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Here in Learning Support, we’ve been gearing up to celebrate Neurodiversity Week! It’s quite exciting to be part of a global initiative where the aim is about raising awareness about alternative thinking styles in our community and recognise the positives of thinking differently.

Whilst ‘neurodiversity’ has become an umbrella term for conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and Autism, it’s important that neurological diversity is not seen as a deficit or a set of disorders. Labels are not always helpful or accurate because we all experience the world around us in different ways.

That’s where Executive Functioning comes in. Whether you’re a student or a member of staff, we all have executive function skills! It's what brings us together. However, recognising that executive function (EF) challenges are part of neurodiversity is important. You don't need a label or a diagnosis to experience EF challenges. That's why it's great to embrace the way we think and experience the world so that we can work with our brains, instead of fighting against them.

Often, the positive qualities of neurodiversity are overlooked. Because there’s no one right way to think or engage with the world, it’s important to reframe our perspectives and rethink the terminology we use when we describe how neurodiversity presents in an individual. For example, instead of using ‘fidgety’ as a descriptor, we might flip that on its head and appreciate the energy that someone brings. It’s also refreshing to see recent research showing that dyslexic thinkers have advantageous qualities, such as being able to see the bigger picture by making unique connections. It’s this diversity in our human population that is beneficial to us all, as we need all kinds of thinkers, i.e. problem-solvers, overseers, empaths, etc.

Another huge part of celebrating Neurodiversity Week is myth-busting and removing stigma. For example, anyone who might struggle with their working memory as one of their EF challenges could feel embarrassed or anxious about their speed of processing. However, it’s now known that embracing slower thinking can be a great way to understand a topic on a deeper level, and to understand the connections between ideas. This change in thinking will go a long way to improve our students’ growth mindset.

So, how can we be more inclusive in our classrooms and houses to help ourselves and others? It’s about having a multisensory approach. Giving individuals a chance to approach a task using a variety of senses will engage all students, including neurodiverse thinkers. Appealing to an ‘interest-based nervous system’ can also be a game-changer, since some individuals will need more than ‘importance’ as a motivator to engage. For those individuals who struggle to start a task, consider ways to make it more interesting by injecting competition, urgency, novelty and personal connection, which may allow tasks to be more rewarding and therefore much easier to engage with.

By having a better understanding of neurodiversity, we can accept it, respect it and roll with it, thereby building a more inclusive community.

18th March 2024

You can hear more about Neurodiversity Week and how CLC celebrates diverse minds by listening to our podcast episode ‘Embracing Minds: Celebrating Neurodiversity Week’.