What is Neurodiversity?

Neurodiversity is a growing movement in the disability community. As an SLP who works with middle school students, you may have heard the terms “neurodivergent,” or “neurodiversity-affirming” without much detail.

Neurodiversity recognizes neurological differences found in individuals, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ADHD, dyslexia, and other conditions. In middle school speech therapy, embracing neurodiversity means acknowledging that each student's brain processes information, communication, and learning in unique ways.

This understanding is crucial for developing effective and evidence-based strategies that work for neurodivergent students, as it challenges ableism and disability models that have been historically used in speech-language pathology and special education.

Neurodivergence recognizes that all brains are wired differently, and develop individually. What are often viewed as “disorders’ by neurotypical people, can also be viewed as a way of being, understanding, and processing the world that is different, but not less than more conventional ways of learning.

This is not a new term, but has gained momentum with social media in the last few years. Keep reading below for a quick overview of neurodiversity and tips to incorporate neurodiversity-affirming practices in your speech therapy setting.

1. Neurodiversity is not the same as Autism

Neurodiversity is a broader term that includes Autism and other labels. People may use the terms interchangeably. While individuals who are Autistic are neurodivergent, not everyone who is neurodivergent is Autistic.

Other neurodivergent categories include attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Tourette syndrome, sensory processing disorder, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and stuttering.

Importantly, these differences are worth embracing and not limited to disorders that need to be “fixed.”

2. Neurodiversity-affirming does include accommodations

Classroom accommodations may be necessary for school settings. Since most classrooms are designed for neurotypical students, those who learn or process differently may need environmental support.

Accommodations can be defined in a student’s individualized education plan (IEP) or a 504 plan through the school. Check out the difference between those two options here. Common accommodations for neurodivergent learners include:

1. Extended time for test taking

2. Small group testing

3. Breaking large projects into smaller assignments

4. Homework deadline extensions

5. Increased parent communication

6. Visual planners and checklists to complete tasks

7. Agenda/homework checks at end of day

3. Neurodiversity is a cultural category

Cultural categories include race, ethnicity, gender, and disability. Since neurodivergent learners have a disability label, neurodivergence itself is a cultural category.

As neurodivergent adults take greater roles in advocacy and research, they are communicating the need for cultural awareness.

4. Understanding your neurodivergent students takes time

SLPs who are learning how to best support neurodivergence should view it as an ongoing process.

Cultural humility has supplemented the term “cultural competence” because it implies that learning is ongoing, and this also applies to cultural sensitivity about neurodivergence.

SLPs and students who are neurotypical have a responsibility to learn about and respect how other people process information, even if it is different from their own way of learning.

5. Bring your students into the decision making process

More than anything, neurodiversity-affirming practices take into account the perspective of the student or learner. In this way, students help identify goals they want to target, skills they want to develop, and should be able to say “no” to options at the IEP meeting.

Common goals may target:

• Executive functioning

• Self-advocacy

• Pragmatics/ Social Skills

• Emotional Regulation

• Media Literacy

Want to reduce headaches with paperwork and planning so you can spend more time working with students? Check out my neurodiversity-affirming goal bank here to find 25 ready to go SMART goals that you can use for IEPs.

6. ABA is not neurodiversity-affirming

Neurodivergent adults who experienced applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy growing up report trauma and stress. ABA is not neurodiversity-affirming because it seeks to shape or change the behavior of a child to appear more neurotypical.

This camouflaging or “masking” of neurodivergent behaviors (such as stimming, echolalia, tics, or stuttering) causes stress, feelings of inferiority, and anxiety in children. You can read more here to learn why masking goals are not appropriate.

ABA was founded as an approach to “cure” a child of autism.

Not only does ABA have poor outcomes, practices seek to increase acceptance of differences, not get rid of them.

7. Educating families is essential

Teach families about gestalt language processing and how echolalia can be functional. If you are new to this idea, grab my FREEBIE HERE with four handouts about Neurodiversity and Sample IEP goals. These are great for families, teachers, or other professionals!

8. Neurodiversity is heterogeneous

The neurodiversity movement includes a tremendous range of individuals. As SLPs, we treat the individual in front of us. Some clients use verbal words to communicate and some do not.

People may present with more sensory issues one day, and fewer on other days. A recent study showed that people with ADHD have ups and downs and that symptoms may decrease when they are busy.

Keep in mind with your caseload that students will also have a range of behaviors and use better coping skills some days. When someone is having a tough day with emotional regulation, it does not mean “they can, they just don’t want to,” as I have heard teachers say before. This is true for all of us!

9. There are increasing numbers of neurodivergent adults

People are increasingly getting identified with ASD or ADHD in adulthood. Anecdotally, a student told me their 65-year old uncle just got diagnosed as having ADHD.

Apply the same awareness of neurodivergence to your co-workers and parents of students on your caseload. There is a hereditary component and traits may run in families.

10. Neurodiversity-affirming therapy

As SLPs, we help students cope with environments and help others learn about neurodiversity.

If you are not sure where to begin with IEP goals, check out my bundle here that includes 25 smart goals related to neurodiversity and all of my neurodiversity-affirming handouts for parents.

Neurodiversity-affirming therapy should help students stay safe, provide classroom supports to access the curriculum. The following strategies are starting points:

• Video modeling

• Social stories

• Role play

• Real world media use/ internet safety

• Inferencing. Check out my pragmatic bundle for teens here.

Conclusion

These tips will help you get started as a neurodiversity-affirming SLP. Acknowledging differences and promoting self-advocacy are your first steps.

Have more questions? Email me info@ddvspeech.com or DM me on Instagram @DDVSpeech. I would love to connect and support your journey as an SLP.

Don't forget to grab your free handouts!

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