The BBC is to create a new programme that will focus on people with neurological disabilities (including autism, Tourette’s, ADHD and Down’s Syndrome), which will follow them in their attempt to find employment.

Employ Me, which is the working title of the series, will show the problems that participants have when looking for a job, and the negative attitude they face from potential employers.

People featured in the programme will be “qualified and/or capable” individuals who have a neurological condition that has resulted in them looking for work over a number of years.

The three-part series aims to show “a radical new emerging idea in science: that neurological conditions shouldn’t always be looked at in negative terms”.

People with autism are known to struggle to find paid work – the employment rate for the group is currently 15 per cent.

However, they can struggle to find a job even when they have the necessary skills and qualifications, and be enthusiastic about working for an employer.

Prof Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University, has acted as a consultant on the BBC Two programme.

He said: “The concept of ‘neurodiversity’ reminds us that there isn’t a single way to be ‘normal’.

“Employers need to make reasonable adjustments to enable people with such neurological conditions to enjoy the same benefits that employment brings as other people do.”