Despite increased awareness of neurodiversity, much of autism research and educational design remains shaped by outdated models. Autistic people are still too often treated as subjects to be studied, rather than collaborators with insight and agency. Their participation is controlled, their input filtered, and their strengths too frequently framed as symptoms. It is not simply […]
How Video Games Are Unlocking Real-World Skills in Autistic Learners
For decades, video games have been seen as distractions — the enemy of attention, productivity, and academic focus. But emerging research, particularly in neurodiversity studies, tells a different story: for many autistic and ADHD learners, video games are not an escape from learning — they are the gateway into it. Rather than diminishing cognitive skills, games […]
Why “Learning by Doing” Needs a Reboot in the Age of Neurodiversity?
Learning by doing is often relegated to vocational education — associated with apprenticeships, trades, and hands-on professions. But in an era defined by rapid technological evolution, this narrow view no longer serves us. Technology offers far more than digital whiteboards and online worksheets — it opens new pathways for active, embodied, and personalised learning. For neurodivergent learners, particularly those who […]
How to Self-Advocate in Education Without Feeling Like a Burden
So, you’ve finally summoned the courage to email your teacher and request that thing—the one you know will make your life ten times more manageable. Maybe it’s an extension. Maybe it’s access to slides in advance. Maybe it’s just the chance to not have to group project your way into despair. You send the email. You wait. […]
Play, Creativity, and the Holding Space – Understanding Your Neurodivergent Child Through Winnicott
If your child uses Minecraft to create intricate worlds, becomes absorbed in arranging objects or repeating symbolic routines, or seems more at ease in imaginative play than in structured tasks, they may not be avoiding learning—they may be doing it, just not in ways that conventional settings are equipped to recognise. The psychoanalyst and paediatrician Donald Winnicott proposed a […]
William James and the Plural Self – Understanding Learning in Autistic and ADHD Young People
As a parent of an autistic or ADHD young person, you may have noticed how difficult it is for the systems around your child—particularly in education—to reflect the full complexity of who they are. Schools often ask them to be consistent, linear, and externally regulated. But your child might not be consistent. They might be […]
The Price of Late Diagnosis – How Undiagnosed ADHD Affects Women’s Lives
For too long, ADHD has been seen as a childhood condition affecting boisterous boys who struggle to sit still. Women, particularly those who exhibit less overt hyperactivity, have often been overlooked, misdiagnosed, or dismissed entirely. The consequences of this neglect are extensive, impacting every aspect of life—from education and career to relationships and self-worth. Without early […]
The Silent Struggle – Women with ADHD and the Battle for Recognition
For decades, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) has been perceived as a condition that primarily affects young, hyperactive boys who struggle to sit still in classrooms. This profoundly ingrained stereotype has led to a widespread misunderstanding of how ADHD manifests in women and girls, leaving many to suffer in silence, dismissed and misdiagnosed. The lived […]