Neurodiversity

AKA

Neurodivergence
Neurodivergent
Neurospicy

Focus

Embrace of neurological difference

Principal Metaphors

  • Knowledge is … scope of possible functioning
  • Knowing is … adequate functioning
  • Learner is … humanity
  • Learning is … adapting; maintaining fitness
  • Teaching is … engaging diversity in productive ways

Originated

1990s

Synopsis

Neurodiversity is a perspective on individual difference that casts such conditions as autism and learning disabilities not as deficits or disorders, but as variations to the human genome that may be vital in the survival of the species. Neurodiversity is thus both a theory of difference based on evolution and a social justice movement that locates neurological difference alongside gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other broadly recognized diversities (see Social Model of (Dis)Ability). Associated notions include:
  • Functional Diversity (2000s) – an expression used in place of “disorder,” “deficit,” “disability,” and other individual-focused terms associated with the Medical Model of (Dis)Ability that have negative connotations
  • Neuroaffirming (Neurodiversity Affirming) (Judy Singer, 1990s) – an adjective associated with strength-based and rights-based educational attitudes associated with affirming and supporting neurodivergent identities
  • Neurotypicality (Neurologically Typical; Neurotypical) – a term coined as the complement of Neurodiverse – that is, referring to individuals who do no manifest any neurologically atypical thoughts or behaviours

By way of illustration, discourses on Neurodiversity frame such conditions as Autism and ADHD as natural variations in human cognition and neurodevelopment, rather than primarily as disorders defined by deficits. The emphasis shifts from “what is wrong with the individual” to the interaction between neurological differences and social environments:

  • Autism –
    • Medical Model of (Dis)Ability framing: a disorder involving impairments in social communication, restricted interests, repetitive behaviours, and difficulties adapting to typical social expectations
    • Neurodiversity framing – a distinct Neurotype characterized by different ways of perceiving, processing, communicating, and relating. Differences may include intense interests, deep-focus attention, sensory sensitivities, preference for predictability, and alternative communication styles
  • ADHD –
    • Medical Model of (Dis)Ability framing: primarily an impaired attention regulation, impulsivity, hyperactivity, and difficulties with executive functions such as planning, organization, and sustained attention
    • Neurodiversity framing – a different pattern of attention, motivation, reward sensitivity, and self-regulation. Characteristics may include novelty-seeking, rapid idea generation, intense engagement with intrinsically interesting tasks (“hyperfocus”), creativity, spontaneity, and flexible problem solving. Associated constructs include:
      • Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) (William Dodson, 1980s) – a clinical construct describing an extreme, rapid, and often overwhelming emotional response to actual or perceived rejection, criticism, or failure to meet others’ expectations, typically discussed in relation to ADHD
  • AuDHD (2010s) – an informal term describing the co-occurrence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the same person. AuDHD is not a separate clinical diagnosis but recognizes that the two conditions frequently interact in distinctive ways.
Discourses adjacent to Neurodiversity include:
  • Mad Studies (Richard Ingram, 2000s) – an interdisciplinary field led by mad-identified people and psychiatric survivors that centers their lived experience and activism to critique psychiatric power, pathologization, and coercion, and to develop alternative frameworks of mad identity, rights, care, and knowledge
  • Mad Epistemology (Alise de Bie, 2010s) – a disability-justice/Mad Studies frame that treats “mad”/psychiatric-survivor experience as a legitimate site of knowledge-making, and examines how psychiatric institutions produce epistemic harms while communities generate counter-knowledge

Commentary

While it is difficult to debate any movement that’s focused on equality and justice, the Neurodiversity argument is based on the assumption that difference for the sake of difference is good. That is, Neurodiversity has been accused of offering a simple solution to a complex problem. A broad embrace of Neurodiversity could muddy – or even stigmatize – research on medical interventions and assistive technologies intended to improve life. Phrased differently, in at least some instances, uncritical acceptance of neurological diversity can do more harm than good. Associated discourses include:
  • Neurotribes (Steve Siberman, 2010s) – suggests that people with autism should be more broadly accepted, understood, and fully participate in society.

Authors and/or Prominent Influences

Judy Singer

Status as a Theory of Learning

Neurodiversity is a perspective on individual difference, but it doesn’t offer (or seek to offer) new insight.

Status as a Theory of Teaching

Within the field of education, the attitudes and sensibilities represented within Neurodiversity are perhaps most closely aligned with Critical Pedagogy. That is, with its explicit activist emphasis on social justice, Neurodiversity is perhaps best identified as a theory of teaching and aligns with anti-oppressive pedagogies.

Status as a Scientific Theory

The underlying argument of Neurodiversity is rooted in Neuroscience and Universal Darwinism, but is at the moment an unproven analogy (linked to the role of genetic diversity for ensuring a viable species) rather than a scientific fact.

Subdiscourses:

  • Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADHD; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder)
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (Autism; Autism Spectrum Condition; Autistic)
  • AuDHD
  • Functional Diversity
  • Mad Epistemology
  • Mad Studies
  • Neuroaffirming (Neurodiversity Affirming)
  • Neurotribes
  • Neurotypicality (Neurologically Typical; Neurotypical)
  • Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD)

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Please cite this article as:
Davis, B., & Francis, K. (2026). “Neurodiversity” in Discourses on Learning in Education. https://learningdiscourses.com.


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