Corporate Vision Neurodiversity Trainer of the Year 2025: Aisling Smith With the increased awareness of neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD making headlines, empowering neurodivergent employees should be one of the main focus areas for companies looking to be inclusive and welcoming of all staff. Somebody passionate about this is Aisling Smith, a lived-experience educator and the visionary behind NeuroEmpowerment. Celebrated for her work within these pages, we had the opportunity to catch up with Aisling for more on her story. Late-diagnosed autism and ADHD is something that millions of adults around the world are tackling every day, and learning they have been living with one of these conditions helps many people to understand some of the difficulties they have experienced in their day-to-day lives. Aisling Smith is one of many to fall into this category, receiving her own diagnosis shortly after her son received his. As any mother would, Aisling was determined to support her son, to recognise his genius and make sure that others did as well. However, it was her own diagnosis that made Aisling realise that there were serious problems with the way neurodiverse people were treated at work, not out of spite, but due to a lack of understanding. Aisling told us: “I looked back on my career and realised how often I’d been bullied, marginalised, dismissed, overlooked, and even let go from jobs. It wasn’t because I lacked passion or work ethic. It was because of how my traits and nuances showed up in the workplace and how managers and co-workers misunderstood me.” NeuroEmpowerment was created to advance neurodiversity and inclusion, something it achieves through a process of tailored training, consulting, and coaching solutions. The aim is to create better workplaces, where leaders and employees not only understand neurodivergent colleagues and employees, but also value and empower them. Working towards this vision, Aisling and the team partner with corporate organisations, government agencies, HR professionals, and industry leaders to embed neuroinclusive practices. “Frameworks we’ve created, like FÁILTE for inclusive recruitment and CRAIC for culture, are breaking new ground. They’re practical, neuroscience-backed, and go beyond awareness to create measurable change when organisations embed them into their DNA.” Services offered by the company include everything from corporate training and workshops to keynote speeches, online learning, executive coaching, and more. Underpinning these services is the Empowerment Compass, a three-fold value system that covers empowerment, authenticity, and equity. More than keeping the company focused, Aisling told us that this is NeuroEmpowerment’s operating system, the foundation AIM-Aug25045 of its success. For clients, they are noble aims. For the team here, they are traits to embody on a daily basis. NeuroEmpowerment’s values have been a springboard for growth, particularly for the next year, when it has a number of exciting developments in the pipeline. This includes launching two certification programmes: the NeuroEmpowered Coaching Training Course and the NeuroEmpowerment Training Programme. Aisling added: “In December 2025, the first NeuroEmpowerment Coaches and NeuroEmpowerment Champions will be trained and certified. In 2026, we hope to bring this training to countries worldwide.” This is just the beginning, as Aisling is also releasing her next book: ‘The Workplace NeuroInclusion Playbook: Integrating the 7 Pillars of Neuroinclusion into Your Workplace’, as well as launching ‘Ask Ash: The NeuroEmpowerment Ally’. A digital support tool designed to offer practical advice about workplace neuroinclusion to leaders and employees in real time, Ask Ash is spearheading a wave of real, lasting change. Through this, the long-term aim for NeuroEmpowerment is to go international with its mission. Aisling has already stood in front of 8,000 people in Dublin this year, speaking at the Pendulum Summit, and this neurodiversity keynote speaker is following it up by speaking to 2,000 people at WOBI Sydney later this year. These events are fantastic, as they help Aisling to usher in lasting change on a wider scale. Regardless of how big the room or the audience is, Aisling and co. will continue to do this worthwhile work, making a real difference in the lives of individuals, businesses, international organisations, and governments. Finally, reflecting on being recognised as the Neurodiversity Trainer of the Year for the second consecutive year, Aisling commented: “NeuroEmpowerment is more than a business. It’s my life’s mission, inspired by my son, Daniel, and fuelled by the belief that we can create a future where neurodiversity is normalised, workplaces are truly inclusive, and neurodivergent brilliance reshapes what success looks like.” Contact: Aisling Smith Company: NeuroEmpowerment Web Address: https://neuroempowerment.com.au/ https://aisling-smith.com/
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