Last month, Neurodiversity Awareness Week proved that its title is something of a misnomer. Beyond an excellent ‘Neurodiversity in Media’ panel at the IAB UK, the silence from creative circles was notable.

Turn back the clock a few years and neurodiversity was the creative sector's flagship cause. Thought leaders were everywhere. Trade press columns are saturated with talk of "creative superpowers”, "our organisational flexibility”, and the freedom to "bring our whole selves" to work. Considering estimates that nearly half (48%) of the talent in our industry is neurodiverse, this sudden evaporation of support goes beyond being a concerning trend. It smacks of being a crisis of commitment.

In a landscape defined by economic and political volatility, the AI sea change, and brutal redundancy cycles, you may dismiss neurodiverse representation as a "minor issue". A distraction from the bottom line and critical work on industry infrastructure. Let’s be clear: when you overlook neurodiversity, you overlook half of your workforce.

This is a sector that regularly trots out the claim that it is "all about the people”. "Our talent is our business" is a standard pitch-deck cliché. Yet, we are increasingly distracted by the shiny threats bound up within AI efficiencies. The upcoming All In Census will be the next litmus test, revealing how much DEI budgets have been sacrificed to corporate and political anxieties. It is a bitter irony that the very people being asked to do more with less, the creative engines of this industry, are the ones being pushed to the margins.

Research from MFHA England shows that 78% of neurodivergent individuals experience high workplace stress, driven by the exhausting pressures of workplace masking and sensory overload. While we must avoid generalisations, we cannot ignore the fact that neurodivergent talent rarely thrives on instability. Let’s face it: the current industry "aura" is hostile for those who require adaptation and trusted structures. This is precisely the moment when businesses should be doubling down on support for their staff, rather than retreating from it.

We are going to challenge this regression head-on. We are taking this fight to the biggest possible creative stage: Cannes Lions. There is no better place to disrupt global thinking, and on an issue going to the very heart of the industry’s greatest asset. But this should also serve as a warning: any business assuming a single awareness week or a solitary "moment" of attention for the issue is enough to support their talent, will have a reckoning coming.

The industry has also spilled buckets of ink on how to attract "diverse talent", to be able to connect with an equally diverse consumer base for clients. These are not two separate issues; they have the same pulse. If we fail to embed the structures necessary to nurture neurodiverse talent now, we aren't only failing our current staff—we risk slamming the door on the next generation. And in an industry where incoming, young diverse talent often looks for senior role models or “people like them”, adland often comes up short.

No matter the economic pressures or business restructuring, our talent deserves better. No one entering a creative career should ever feel forced to hide who they are just to survive the workday. This is not the time to backtrack on support for "different thinking" because the market got tough. This is the time to invest in the different thinkers, and support the people who are actually capable of leading this sector out of the woods.