In my last blog post, I reflect on whether we are designing learning for all students or only neurotypical ones. This requires us as educators to think about the small box we expect students to fit into. The structures, systems and instructional practices in our schools create that box. We can think critically about how we are designing learning in order to widen the box to include more kinds of learners. Education as a whole can better create belonging through school-based neurodiversity affirming practices. 

Understand and affirm identities

To start this journey, we need to understand terms and affirm identities. It’s important to be clear about what neurodiversity means: ALL the different neurotypes (i.e. brains) in the room. Neurodiversity also honors the idea that development and ways of seeing the world can vary. So, a neurodiversity-affirming practice is one that will work for and support all neurotypes, not just neurotypical brains. Neurotypical describes someone whose brain and behaviors are typical of their age based on cultural norms and societal expectations.  

The term neurodivergent, then, carries important and subtle context. It does NOT mean a brain that isn’t “normal,” or one that functions “worse” than a neurotypical one. It also does not just mean Autistic, a common misconception. Instead, it refers to any brain that diverges from those cultural norms and societal expectations largely created by neurotypical folks. Like being left handed in a world built for righties. For these reasons, it’s important to think about neurodiversity, rather than just focus on what is neurotypical. 

This visual helps show the expansiveness of the neurodivergent umbrella.The creator of the visual, Sonny Jane, notes that this term isn’t a medical diagnosis. Rather; “identifying as neurodivergent is up to the individual and we don’t gatekeep or enforce the term.” 

In education, a neurodivergent student is one whose brain and behaviors diverge from the rigid expectations around which we have built schools. Expectations that require specific functioning based on a very narrow understanding of learning. This can create challenges for students in an educational (or later, work) setting, especially in classrooms. Therefore, neurodivergent learners require and deserve more support and/or a different approach in order to thrive. Using neurodiversity affirming practices means more students can experience belonging in schools. 

School-based practices

It’s essential to start with reviewing the core principles of a neurodiversity affirming approach. As the linked article states, this approach “recognizes and celebrates the natural variations in neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and others. It emphasizes the value of diverse neurological traits and rejects the notion of pathologizing or attempting to ‘normalize’ individuals with neurodivergent characteristics.” This approach also helps combat and eliminate ableism. The next step is to begin to apply these principles to a school setting. My own experiences and learning lead me to bundle neurodiversity-affirming practices into three areas. 

1.  How students demonstrate that they are paying attention/listening
2.  How students show what they know and have learned/mastered
3.  How we interpret and respond to student behaviors

In my next blog post, we’ll dive deeper into each of these three areas. Hopefully, many teachers will recognize ideas/practices that are already in place in their instruction and classrooms. When we name these as neurodiversity affirming it helps us do that deeper, creative thinking. Doing so not only makes these practices more effective but also expands access and belonging for all our students.

Practice with Purpose

When we actively engage in using school-based neurodiversity affirming practices we are working towards a purpose. To normalize needs and supports and to shift systems so that any student has access to what they need. As we shift and reimagine education systems, we are also shifting and reimagining those cultural norms and social expectations that can be a roadblock to belonging everywhere. To create real belonging we need to honor and design for the neurodiversity inherent in our classrooms and our world.

What neurodiversity-affirming practices do you see in your schools or use in your classrooms?

Recommendations to deepen learning

• Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools: Transforming Practices So All Students Feel Accepted & Supported
• We’re All Neurodiverse: How to Build a Neurodiversity-Affirming Future and Challenge Neuronormativity
• The Neurodiversity PodcastThe Neurodiversity Smorgasbord: An Alternative Framework for Understanding Differences Outside of Diagnostic Labels