Celebrated yet constrained: neurodiversity and the limits of inclusion in advertising and design trade press

Neurodiversity is increasingly emerging in conversations about workplace inclusion and belonging. Yet scholarly understanding of this discourse in the creative industries remains limited despite these sectors’ emphasis on creativity and original thinking, qualities often attributed to neurodivergent individuals. This article examines how trade press narratives portray neurodivergent practitioners’ workplace experiences in the fields of advertising and design. Applying narrative-informed thematic analysis to 54 articles (2019–2024) from trade publications circulating in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, we identify dominant narratives, metaphors and discursive strategies shaping representations of neurodiversity. Our analysis reveals that neurodivergent practitioners’ distinctive strengths are celebrated and difficulties acknowledged, yet responsibility for achieving inclusion is largely placed on individuals to adapt rather than organisations to enact structural change or challenge neurotypical assumptions. We argue this constitutes a form of paradoxical inclusion, in which empowerment narratives celebrate neurodivergent difference while entrenched institutional practices and cultural norms are rarely problematised.