NeurodiversAtSea’s first survey of neurodiversity in the maritime industry closed yesterday, 15 January 2023, after three and a half months. It was the first survey of its kind, and we are grateful to everyone who answered it and passed it on.
We launched the Neurodiversity Benchmark Survey in October 2022 with a simple aim: to find out, for the first time, what life is like for neurodivergent people at sea. Until now there has been almost no data on how many seafarers are autistic, have ADHD or dyslexia, or have another neurodivergent condition; on whether they feel able to tell anyone; or on what their employers do to help. That gap has made it easy for the industry to assume the issue doesn’t affect it.
What happens next
We now have a large amount of data to analyse, and the work of making sense of it starts today. We want to understand the range and depth of neurodiversity in the profession, the challenges people face from recruitment through to promotion, and where the industry could do better, both for seafarers and for the employers who need their skills.
Our findings will shape what we do next: the guidance we write, the changes we ask employers and regulators to make, and the support we develop for seafarers themselves. We plan to publish them in a white paper, free to all, so that anyone in the industry can use the evidence.
Thank you
We know that answering questions about your own neurodivergence, or a colleague’s, isn’t always easy, and we don’t take that trust lightly.
On behalf of every neurodivergent seafarer at sea today, and those yet to join the industry, thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the survey or spread the word.
Since the survey
The survey's findings have already shaped our work. Our research showed that only 2 of 118 respondents had any help from their employer to get an assessment or diagnosis, a finding that informed our diagnosis grants pilot with the Seafarers Hospital Society and The Seafarers' Charity in 2025. Read more about our research.
