Access to Work coaching for ADHD, autism and AuDHD

If you are neurodivergent and in paid work in the UK, you may be able to have coaching funded through Access to Work, a government grant that helps disabled people get and stay in work. For many of the women I work with, it is the difference between coaching being something they think they might benefit from one day and something they actually get to do.

Access to Work is not means-tested, it does not have to be paid back, and it does not affect your other benefits. It also does not require a formal diagnosis.

This page explains what Access to Work is, how the process works, what it can and cannot fund, and exactly what my coaching costs so that you or your case manager can see the numbers up front. If you are compiling a shortlist of coaches, or you need a written quote to submit with your application, I can provide one, details are at the bottom of this page.

What Access to Work is

Access to Work is a Department for Work and Pensions grant that pays for practical support you need to do your job because of a disability or health condition. That support can include specialist equipment, assistive software, travel costs, workplace adaptations, and the relevant one here, a support worker or job coach.

Coaching for ADHD, autism and AuDHD is usually funded under that support worker element. In practice this means one-to-one coaching focused on how your neurodivergence affects your work, and on building ways of working that fit how your brain actually works.

Two things worth knowing straight away:

• It is a grant, not a loan. You do not repay it, and it does not affect other benefits you receive.
• It is not the same as reasonable adjustments. Access to Work will not fund changes your employer is legally required to make under the Equality Act. Your adviser will tell your employer if something falls into that category instead.

Am I eligible?

To apply for an Access to Work grant you need to:

• Have a physical or mental health condition or disability that means you need support to do your job or get to and from work
• Be 16 or over
• Be in paid work, or about to start or return to paid work within the next 12 weeks
• Live and work in England, Scotland or Wales

ADHD and autism are both explicitly named by the DWP as conditions Access to Work covers.

A few specifics that come up often:

• You do not need a formal diagnosis. Eligibility is based on how your condition affects your ability to work, not on having completed an assessment. If you are on a waiting list, partway through assessment, or self-identifying with good reason, you can still apply. Supporting information such as a GP letter or confirmation that you are on an assessment waiting list can help.
• Self-employment counts. You need an annual turnover of at least £6,500.
• Part-time counts. So do apprenticeships, internships, work trials, work experience and placements. Voluntary work does not.
• Working from home counts. Your workplace includes your home if you work there some or all of the time.
• Northern Ireland has a separate scheme, run through nidirect. The Channel Islands and Isle of Man are not covered.
• Civil servants apply through their employer rather than through Access to Work.

If you are unsure, the Access to Work helpline (0800 121 7479) will talk it through with you, and there is a British Sign Language video relay service and an email-only option if phone calls are difficult.

How the process works, step by step

1. You apply. Online at gov.uk/access-to-work, or by phone. You do this yourself, though your employer will usually be contacted later.
2. An adviser contacts you. They will ask about your job, your condition and how it affects your work. They may ask permission to speak to your employer, and may arrange a workplace assessment by video call or in person.
3. You are asked what support you want. This is the point where having a quote already in hand is useful. Case managers frequently ask applicants to source their own coach and provide a quote.
4. You receive an award letter. It sets out how much has been granted and what it should be spent on, often a specified number of coaching hours or sessions.
5. Coaching starts. Access to Work only reimburses sessions delivered after the award is confirmed, so we begin once your letter is in place.
6. You claim the money back. You pay for sessions and submit invoices to Access to Work for reimbursement, or your employer does. I invoice in small batches as we go, precisely so that this does not leave you badly out of pocket.

A realistic note on timing. Access to Work has faced significant delays, and waits of several months between applying and receiving a decision have been widely reported. Apply as early as you can, and do not put other support on hold waiting for it. If your need is urgent, we can talk about starting on a self-funded basis and switching once your award comes through, though sessions delivered before the award date will not be reimbursed.

A note on employer contributions. Depending on the size of your employer and the type of support, Access to Work may ask your employer to contribute towards some of the cost. If you are self-employed this generally does not apply. Your adviser will confirm what applies in your case.

What Access to Work coaching with me involves

Access to Work funds coaching that is about your work. That is a genuine boundary, and I am upfront about it: this is not a route to fund general life coaching or therapy. But “about your work” is broader than it sounds, and for late-diagnosed and pre-diagnosis women it usually includes:

• Organisation, prioritisation, time management and task initiation, the executive function pieces
• Focus, energy management, and working with hyperfocus rather than against it
• Communication at work: meetings, written communication, managing expectations and saying no
• Understanding your own profile: what actually drains you, what restores you, what conditions you work best in
• Masking at work, what it costs you, and making deliberate choices about where to drop it
• Disclosure: whether, when, to whom, and in what words
• Identifying and requesting reasonable adjustments, and preparing for those conversations
• Preventing and recovering from burnout, including autistic burnout
• Navigating work while going through a formal ADHD or autism assessment
• The combined impact of perimenopause and neurodivergence on cognition, energy and mood at work, a particular specialism of mine
• Building sustainable, individually tailored ways of working, rather than generic productivity tips you have already tried

I work neuroaffirmingly. The goal is not to make you look more neurotypical at work. It is to build a working life that does not require you to.

My Access to Work coaching package

These are my self-funded rates, which are the same rates that apply to Access to Work funded coaching. A discount is built into the 12-session block in recognition of the guaranteed, funded commitment. VAT is not applicable.

What the package includes

• First step: a free 30-minute discovery call to check fit, with no charge or obligation
• Format: one-to-one coaching, online via Zoom or by telephone
• Structure: 12 sessions, usually fortnightly, over approximately six months
• Flexibility: the block scales to match the number of hours specified in your award letter, 12 sessions is indicative, not fixed
• Progress reporting: a brief progress summary is available on request, with your consent
• Payment: sessions are invoiced in arrears as they are completed, typically monthly or after every two sessions, so each invoice can be submitted for reimbursement. No upfront payment for the full block is required.
• Rescheduling: 48 hours' notice to reschedule without charge
• Validity: quotes are valid for three months; sessions to be used within 12 months of your award letter date

Twelve sessions is the most common award for neurodivergence coaching, and can sometimes be extended. If your award is for a different number of hours, the package is adjusted accordingly.

Why work with me

A late diagnosis, or the dawning recognition that you might be neurodivergent, rarely stays neatly inside the boundary of workplace strategies. It surfaces identity questions, grief, decades of misattribution, and often significant burnout. Access to Work coaching should be work-focused, and mine is, but you need a coach who can hold the rest of it confidently and professionally when it arrives in the room, because it will.

My HR and recruitment background

Before I trained as a coach and therapist, I spent a decade working in HR and recruitment across publishing, consumer brands, financial services and hospitality. I ended up specialising in building HR and recruitment functions from scratch. Along the way I trained hiring managers in how to interview, coached leaders in having difficult conversations, supported employees in their career development and managed people-related business risk.

This matters more for Access to Work coaching than it might for other kinds of coaching, because it means I have sat on the other side of the desk. I know how organisations actually decide about adjustments, and how differently the same request lands depending on how it is framed and who it goes to. I know what a disclosure conversation looks like from the manager's chair. I know how recruitment processes screen people out before anyone has met them, and which parts of a process are genuinely fixed versus merely habitual. And I know how performance conversations get started and progress, which matters because many neurodivergent people first meet HR through a process that has misread them.

So when we work on requesting adjustments, preparing for a conversation you are dreading, deciding whether a role is salvageable, or working out how to approach a job search that does not punish you for how your brain works, that is the experience I am drawing on alongside the coaching and the therapy training.

It is also, honestly, why I do this at all. I love helping people find the work, and the way of working, that lets them thrive, rather than the version of themselves they have been contorting to fit.

My training and accreditation

• EMCC Global Accredited Senior Practitioner in Coaching
• BACP-accredited counsellor and clinical supervisor
• A decade in HR and recruitment before coaching, including HR Business Partner and Recruitment Manager roles, with insider knowledge of adjustments, disclosure, hiring and how workplaces really operate
• Specialist autism training through The Autistic Advocate's Inside of Autism programme, which is autistic-led and rigorously neuroaffirming
• Specialist ADHD and AuDHD training through Free2bMe's Certificate in Neuroaffirming Practice
• Training in neurodiversity and eating disorders, NEDDE
• Particular expertise in neurodivergence and hormonal transitions, especially perimenopause, menopause, POI and PMDD, including speaking on the Clearly Clinical professional development podcast on Brains and Bodies: Neurodivergence and Hormonal Change Across the AFAB Lifespan
• Late-diagnosed ADHD myself, and self-identified AuDHD

I primarily work with people who identify as cis women, and my coaching is open to anyone whose experience of neurodivergence has been shaped by being read as a woman or AFAB.

Access to Work coaching FAQs

Do I need a diagnosis to get Access to Work coaching?

No. Access to Work eligibility is based on how a condition affects your ability to work, not on whether you have a completed assessment. I regularly work with clients who are on an assessment waiting list, partway through assessment, or self-identifying. Supporting evidence such as a GP letter or confirmation of your place on a waiting list can strengthen an application, but a formal diagnosis is not a requirement.

Can you provide a quote for my Access to Work application?

Yes, and there is no charge for this. I provide a written quote setting out my qualifications, the proposed programme, focus areas, session structure, pricing and terms, in a format designed to be submitted directly to your case manager. If your case manager needs anything further from me, they can contact me directly.

I am shortlisting coaches for my case manager. What do you need from me?

Just an email. Tell me roughly what you are hoping to work on and, if you know it, the number of hours or sessions your case manager has indicated. I will send a quote back. You are very welcome to book a discovery call first, but you do not have to, I understand that shortlisting often happens before you have decided who you want to work with.

Do I have to pay for the coaching myself and claim it back?

Usually, yes, that is how the scheme works. I keep this manageable by invoicing in arrears in small batches, typically monthly or after every two sessions, rather than requiring payment for the whole block upfront. That way you are only ever out of pocket for a session or two at a time while reimbursement comes through. In some cases your employer handles the payment and claim instead.

How long does an Access to Work application take?

Usually longer than anyone would like. Waits of several months from application to decision have been widely reported. Apply as early as you can. If you need support sooner, talk to me, we can look at starting on a self-funded basis, though sessions delivered before your award date will not be reimbursed.

How many sessions will Access to Work fund?

It varies, and it is decided by your case manager. Twelve sessions is the most common award for neurodivergence coaching, sometimes extended to 24 for more intensive needs. My package is built around 12 and scales to whatever your award letter specifies.

Can Access to Work fund coaching if I am self-employed?

Yes, provided your annual turnover is at least £6,500 and you meet the other eligibility criteria. Employer cost-sharing generally does not apply to self-employed applicants, though your adviser will confirm the details in your case.

Does my employer have to know?

Your employer will usually be contacted as part of the process, particularly if a workplace assessment is involved, so Access to Work is not generally a route to entirely confidential support. That said, the conversation you have with your employer is one we can prepare for together, and disclosure is a topic clients often want to work on. If keeping this private is essential to you right now, self-funded coaching may be the better fit, please raise this in the discovery call.

Will Access to Work fund therapy or life coaching?

No, and it is worth being clear about this before you apply. The Access to Work grant funds support related to your work, and what I offer through it is coaching. Access to Work does run a separate mental health support service, but it is a different application with its own contracted providers, it does not fund independent therapists, and you can normally only apply for it once, so it is worth being sure which support you actually want before you use it.

I also offer specialist therapy for neurodivergent women through my separate practice, The Menopause Therapist. That is self-funded work and sits entirely outside Access to Work. The coaching described on this page is the only Access to Work route that I work with.

Because I am a qualified therapist as well as a coach, I can hold the identity, grief and burnout material that inevitably surfaces alongside the work-focused coaching. But if what you actually need is therapy rather than coaching, I will say so, and we can talk about the options.

Is the coaching online?

Yes, sessions are online via Zoom or by telephone. Many neurodivergent clients prefer this for sensory and energy reasons, and because it removes the travel and social load of an in-person meeting.

What if my award comes through and I do not want to work with you after all?

That is completely fine, and it is exactly what the free discovery call is for. A quote is not a booking, and it commits you to nothing. If we are not the right fit, I would rather you found the coach who is.

Related coaching

Access to Work coaching rarely sits on its own. You can read more about:

• ADHD and autism coaching, the broader pillar page on ADHD, autism and AuDHD coaching
• Late autism and AuDHD diagnosis coaching, identity, unmasking, burnout and what comes next
• ADHD, autism and menopause coaching, where neurodivergence and hormonal change overlap
• Career coaching, for rethinking your working life more broadly
• Coaching fees, my full standard rates

Ready to talk?

If you need a quote for your Access to Work application, contact me with a short note about what you are hoping to work on and, if you know it, the number of sessions or hours indicated by your case manager. I will send a written quote back that you can submit with your application. There is no charge and no obligation.

If you would rather talk first, I offer a free 30-minute discovery call so we can explore whether coaching feels like the right support for you. “I have been told to find a coach and I do not really know where to start” is a completely valid place to begin.

This page is general information about the Access to Work scheme, not formal advice on your application. Scheme rules and figures change. For official guidance and to apply, see gov.uk/access-to-work or call the Access to Work helpline on 0800 121 7479.

Last reviewed: August 2026