In the second part of his blog for Neurodiversity Celebration Week, Norfolk Constabulary NPAA Coordinator Sergeant Andy Sampson-Munday shares his experience of disability discrimination, the importance of workplace policy, and the support he’s gained from the NPAA

The year is 2025 and neurodiversity is accepted and embraced in the workplace. The potential of the neurodiverse workforce has been unlocked, utilised, and celebrated.

That is how I wanted to start the blog – full of enthusiasm, with numerous examples and anecdotes to evidence the great contributions made by our neurodivergent colleagues. Despite all the positive changes that have been made, there is still work to be done to raise awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace, and to iron out inconsistent use of policy.

Change is a journey, and reflecting on my journey I want to share some learnings that might help you.

In 2021, I received the findings to my disability discrimination grievance. Details of mistakes, the need for organisational learning, part-apology, and, most shockingly, the revelation that there was not a disability management policy in place at the time. This is shocking because the Equality Act came into effect in 2010 – 11 years before my grievance – and my organisation still didn’t have a relevant policy in place.

Thankfully progress has been made, and we now have reasonable adjustment passports, dyslexia screening for new recruits and openly autistic officers. There remains work to be done to make these resources and policies more user-friendly and effective. For example:

• Making sure reasonable adjustment passports are accessible
• Prior to interviews, letting candidates know what the format is and providing (if reasonable) questions in advance
• When hosting a seminar, asking attendees ahead of time if they require any adjustments to allow them to fully participate

Another major piece of progress was the introduction of the National Police Autism Association. The NPAA started life as a local support group, and launched nationally in October 2015. The group’s aims are to support autistic and neurodivergent colleagues in policing, and to promote best practice for working with the autistic community.

Joining the NPAA provided me with reassurance that I was not alone. That simple thought ‘oh, there’s a Police support network’ was surprising and comforting at the same time.

As I have matured in my understanding of my autism and the wider neurodiversity landscape, the NPAA has allowed me to expand and grow. I have discovered a powerful drive to advocate for and support colleagues.

The NPAA has been a crucial source of support, knowledge and signposting to help me gain a greater understanding which I can pass on. More importantly is the knowledge that in the NPAA I have found people who ‘get it’. There is no way of quantifying that sense of belonging and of being understood.

How does the NPAA support its members?
The NPAA was conceived as an online community, based around a private web-based forum/message board. The network has grown steadily since then, and is now approaching 3,000 active members from across the UK. The forum acts as a safe online space for members to discuss personal and service delivery issues, and acts as a searchable knowledge hub for sharing information and resources.

The NPAA is recognised by the College of Policing, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Police Federation of England & Wales as a national staff network, and feeds back to these bodies with recommendations for supporting ND within the police service and developing ND-friendly policies. The NPAA works closely with its partner networks the ADHD Alliance and Police National Dyslexia Association, and the Disabled Police Association which provides national representation for neurodiversity as a facet of disability.

Examples of initiatives that the NPAA has assisted with:

• A short film produced by the Home Office as part of the Police Uplift programme, featuring the experiences of neurodivergent officers – the first time that neurodiversity has been featured in a national police recruitment campaign
• The first ever Neurodiversity in Policing Conference, hosted by Devon & Cornwall Police in 2020
• Provision of adjustments for ND police officers seeking promotion and career progression, developed through the College of Policing Neurodiversity Working Group – now embedded as best practice in the latest Competency & Values Framework
• A guide produced by the National Autistic Society for police officers and staff working with autistic people ∎

This blog was originally published on LinkedIn by Acas – it is reproduced here with kind permission of the author