Neurodiverse Nursing Stories

Aaron is a major trauma staff nurse who was diagnosed with Dyslexia with association of visual stress in 2017 when he was training to be an HCA.

• Admin is challenging but Aaron has developed coping skills
• Aaron brings many strengths to clinical practice
• His way of seeing and solving problems is effective and his explanations are accessible and therefore reassuring for patients
• At university Aaron had support with his academic work but struggled to adapt strategies to help with placement
• Once employed Access to Work were able to provide software
• Aaron uses his lived experiences to support RCN and Trust work on Neurodiversity ensuring this is based on a real understanding of neurodiverse staff and patients. 

Hello. 

Recently the government have stated that every NHS and social care worker in England will have to undergo mandatory training on autism and learning disability following the death of Oliver. 

That is good news but it could have been avoided if the NHS was more proactive instead of reactive.

Autism is close to my heart. I have a son who has recently been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome and a young daughter who has Triple X syndrome. I need to confess that despite being a nurse my autism knowledge was minimal. Only after my son’s diagnosis have I discovered that I am also autistic.

I always felt different. As I was growing up I got used to be “the odd one”. I am very creative. I always had 100 of ideas, most of them useless but occasionally one of them is brilliant but unfortunately during my nursing career I often felt constricted by the hierarchic system that traditionally has been task orientated and I felt I couldn’t be myself or express my ideas properly. In a few occasions that I tried it did not end well and often managers isolated me and invited me to find another job.

In view of keeping my job I learnt to comply and I went back to my safe mode of performing tasks. I was still constantly looking for ways to make a difference and express my creativity but I became frustrated. I went home at the end of every shift demoralised, deflated and sad. My nursing career began to drift and I ended up working on the nurse bank, where I became even more detached and unappreciated. I was feeling undervalued and unable to make the difference. Because of that, I felt emotionally drained and I started to develop negative attitudes and feelings towards patients, and a growing devaluation of my own competence. I could say that my care was compromised. At that point I knew that it was time to move to a new role.

There are two core things all staff with autism need: An understanding line manager and the right environment. When I had these I achieved so much more success in my roles.


The places where I thrived I had managers that instead embraced my different way of thinking, allowed me to be myself and always asked me how she/he could support me. In the last few years I have achieved success working in roles where my passion was used to drive change. Now that I am a senior nurse I want to help people like me for that reason.

We are losing neurodiverse nurses because the support is not there for a lot of them. We are losing nurses because there is a stigma attached to autism and many do not want to disclose their diagnosis. We are losing nurses when we absolutely cannot afford to lose nurses.

Being autistic in nursing has its challenges. I have burnt out due to the demands of nursing, the environment, the unrelenting workload. Somehow, I have always managed to bounce back. It is not made easier when your colleagues (across all bands) refuse to believe your diagnosis or make comments such as “you don’t look autistic” or “you have a wife and a family”. I want my strengths to be seen and valued. I want to be viewed as an individual who is more than a diagnosis. Autism is not a disease.

For years I tried to fit in, hide my differences, but I do not want to hide anymore. I’m openly autistic at work in the hope that it will challenge stereotypes and gradually improve the working lives of autistic nurses like me.

I want to make things easy for Autism Nurses. I learnt the hard way.

Autism is much more common than many people think. There are around 700,000 people on the autism spectrum in the UK – that's more than 1 in 100. If you include their families, autism is a part of daily life for 2.8 million people.

On 31 March 2019, there were 698,237 Nurses on NMC register meaning that there is a large number of Nurses with Autism working at present.

How many neurodiverse Nurses are leaving because they don’t feel supported?

Nobody knows…

NHS don’t have any data, NMC doesn’t know. It’s like we don’t exist. We are invisible.

Autism is a hidden disability. It is often more challenging to make reasonable adjustments because managers don’t have the information required to make these.

I am grateful for The RCN that now is trying to change that creating this valuable resources.

From the bottom of my heart. THANK YOU.

Mike is a registered nurse associate in the NHS at a Community Hospital. Mike says he gets pleasure from helping others so it's a great career choice for him! Through his work Mike not only delivers excellent patient centred care but also shows those around him the potential of autistic people and how they can enhance any workplace. 

At the age of 44 he was diagnosed as on the autism spectrum. Mike describes himself as a 'child who did not fit in' and this was in a time when Autism was not widely recognised as it is today. 

A special interest in SciFi led Mike to a career in technical illustration where his eye for detail contributed to his success. But later on as he began working as a support worker for people with autism and learning difficulties, Mike excelled and related very well to those he was supporting - even before his own diagnosis. This would lead him to be an HCA before training to be a registered nurse associate. 

Mike spent 44 years 'masking' (concealing his true self and personality to conform to societal norms and expectations). But now he is delighted to be able to share his experiences and knowledge with others with the goal of educating on the autism spectrum and the benefits of embracing difference.

Mike advice to any autistic person is - 'don't hide, be yourself. Find someone to trust and understand where you are going in the workplace you are in. It may be an 'alien' environment to us but there are common grounds to build on.' Mike talks about learning from each other in the video on the right. 

To managers, Mike suggests that taking time to really know your staff is key. Then you can benefit from their strengths and support them to develop in their weaker areas (we all have them). This helps ensure a safe and effective team. 

Kaynath's story begins with a formal diagnosis of Dyslexia at the start of her nursing degree. Now in her third year, she reflects on her experiences.

Key points:

• It can be difficult to get a formal diagnosis; speak to your university's disability support team for advice.
• Processes for disclosing a disability vary depending on your university. Check if and how your needs will be shared with your placement providers automatically.
• Reasonable adjustments can be expected both at the university and on placements. These are often inexpensive and for Dyslexia may relate to extra time or quiet space to complete tasks.
• Disabled Students Allowance may be able to fund additional support such as coaching or equipment.
• Stand up for yourself and recognise the great strengths that you are bringing to nursing.
• If you are in employment, Access to Work may be able to fund some or all of your reasonable adjustments, even without a formal diagnosis.