A step-by-step guide to the Neurodiversity Employers Index (NDEI®) and your journey towards becoming a leading neuroinclusive employer.
Step 1: Registering for the NDEI®
Registrations for 2024 are closed.
When you register, we’ll send you a welcome email. As the reporting period approaches, we'll send you login details to create your account on the NDEI® reporting platform.
The reporting period for 2024 was Tuesday 6 August - Monday 30 September. All registered organisations should complete their Employer Survey and Employee Inclusion Survey during this period.
We'd strongly suggest confirming internal sign-off in advance of the reporting period. You may also want to use this time to gather information about your workforce, workplace policies and practices.
Step 2: The NDEI® Employer Survey
After registering for the NDEI®, you'll receive your login details to the NDEI® system in summer 2025. We'll contact you before the reporting period begins.
When the reporting period starts, a representative from your organisation will fill in the NDEI® Employer Survey. Depending on your organisation’s size and team structure, this could be someone from HR; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; senior management or whoever your go-to-people person is.
Your representative will answer questions about your workplace policies, practices and workforce.
We’ll ask questions about:
- Recruitment
- Diversity metrics
- Workplace adjustments
- Neurodiversity awareness
The NDEI® Employer Survey should take no more than one to two hours to complete, but you’ll have eight weeks from the beginning of the reporting period to gather the relevant information and double-check existing policies.
Completing the NDEI® Employer Survey helps us:
- Learn more about your organisation’s processes at every stage in the employment journey.
- Understand the policies, practices and programmes you already have that are inclusive to neurodivergent employees.
- Identify what to include in your roadmap for change for a more neurodiverse-friendly workplace.
- We take data protection seriously. Read our NDEI® data protection statement.
Step 3: NDEI® – the Employee Inclusion Survey
Another essential element of the NDEI® is the Employee Inclusion Survey This is a short survey designed for all employees at your organisation, to help us learn more about their experiences with neuroinclusion at your organisation.
Please invite all employees to respond, whether they are neurotypical or neurodivergent. We require a minimum of five employee responses. This survey should take no more than five-10 minutes to complete, and they do not need to prepare anything beforehand.
All employees’ answers to this survey are confidential and anonymous.
Step 4 – Your NDEI® Company Report and roadmap for change
After the reporting period has closed, we’ll be in touch shortly afterwards to provide you with your confidential, personalised report and score. You can download your report from the NDEI® system. We automatically calculate your score and recommendations based on the NDEI® Employer Survey and Employee Inclusion Survey answers.
You’ll learn about what you are already doing well, and we’ll share a roadmap for change to improve your neurodiversity-inclusive workplace practices. Some of these will include longer-term goals, but many of the actionable recommendations for accommodating neurodivergent people at work are free, quick and easy to implement.
The NDEI® Company Report will also include options for how you can access support to implement these recommendations.
Step 5 – Implementing recommendations from the NDEI®
Once you have your score and personalised roadmap for change, it’s time to start reviewing and amending your workplace practices to better support neurodivergent colleagues.
We want to help you feel confident implementing changes to help make your organisation a leading neuroinclusive employer. Whether that's accessing neurodiversity training for employers or learning about best practice for neurodivergent talent recruitment.
To help make these changes, you will have the option to hear from the Autistica Corporate and Commercial team, who can discuss your needs and advise on options such as consultancy, training, information resources and graduate schemes. This is an additional, paid-for service, but we also have free resources available through our Employers Guide to Neurodiversity.
Step 6: Repeat the NDEI® and measure your progress
Committing to creating an inclusive neurodiverse workplace isn’t a one-off thing. We know that making real changes to inclusivity can take time. That’s why we recommend revisiting and taking part in the NDEI® every year to improve your score and renew your award status.
This helps ensure your organisation track its progress, as well as ensure your policies and practices are in line with the latest research on workplace neuroinclusion.
Celebrating your success
We will run annual awards for organisations to celebrate their commitment to neurodiversity and success in making their workplace more inclusive for neurodivergent people.
If your organisation’s score meets the gold-standard threshold, you’ll be eligible for a gold, silver, or bronze NDEI® award. You’ll also have the chance to include your award in the annual market report and display it on your website and corporate materials, as a beacon of your inclusivity and to help you attract neurodivergent talent.
We will not share your NDEI® score or award status publicly without permission from your organisation.