The seven NeuroStrengths

Knowledge about neurodiversity is easy to find, but it often sits on the shelf in separate pieces: sensory processing here, executive functions there, a list of tips somewhere else. The NeuroStrengths approach brings it together in seven practical Strengths. For line managers they are a way of looking: not at what is wrong with someone, but at how someone works, and at what the work and the environment can do.

The approach was developed by Marc Bloemendal, neurodiversity specialist, coach and trainer, and is described in his book NeuroStrengths: a different approach to individual development in neurodiversity (UK edition, 2026). It is rooted in practice and fed by research on sensory processing, executive functions, monotropism and positive psychology.

• Self-Strength

  The foundation, the mirror and the compass

  How people see themselves decides whether they dare to say what they need. Knowing how you work, being allowed to work that way and staying kind when it goes wrong: that is the ground the other six Strengths grow from.

• Sensory-Strength

  The vigilant gatekeeper of energy and focus

  Everything that comes in through the senses either costs energy or delivers it. A full bucket makes thinking, planning and talking harder, even for someone who has everything the job needs. Concentration is not weaker, it is more expensive.

• Function-Strength

  The smart architect of goal-oriented action

  Starting, keeping an overview, switching and remembering where you were: the conductor of the brain. Under pressure the orchestra plays less well together. Support it with the task and the environment, not with willpower. Work smarter, do not fight harder.

• Predictability-Strength

  The reliable creator of calm and mental space

  The less someone has to guess what is coming, the more room is left for the work. Uncertainty costs energy, even when nothing is wrong. Predictability is not rigidity: you fix enough so that people can be flexible when it really counts.

• Intention-Strength

  The curious seeker of meaning, motivation and congruence

  Why do you do what you do, and does it match what you find important? Behind behaviour that looks odd from the outside there is almost always an understandable need. At work it also means: say what you mean. A question from a line manager quickly sounds like an instruction.

• Positive-Strength

  The sparkling engine of hope, resilience and flourishing

  Not positive thinking, but taking seriously what goes well and what recharges people. It denies nothing: it adds a second ledger, one of resources. Actually being able to use your strengths is associated with better wellbeing.

• Practice-Strength

  The bridge to lasting change in everyday work

  From knowing to doing, and from doing to keeping it up. Not the art of starting, because almost everybody starts, but the art of staying. An agreement that only exists as long as someone keeps asking for it is not yet an agreement.

Four pillars underneath

• Self-Insight: knowing how you work, in patterns rather than labels.
• Acceptance: no longer fighting the way you are put together, so energy comes free for what you can change.
• Balance: between what comes in (sensory input, tasks, expectations) and what you can handle.
• Self-Direction: you decide what you do with this knowledge.

Questions

What is the NeuroStrengths approach?

NeuroStrengths is a strengths-based approach to neurodiversity developed by Marc Bloemendal. Instead of a long list of separate difficulties, it brings what we know about sensory processing, executive functions and positive psychology together in seven practical Strengths: Self-Strength, Sensory-Strength, Function-Strength, Predictability-Strength, Intention-Strength, Positive-Strength and Practice-Strength.

Is a diagnosis needed?

No. The approach looks at how someone works and what the environment can do, not at a label. At work, nobody has to share anything about their health.

What are the four pillars?

Self-Insight (knowing how you work), Acceptance (no longer fighting the way you are put together), Balance (between what comes in and what you can handle) and Self-Direction (you decide what you do with this knowledge).