Neurodiversity, it has been assumed, is more common in self-employment than employment. The freedom to choose where, how and when you work are likely to appeal to the neurodivergent. Push factors such as struggling to work in a conventional work environment are also often cited.

But if you wanted some hard data to back up these assumptions, you were very often left scrolling the depths of the internet in search of this confirmation. That is until now.

As part of ADHD awareness month, IPSE has been working closely with IPSE member Britt Sarony (do go check out her amazing work as Co-Lead of Bloom Neurodiversity) to quantify these assumptions.

As part of our quarterly Confidence Index surveys, we asked 573 freelancers a series of questions relating to neurodiversity.

In total, 18% of the self-employed consider themselves to be neurodiverse. This is slightly higher than the UK-wide estimation of 15%, suggesting that the self-employed are slightly more likely to be neurodiverse.

Of those that reported that they were neurodiverse, 43% indicated that they had Autism, 28% reported they had ADHD or ADD whilst a further 12% had Dyslexia. A further 2% indicated that they have Dyscalculia.

Overall, 63% of all freelancers thought that there was a beneficial link between neurodiversity and self-employment – a very positive indication that self-employment works for the neurodiverse.

We know from previous IPSE research that cognitive differences mean that some neurodiverse individuals are likely to look at business differently. This may mean that they are not suited to conventional work environments, but more often than not, it means that they thrive when working for themselves.

Many have reported that self-employment has allowed them to specialise on their unique skillsets whilst outsourcing tasks that perhaps they’re not as good at, such as admin or accounting.

IPSE’s former CEO, Derek Cribb, recently wrote about his own experience of ADHD and why freelancing suits him better. He also focused on the importance of having neurodivergent voices in a business setting, with clients keen to get differing views and skillsets to maximise their business performance and efficiency.

Clients, therefore, also benefit from the significant proportion of neurodivergent freelancers that are able to bring their unique skillsets to businesses across the UK.

We’re keen to build on these initial findings that suggests that the neurodiverse are indeed more likely to operate in self-employment. Future research will likely examine the overall experience of the neurodiverse in self-employment, focusing on the key challenges they face whilst working in this way.

If you have any thoughts you would like to share, we would be extremely grateful if you could you use the anonymous form below.