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As Neurodiversity Celebration Week begins, this is a chance to pause and ask an important question:
Do we have a shared understanding of what neurodiversity means?
It’s a term that’s used more and more in education, workplaces, and community spaces. But increased use hasn’t always meant increased clarity. When our understanding of neurodiversity is too narrow, it shapes the decisions we make, the support we offer, and ultimately who our spaces end up working for.
This week we’re going to change that together.
So what do we actually mean?
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Neurodiversity refers to the fact that human brains are different from one another. There is no single, standard way for a brain to work. We all process information, experience the world, and respond to our environment differently.
Being neurodivergent refers to individuals who experiences neuro-developmental differences, as opposed to what society tends to think of as ‘typical’.
Shared definitions matter because when our understanding is too narrow, our responses often are too.
The terms neurodiversity and neurodivergence are not medical labels. ND Hub Glos recently shared the origins of the current language.
Judy Singer, an Australian sociologist Autistic Advocate, coined the term ‘Neurodiversity’ in the late 1990s to frame neurological differences as natural human variation and to move away from purely medical or deficit-based models. Kassiane Asasumasu – a multiracial, disabled activist and writer coined the term “neurodivergent” in 2000 to include all people whose neurology diverges from dominant norms – not just autistic people but also those with ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, FASD, Tourette’s, learning disabilities, mental health differences, acquired brain injury, building solidarity across marginalised neurotypes.
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Neurodiversity ≠ autism and ADHD
Autism and ADHD are often the most talked-about neurodivergent conditions, but neurodiversity is much broader than a couple of labels.
It can include differences in sensory processing, communication, emotional regulation, attention, learning, and more. Autism and ADHD sit within this, but so do FASD (foetal alcohol spectrum disorder), dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tic disorders, learning disabilities, and more. Many people experience more than one neurodivergence, and many are never formally diagnosed at all.
Neurodiversity isn’t a neat list. It reflects the wide range of ways humans think and learn.
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Neurodiversity ≠ Children
Neurodivergent children don’t stop being neurodivergent when they become teenagers. Or adults. Or parents. Or employees. Or leaders.
Neurodivergent adults are everywhere – often adapting, masking, or working incredibly hard to fit into systems that weren’t designed with them in mind. Many people only begin to understand their own neurodivergence later in life, sometimes after years of confusion and struggling in systems and environments working against them.
Neurodiversity is lifelong, even if our awareness of it isn’t.
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Why Does This Matter?
From a neurodiversity perspective, differences are not automatically problems. They can become disabling when environments, expectations, and systems are too narrow to include them.
This shift mindsets from, “What’s wrong with this person?” to, “What barriers are getting in the way and how could we remove them?”
That shift matters in schools, in activities and community spaces, and in workplaces. When we misunderstand neurodivergence, well-intentioned support can miss the mark. When we understand it better, small changes can make a big difference.
This week isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about building a shared understanding we can return to and grow from.
Over the rest of this week, we’ll be unpacking this further: sharing practical ideas that will see real results, evidence-informed approaches that we’ve tried for you, and reflections from our own learning that you can apply to your spaces!
Follow along for the rest of the week. This is just the beginning. Let’s make our spaces and our teams more inclusive of neurodivergent people together.
