It’s Time to Stop Talking About Inclusion for Neuro-Diverse Students and Start Taking Action
Roll up those sleeves…
I recently wrote a popular article about how we needed to start talking about neurodiversity in the workplace. However, there does come the point where we need to stop talking and start actioning our words. Recently, however, I have been pondering on how neurodiversity needs to start at school.
Is the education system failing neuro-diverse children? Does it appear to be set up for a certain thinking style? If you don’t fit the shape, then you are made to feel stupid?
I think that educational systems are designed for a certain brain wiring, and if your brain is wired differently, some teachers maybe not be trained to manage this. Not all schools, but most do seem to be a production line where if you can’t memorize facts for tests or be the same as everyone else, you will fail life. That is a false belief.
When I attend business networking events, I am often stunned at how many entrepreneurs, CEOs, and managers didn’t finish their education or went back to it later on in life. There is a pattern here. When I dug a little deeper, they share stories of struggle, not fitting in at school, or diagnoses of dyslexia, ADHD, or autism. When Elon Musk recently announced he had autism, it didn’t surprise me at all. All the best people have their quirks and have found their authentic voice. So why are we made to feel so stupid at school?
We need to drop the idea that some lives are worth more than others because brains are wired differently. If we all thought the same, then this world would be a very dull place indeed. There is no right or wrong way of being, and it’s time we started being inclusive of all, not just certain groups.
We have to be open to acknowledging that some of our old ideas are wrong, that the presence of neurodiversity does not slow down the learning of others. We need to start focusing on strength-based models and create a culture where we can all learn from and support each other.
In the long run, inclusion is better for everybody. But it can’t happen until we shift our thinking as a whole society and start looking at the benefits that diversity brings.
It’s time to stop talking about the inclusion of neurodiversity and start doing something to support the next generation of entrepreneurs, leaders, and just darn right awesome people.
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