken assumptions or social nuances.
• Manage energy: This includes recognising and accounting for sensory energy (how environmental stimuli impact an individual) and social energy (the energy expended during social interactions). Coaches help individuals identify their energy fluctuations and plan accordingly to prevent burnout.
• Communication styles: Coaches are encouraged to actively check what works best for the individual – whether it’s talking, writing, or using visual cues (like diagrams or written instructions).
• Routine and control: Routine and a sense of control can be a factor in reducing stress and building trust for individuals with autism. By helping to establish predictable routines, plan for transitions and empowering individuals to have a greater sense of autonomy and control over their environments and schedules.

Another important element discussed in the workshop was the integration of wellbeing as a fundamental pillar for sustainable performance and inclusion, rather than a mere add on. Coaching, in this context, often involves raising awareness of how vital aspects like sleep, hydration, movement and rest profoundly impact focus, mood and overall resilience.

The workshop’s success was evident in the room’s high level of engagement, thoughtful questions, and the generous sharing of reflections during the discussions. Robin noted that creating such safe, reflective spaces naturally encourages people to show up with insight, honesty and strength.

For individuals or teams curious about the benefits of coaching, iDiversity can offer further information about our coaching for positive impact service by visiting our coaching services page or contact us form using the links below.

iDiversity is a disability confident leader and we are committed to regularly holding CPD events and webinars to share best practice and insights on workplace coaching.

1. OSKAR model developed by Mark McKergow and Paul Z Jackson ↩︎
2. CLEAR coaching model developed by Professor Peter Hawkins in the early 1980s ↩︎
3. GROW coaching model GROW is a trademark of Performance Consultants developed by Sir John Whitmore in the 1980s, with contributions from Graham Alexander and Alan Fine. ↩︎

All registered trademarks and copyright of the coaching models are acknowledged.