Performance Reviews: A Guide for Neurodivergent Employees

June 19, 2026

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This guide explains what performance reviews are, why they can be harder for neurodivergent employees, and how to approach them with more clarity and confidence. It covers understanding your working style, reviewing your achievements and goals, communicating your needs, and requesting adjustments for a fair review. It also shows how managers can make reviews more inclusive through clear communication, flexibility, structure, and strengths-based feedback.

Introduction

A performance review for neurodivergent employees (i.e. those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia) is a formal discussion between a manager and employee about job performance. (1, 2, 3)

Key aspects of performance reviews include: (1)

- Formal assessment: This is when employees have the chance to gain feedback on their work during a specific time frame. This can be annually, quarterly, or bi-annually.
- Goal setting: Performance reviews encourage employees and their managers to work together to set clear goals for employees based on any feedback managers give them.

1:1 conversation: Employees and their managers have the chance to discuss strengths and areas for development in a 1:1 performance review.

Feedback from peers: An employee may sometimes receive feedback from a colleague rather than their manager during a performance review.

Another term for a performance review is an “appraisal.” (2)

Performance reviews may be easier for neurotypical employees than for neurodivergent employees, who can find them more challenging. (4, 3)

Common challenges may include:

Vague feedback
Complex written documents
Long meetings, unclear expectations, difficulty interpreting non-verbal communication, or heightened sensitivity to criticism.
Difficulty interpreting and using non-verbal cues and body language in a 1:1 setting, particularly for autistic employees (although some autistic employees may be non-verbal themselves).
Doubting their own abilities and finding it difficult to receive feedback. Employees who have ADHD, low self-esteem and rejection sensitivity may especially experience these challenges.

Understanding Your Own Working Style

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As a neurodivergent employee, it can be helpful to understand your working preferences, strengths, processing style, communication needs, and any adjustments that may support you at work. (5, 6)

We at Exceptional Individuals (most of us are neurodivergent) have our own personal user manuals that outline our:

Interests
Values
Communication style preferences
Preferred work tasks
Time preferences for meetings
Methods of engagement

By understanding how you process information, communicate, use your strengths, and manage challenges, you can advocate for the adjustments adjustments that you need to fully thrive in the workplace. (7, 8)

You may find it helpful understand your own working styles as follows: (9)

Logging your energy levels.
Noting factors that energise you or exhaust you.
Creating a control circle where you can pinpoint things you can control or things that are beyond your control.
Improving your window of tolerance.
Creating a personal user manual for yourself.
Utilising task management tools.

Preparing for the Review

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If you are a neurodivergent employee, you might find it useful to prepare for face-to-face performance reviews in the following ways: (10)

Writing an effective self-review: Summarise your performance before your formal review.
Aligning annual goals: Set goals that match your manager’s expectations and your team’s or company’s priorities.
Writing what you plan to do: Write clear goals based on your planned work and align them with future team and company priorities.
Connecting your annual goals to what you did. Compare your current and past goals and note what you achieved and how those goals changed over time.
Asking yourself what you want your manager to know: Highlight your key wins, growth, and how your successes supported team and company goals.
Asking yourself why your goals changed if they did: Explain goal changes positively, especially if priorities shifted for you or your manager.
Considering why your priorities changed: Review changing priorities and replace lower-value work with what matters most.
Reviewing calendar invitations: Check past meetings and emails in your calendar to reconnect goals with your progress.
Asking yourself how you grew and how your goals evolved: Reflect on how you developed, handled challenges, and what you are proud of.
Turning your losses into successes: Show how setbacks led to better outcomes or learning.
Noting your strengths: Focus on your strengths, what you learnt, and what you want to achieve next.
Sharing concise examples of your successes: Use brief bullet points to show achievements, growth, and key lessons for the year ahead.
Talking to your manager in advance: Ask for a pre-review chat so you know what to expect and how to prepare.
Writing what you wish to discuss in an offline format: Draft your points in a document, notes app, or on paper before the review.
Recapping the above points. These tips can help with both in-person and online performance reviews.

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How Can Managers Support Neurodivergent Employees in Performance Reviews?

Managers can support neurodivergent employees by giving review questions or agendas in advance, providing written feedback as well as verbal feedback, being specific about examples and expectations, allowing processing time, focusing on strengths as well as development areas, and agreeing clear next steps after the conversation. (11, 3)

Communicating Effectively During the Review

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Also, if you are a manager, you can communicate effectively with your neurodivergent employees during performance reviews as follows: (12)

Providing clear communication channels.
Using concise language.
Providing written summaries of verbal discussions.

If you are a neurodivergent employee, you can communicate effectively with your manager as follows: (13, 14)

Knowing that it is a two-way conversation.
Asking them questions.
Reflecting on the performance review as an annual job interview.
Giving your manager your needs, your perspectives and what you want to discuss.
Ensuring you align with your manager in terms of your expectations and theirs.

How Neurodiversity Workshops Support Employees and Managers

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Neurodiversity workshops support employees and managers by equipping them with practical tools to understand each other better, and to create a safe, supportive and productive workplace. They are also designed to engage and empower employees and their managers.

If you manage neurodivergent employees, you can find out more about neurodiversity training and workshops here.

Performance reviews are more effective when neurodivergent employees have the structure and support to prepare and communicate clearly. By reflecting on achievements, planning key points, and requesting adjustments where needed, employees can approach reviews with more confidence. Managers also play a key role by making reviews clearer, fairer, and more inclusive. Together, they can create a more positive and productive review experience.

If you are a neurodivergent employee, prepare early, reflect on your achievements, and communicate the support you need. If you are a manager, make reviews more inclusive with clear feedback, structure, flexibility, and reasonable adjustments. Together, these steps can make review conversations more supportive and effective.

Sources

Bamboo HR Blog’s How to Conduct Performance Reviews: The Essential Guide for HR Teams: https://www.bamboohr.com/blog/performance-reviews-guide
ACAS’s Performance management: Reviews and appraisals:

https://www.acas.org.uk/performance-management