The framework

The 16 archetypes of Neuroinclusion

Every result in the How neuroinclusive are you? self-check resolves to a four-letter code and one of sixteen archetypes — from The Strengths-based Champion to The Unaware Default . They sit where Awareness × Adjustment meets Strengths × Safety.

Read your code

Your four letters describe how you show up across four dimensions. The first two place you on Awareness × Adjustment; the last two on Strengths × Safety.

Awareness A Aware · U Unaware

Adjustment F Flexible · R Rigid

Strengths-lens S Strengths · D Deficit

Safety O Open / safe · J Judging

The map

Rows: Awareness × Adjustment. Columns: Strengths × Safety. Your type is where they meet.

Strengths-based & safe

Sees talent, feels unsafe

Supportive but deficit-framed

Problem-focused

Genuinely adaptive

AFSO The Strengths-based Champion AFSJ The Quiet Enabler AFDO The Caring Fixer AFDJ The Practical Supporter

Accommodating on instinct

UFSO The Natural Includer UFSJ The Instinctive Adjuster UFDO The Willing Helper UFDJ The Good-natured Improviser

Knows but won't budge

ARSO The Warm Realist ARSJ The Knowing Observer ARDO The Kind Traditionalist ARDJ The Informed Bystander

One-size-fits-all

URSO The Steady Friend URSJ The Cautious Wellwisher URDO The Approachable Sceptic URDJ The Unaware Default

All sixteen, in detail

AFSO

The Strengths-based Champion

Aware, flexible, strengths-focused and safe — understands how differently people thrive, flexes without fuss, backs talent over deficit, and makes it easy to ask for what's needed.

Watch out for: Assuming you've got it sorted — every neurodivergent person is different, so keep asking the individual rather than applying yesterday's solution to today's colleague.

This is neuroinclusion as second nature. You understand how differently minds work, you flex the how without drama, you lead with what someone's brilliant at, and you've built the kind of trust where asking for what you need feels ordinary, not risky. All four instincts pull together: the awareness feeds the flexing, the strengths lens shapes the safety, and people get to do their best work as themselves. This is the gold standard others are growing towards. The only edge left is complacency — every neurodivergent person is different, so keep asking the individual rather than reaching for yesterday's solution.

AFSJ

The Quiet Enabler

Clued-up, adaptable and genuinely strengths-focused, but something in the climate means people don't quite feel safe enough to be open with you.

Watch out for: Doing great work people can't see — if it never feels safe to ask, your flexibility goes unused. Name out loud that requests are welcome and never held against anyone.

You've done the harder learning — you understand neurodivergence, you flex readily, and you genuinely back what people are great at. Three of your four instincts are exactly where they should be. What holds you just short of the gold standard is the climate: something keeps people guarded, so they don't quite feel safe enough to tell you what they need. Maybe the warmth is there but unspoken, or the culture around you signals caution. The result is that your real flexibility goes unused, because nobody asks. The growth edge is to make the invitation explicit — say out loud that requests are welcome and never held against anyone.

AFDO

The Caring Fixer

Aware, flexible and warm enough that people open up, but you frame neurodivergence as struggles to manage rather than strengths to build on.

Watch out for: Helping people cope instead of helping them shine. Keep the support, but ask 'what are they brilliant at?' as readily as 'what do they find hard?'

You understand neurodivergence, you flex willingly, and you're warm enough that people open up to you — that hard-won safety is real and worth protecting. What quietly limits you is the lens you look through: you see neurodivergence as a set of struggles to manage rather than strengths to build on, so your kindness ends up helping people cope rather than shine. The support is genuine; the framing keeps it small. The shift towards the gold standard is one of story, not effort — ask 'what are they brilliant at?' as readily as 'what do they find hard?', and let contribution, not coping, lead. The talent's already there to back.

AFDJ

The Practical Supporter

Knowledgeable and happy to adjust, but you lean towards difficulties over talents and people stay a little guarded with you.

Watch out for: Solving for problems no one's felt safe to confirm — your adjustments may miss the mark. Lead with strengths and make the asking safe, and the right support reveals itself.

You know your stuff and you're happy to adjust — the understanding and the willingness to flex are both genuinely there. What pulls against them is a pair of habits: you lean towards difficulties rather than talents, and people stay a little guarded with you, so they don't confirm what they actually need. The result is adjustment aimed at problems no one's felt safe to name — well-meant, but liable to miss the mark. Two small shifts move you towards the gold standard. Lead with what someone's good at, and make the asking feel safe. Do both, and the right support stops being a guess and starts revealing itself.

ARSO

The Warm Realist

Understands neurodivergence well, sees the strengths, and makes people feel safe — but the way work actually gets done stays pretty fixed.

Watch out for: Sympathy without adjustment — people feel heard but not helped. The gap is small; turn what you already understand into one concrete change to how things run.

You've got so much of this right — you understand neurodivergence well, you see the strengths people bring, and you make them feel genuinely safe. Three instincts in exactly the right place. The single thing missing is movement: for all the awareness and warmth, the way work actually gets done stays fixed, so people feel heard but not yet helped. That's sympathy without adjustment, and the gap between them is smaller than it feels. The growth edge towards the gold standard is concrete, not attitudinal — take one thing you already understand and turn it into a single real change to how things run. Let the flexing catch up with the caring.

ARSJ

The Knowing Observer

Genuinely informed and strengths-minded, but rigid in practice and not yet someone people feel safe opening up to.

Watch out for: Knowing a lot while little changes — insight that never moves the furniture helps no one. Pick one small flex, make it safe to ask, and start there.

You're genuinely informed and you think in strengths — you know neurodivergence isn't a deficit, and you can see the talent. That understanding is a real asset. What keeps it from reaching anyone is that two things stay stuck: the way work runs is rigid, and you're not yet someone people feel safe opening up to. So the insight sits in your head while the furniture never moves. Knowing a lot helps no one until it changes something. The path towards the gold standard is small and practical — pick one flex you can actually make, signal that asking is welcome, and start there. Let what you know begin to shift what you do.

ARDO

The Kind Traditionalist

Aware and approachable, people feel safe with you, but you frame neurodivergence as difficulty and keep the way work's done largely unchanged.

Watch out for: Warmth standing in for change — being lovely to confide in isn't the same as flexing. Match the kindness with a willingness to do things differently.

You're aware and approachable, and people feel safe enough to confide in you — that openness is precious and not everyone earns it. Where you fall short of the gold standard is twofold: you frame neurodivergence as difficulty rather than strength, and the way work's done stays largely unchanged. So being lovely to talk to ends up standing in for actually flexing. Warmth is the door; people still need something to change once they're through it. Two gentle shifts close the gap — let the kindness translate into doing things differently, and ask what someone's brilliant at as readily as what they find hard. Trust plus adjustment plus a strengths lens is where this is heading.

ARDJ

The Informed Bystander

Has the understanding but stays fixed in how things run, leans on deficits, and people don't feel especially safe — knowing, but not yet acting on it.

Watch out for: Letting awareness sit on a shelf — knowing the theory while nothing shifts in practice. Start with one strength you can name and one adjustment you can offer.

You've done the reading — the understanding is real, and that's a genuine head start. The trouble is it sits on a shelf: the way things run stays fixed, the lens leans towards deficits, and people don't feel especially safe opening up. So you know the theory while almost nothing shifts in practice, which helps no one in the room with you. This isn't a knowledge gap — it's a doing gap, and that's actually easier to close. The growth edge towards the gold standard is to pick something small in each direction: one strength you can name out loud, and one adjustment you can offer. Let knowing become doing.

UFSO

The Natural Includer

Not yet clued-up on neurodivergence, but flexible, strengths-spotting and safe — gets a lot right by instinct and good heart.

Watch out for: Good instincts without the why can wobble under pressure. A little understanding turns your lucky guesses into reliable judgement — and helps you explain it to others.

You're a natural — flexible, quick to spot what people are good at, and the sort of person others feel safe around. Three instincts pointing the right way, all running on good heart rather than theory. The one thing missing is the understanding underneath: you're not yet clued-up on neurodivergence, so your kindness works by instinct, which is lovely until pressure or an unfamiliar situation makes the guesses wobble. The growth edge towards the gold standard isn't a personality change — it's a little knowledge. Learn the why behind what you already do well, and your lucky guesses become reliable judgement you can trust under pressure and explain to others.

UFSJ

The Instinctive Adjuster

Flexible and quick to see what someone's good at, but light on understanding and not yet safe to confide in.

Watch out for: Adjusting in the dark — without understanding or trust, you're guessing at what helps. Learn a little, and make it clear that asking is welcome, not a burden.

You flex readily and you're quick to see what someone's good at — that willingness and that strengths instinct are both genuinely valuable. What undercuts them is working in the dark: you're light on understanding and you're not yet someone people feel safe confiding in, so you're adjusting without really knowing what helps or hearing it from the person themselves. Good moves, aimed by guesswork. Two shifts bring you towards the gold standard — learn a little about how differently minds work, and make it plain that asking is welcome rather than a burden. With understanding and trust behind it, your instinct to adjust starts landing where it's actually needed.

UFDO

The Willing Helper

Happy to flex and people feel safe with you, but you don't yet understand neurodivergence well and tend to frame it as difficulty.

Watch out for: Accommodating the struggle while missing the talent. Pair your willingness with curiosity about what each person is genuinely great at.

You're happy to flex and people feel safe with you — willingness and warmth, two of the things that matter most, already in place. Where you fall short of the gold standard is a pair of gaps: you don't yet understand neurodivergence well, and you tend to frame it as difficulty, so you end up accommodating the struggle while missing the talent right in front of you. The support is real; it's just aimed at coping rather than contribution. The growth edge is curiosity in two directions — learn a little about how differently minds work, and get genuinely interested in what each person is great at. Pair that with the willingness you already have, and your help lands fuller.

UFDJ

The Good-natured Improviser

Flexible and well-meaning, but under-informed, deficit-leaning, and not yet someone people feel safe being open with.

Watch out for: Flexing on guesswork — kindness without understanding or safety often misses. Start by learning a little and asking the person, rather than deciding for them.

Your willingness to flex and your good intentions are real, and they count for a lot — you're not someone who insists on one rigid way. What works against you is everything around that flexibility: you're under-informed, you lean towards difficulties over talents, and people don't yet feel safe being open with you. So you improvise kindly, but mostly on guesswork, and good-natured guesses often miss. The growth edge towards the gold standard is to stop deciding for people and start with them — learn a little about how differently minds work, ask the person what would actually help, and signal that asking is welcome. Understanding, strengths and safety turn improvising into genuinely fitting support.

URSO

The Steady Friend

Not yet up to speed and fixed in how you work, but you see people's strengths and they feel safe with you — a strong foundation to build on.

Watch out for: Safe and warm, but nothing flexes — people trust you and still hit the same walls. Use that trust: ask what would help, then actually change something.

You see people's strengths and they feel safe with you — that combination of warmth and a strengths lens is a strong foundation, the part many people find hardest. What holds you back is that you're not yet up to speed on neurodivergence and the way you work stays fixed, so people trust you and still keep hitting the same walls. Safe and warm, but nothing flexes. The good news is you already have the trust most people are working to earn. The growth edge towards the gold standard is to spend it — use that trust to ask what would actually help, learn a little, and then change something real. The foundation's laid; now build on it.

URSJ

The Cautious Wellwisher

Means well and notices talent, but you're under-informed, set in your ways, and people stay guarded with you.

Watch out for: Good intentions that never reach anyone — without understanding, flex or safety, the goodwill stays stuck. One small step in any direction beats waiting to feel ready.

Your heart's in the right place and you do notice talent — that goodwill and that eye for strengths are a genuine starting point, not nothing. What keeps the goodwill stuck is that three things aren't yet in place: you're under-informed, set in how you work, and people stay guarded with you. So the kind intentions never quite reach anyone. There's no shame in this — it's simply early days. The path towards the gold standard is gentle and you don't have to do it all at once: one small step in any direction — a little learning, one flex, one signal that asking is welcome — beats waiting until you feel ready. Each step makes the next one easier.

URDO

The Approachable Sceptic

People find you easy to talk to, but you don't yet understand neurodivergence, keep things fixed, and see difficulty before talent.

Watch out for: Being likeable isn't the same as being inclusive — your warmth opens the door, but people need flex and a strengths lens once they're through it. Get curious.

People find you easy to talk to — that approachability is real, and it's the thing that lets someone risk opening up at all. But likeable isn't the same as inclusive, and three things hold you back: you don't yet understand neurodivergence, you keep things fixed, and you see difficulty before talent. So your warmth opens the door, but once people are through it there's no flex and no strengths lens waiting for them. The growth edge towards the gold standard is curiosity — get genuinely interested in how differently minds work, in what each person is brilliant at, and in what would actually help. Let the openness lead somewhere, and your easy manner becomes real inclusion.

URDJ

The Unaware Default

Not yet clued-up, fixed in how things run, focused on difficulties, and not someone people feel safe opening up to — the most stuck corner, but every bit of it is movable.

Watch out for: Believing this isn't for you, or that 'we treat everyone the same' is fair — it quietly excludes. You don't have to leap; start with awareness and let one small, willing step lead the next.

This is the most stuck corner of all four lenses — not yet clued-up, fixed in how things run, focused on difficulties, and not yet someone people feel safe opening up to. Said with real warmth and not a shred of shame: this is simply where the journey hasn't started, and every bit of it is movable. Almost everyone begins here or near it. The trap is thinking this isn't for you, or that 'we treat everyone the same' is fair — when sameness quietly excludes the people who work differently. You don't have to transform overnight; that pressure is what keeps people frozen. Start with awareness alone, and let one small, willing step lead gently to the next.

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