Neurodiversity-affirming

Instead of seeing one “normal” way to learn, communicate, or behave, a neurodiversity-affirming approach respects each person’s unique patterns of strengths, challenges, and needs.

In practice, it means listening to neurodivergent people about their own experiences, avoiding language that frames them as broken or disordered, and creating environments that fit the person rather than forcing the person to fit the environment. It’s about acceptance, autonomy, and support, not fixing or curing.

For more discussion about what makes something neurodiversity-affirming, visit the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective or this blog post which is the source of the graphic below.