For schools and youth organisations
A strengths portrait for the young people you support.
Brightwire helps young people aged 14 to 18 understand how they think, focus, and work — and what that means for working for themselves. Designed with neurodivergent young people in mind.
- Duration
- About 20 minutesOn the young person's own device
- Format
- One question at a timeAdjustable text and a calm mode
- Access
- By invitationFrom your team
Two young people with the same diagnosis can work in completely different ways.
So Brightwire reads how someone actually thinks, focuses, and works — a profile of twelve traits — rather than a diagnostic category. Every trait is named as a genuine strength and a thing to plan for, at once: the tendency that creates friction in one setting is often a real asset in another.
How it works
- 1
A short set of questions
About 20 minutes, one question at a time, on the young person's own device — how they make decisions, notice things, focus, and connect. There are no right or wrong answers.
- 2
Twelve working-style traits
Their answers are read into twelve traits, each expressed as a broad tendency — lower, mid, or higher — never a raw score, a percentile, or a clinical label.
- 3
A personal portrait
They get a warm, written portrait of how they work, with the strengths they can build on and what to set up around them, plus resources on working for themselves.
The twelve traits
Each is read as a tendency with two sides — where it helps, and where it needs support.
- 01
Impulsivity
acting fast, decisiveness, spontaneity
- 02
Novelty Seeking
thriving on new experiences, exploratory drive
- 03
Special Interests
deep passions and a vocational edge
- 04
Hyperfocus
locking in, deep focus
- 05
Independence
self-direction and autonomy
- 06
Creativity
original thinking, seeing new angles
- 07
Energy & Drive
productive intensity
- 08
Attention to Detail
precision, noticing what others miss
- 09
Pattern Recognition
spotting structure, understanding systems
- 10
Social Interaction
comfort and style in connecting
- 11
Sensory Processing
experiencing the world intensely, attunement
- 12
Rejection Sensitivity
sensitivity to feedback, caring what others think
3×
more likely to start something of their ownADHD Centre, 2022
Why working for yourself
For many neurodivergent young people it's the setting most aligned with how they actually work — autonomy over pace and environment, room to focus on real strengths. It is offered as one option to explore honestly, never a push.
What Brightwire is — and isn't
Brightwire is
- A strengths-based self-exploration tool
- An affirming, individual picture of how someone tends to work
- A prompt to consider working for yourself as one option
- A conversation-starter with a trusted adult or advisor
Brightwire is not
- A diagnosis or clinical assessment
- A prediction of success or failure
- A special-educational-needs evaluation
- A tool for selecting, streaming, or grouping students
Where this goes deeper
Why Brightwire exists
The employment gap facing neurodivergent young people, with every figure sourced.
How it works
The assessment, the twelve traits, the four-stage journey, and the guardrails around them.
For schools
Why it can be offered to a whole year group, and what each adult around a student receives.
Or read the full public account of the rationale, evidence, and design in the foundational document.