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Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools: Transforming Practices So All Students Feel Accepted & Supported
Empowers educators to help neurodivergent students thrive!
Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools is a guide for K-12 educators to better understand neurodivergence and help neurodivergent students thrive. Inside, you’ll find the background information and concrete practices you need to create a school or classroom culture where neurodivergent students feel safe, valued, and understood. You’ll also find clear explanations of behaviors common in neurodivergent learners, such as masking, rejection sensitivity, and novelty seeking. Then, discover specific practices that you can use right away.
This accessible book is designed to help you take action. By the end of each chapter, you’ll understand how the key takeaways apply to your particular situation and how you can meet neurodivergent students’ needs in ways appropriate to their unique cognition. Written by two experts on neurodiversity education, this book teaches you how
Use established practices like strengths-based instruction in neurodiversity-affirming waysPrevent neurodivergent students from checking out and becoming burnt outIdentify the unique ways that neurodivergent children express their needs and difficultiesEmphasize and model emotional regulation skills at the classroom levelCreate more effective, strengths-based IEPs and 504 PlansThis book also provides real-world examples in the form of vignettes of neurodivergent students and the educators that support them. These features contextualize what you’ve learned to help you feel confident as you implement change. You’ll also get access to a study guide to facilitate using this book with professional learning communities. Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools is your practical and comprehensive guide to creating opportunities for neurodivergent learners to succeed.
Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools is a guide for K-12 educators to better understand neurodivergence and help neurodivergent students thrive. Inside, you’ll find the background information and concrete practices you need to create a school or classroom culture where neurodivergent students feel safe, valued, and understood. You’ll also find clear explanations of behaviors common in neurodivergent learners, such as masking, rejection sensitivity, and novelty seeking. Then, discover specific practices that you can use right away.
This accessible book is designed to help you take action. By the end of each chapter, you’ll understand how the key takeaways apply to your particular situation and how you can meet neurodivergent students’ needs in ways appropriate to their unique cognition. Written by two experts on neurodiversity education, this book teaches you how
Use established practices like strengths-based instruction in neurodiversity-affirming waysPrevent neurodivergent students from checking out and becoming burnt outIdentify the unique ways that neurodivergent children express their needs and difficultiesEmphasize and model emotional regulation skills at the classroom levelCreate more effective, strengths-based IEPs and 504 PlansThis book also provides real-world examples in the form of vignettes of neurodivergent students and the educators that support them. These features contextualize what you’ve learned to help you feel confident as you implement change. You’ll also get access to a study guide to facilitate using this book with professional learning communities. Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools is your practical and comprehensive guide to creating opportunities for neurodivergent learners to succeed.
- GenresNonfictionEducation
344 pages, Paperback
Published January 21, 2025
20 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 15, 2025
This book is an absolutely amazing resource with a wealth of information. It is such a well rounded guide to neurodiversity affirming practices from the culture of the school down to the individual needs of the student.
I love that it is digestible and accessible for a range of educators. It explains the how’s and why’s of masking, what behaviors are associated with profiles like demand avoidance and rejection sensitivity and how to look at everything from an affirming lens rather than a conforming lens.
IEPs and 504s can be tricky to write from a strengths based, affirming perspective as they are often written to consider “deficits.” This is full of suggestions and recommendations of how to be affirming within the systems that we have.
It goes beyond the academic expectations and the expectation of teaching neurodivergent students to fit within societal norms and includes chapters on creating an emotionally competent classroom, meeting sensory needs, neurodiversity affirming communications, and more.
I have already encouraged many of my colleagues to pick this up and will absolutely be recommending it to anyone who works within the realm of education and working with neurodivergent individuals.
I love that it is digestible and accessible for a range of educators. It explains the how’s and why’s of masking, what behaviors are associated with profiles like demand avoidance and rejection sensitivity and how to look at everything from an affirming lens rather than a conforming lens.
IEPs and 504s can be tricky to write from a strengths based, affirming perspective as they are often written to consider “deficits.” This is full of suggestions and recommendations of how to be affirming within the systems that we have.
It goes beyond the academic expectations and the expectation of teaching neurodivergent students to fit within societal norms and includes chapters on creating an emotionally competent classroom, meeting sensory needs, neurodiversity affirming communications, and more.
I have already encouraged many of my colleagues to pick this up and will absolutely be recommending it to anyone who works within the realm of education and working with neurodivergent individuals.
January 5, 2025
A Transformative Guide to Building Truly Inclusive Schools
Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools by Emily Kircher-Morris and Amanda Morin is a must-read for educators committed to creating inclusive, supportive environments where all students feel valued and understood. As a high school teacher, I found this book incredibly insightful and practical, offering concrete steps to transform school practices in ways that affirm neurodiverse students' strengths and needs.
The authors do a phenomenal job of explaining the concept of neurodiversity and challenging traditional approaches to education that often focus on conformity rather than individuality. They provide actionable strategies to shift from a deficit-based mindset to one that celebrates the diverse ways students think, learn, and interact with the world. The book is filled with examples, tools, and reflection prompts that make it easy to implement their ideas in classrooms, staff meetings, and school policies.
One of the book’s standout features is its emphasis on collaboration and advocacy. Kircher-Morris and Morin empower educators to work alongside neurodiverse students and their families to co-create an environment where everyone feels safe and supported. Their discussion on adjusting teaching methods, rethinking behavioral expectations, and fostering emotional safety is both compassionate and practical.
What I found particularly valuable were the insights into sensory needs and executive functioning challenges, which are often misunderstood in traditional educational settings. The authors provide clear, research-backed suggestions for accommodations that go beyond compliance with laws like IDEA, aiming instead for true equity and belonging.
The authors also include downloadable resources and actionable frameworks that are perfect for professional development sessions or self-assessment as a teacher or administrator. These tools make it easier to move from theory to practice, helping schools implement neurodiversity-affirming approaches at all levels.
If I had to offer one suggestion, it would be to include more examples tailored to high schools specifically, as much of the book focuses on elementary and middle school settings. However, the principles are easily adaptable, and the book’s overall impact is profound.
Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools is an essential resource for educators, administrators, and anyone working with neurodiverse students. It’s more than a guide—it’s a call to action to create schools where every student feels accepted, supported, and empowered to thrive. This is a book I’ll be recommending widely to my colleagues and referencing often in my own practice!
Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools by Emily Kircher-Morris and Amanda Morin is a must-read for educators committed to creating inclusive, supportive environments where all students feel valued and understood. As a high school teacher, I found this book incredibly insightful and practical, offering concrete steps to transform school practices in ways that affirm neurodiverse students' strengths and needs.
The authors do a phenomenal job of explaining the concept of neurodiversity and challenging traditional approaches to education that often focus on conformity rather than individuality. They provide actionable strategies to shift from a deficit-based mindset to one that celebrates the diverse ways students think, learn, and interact with the world. The book is filled with examples, tools, and reflection prompts that make it easy to implement their ideas in classrooms, staff meetings, and school policies.
One of the book’s standout features is its emphasis on collaboration and advocacy. Kircher-Morris and Morin empower educators to work alongside neurodiverse students and their families to co-create an environment where everyone feels safe and supported. Their discussion on adjusting teaching methods, rethinking behavioral expectations, and fostering emotional safety is both compassionate and practical.
What I found particularly valuable were the insights into sensory needs and executive functioning challenges, which are often misunderstood in traditional educational settings. The authors provide clear, research-backed suggestions for accommodations that go beyond compliance with laws like IDEA, aiming instead for true equity and belonging.
The authors also include downloadable resources and actionable frameworks that are perfect for professional development sessions or self-assessment as a teacher or administrator. These tools make it easier to move from theory to practice, helping schools implement neurodiversity-affirming approaches at all levels.
If I had to offer one suggestion, it would be to include more examples tailored to high schools specifically, as much of the book focuses on elementary and middle school settings. However, the principles are easily adaptable, and the book’s overall impact is profound.
Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools is an essential resource for educators, administrators, and anyone working with neurodiverse students. It’s more than a guide—it’s a call to action to create schools where every student feels accepted, supported, and empowered to thrive. This is a book I’ll be recommending widely to my colleagues and referencing often in my own practice!
February 16, 2025
I found this book to be informative and eye-opening. As a social worker in an elementary school, I am often asked to help support students who I believe to be neurodivergent. I have struggled to get everyone on the same page as to how best to provide the correct supports that match the individual students' needs. I wish all staff had to read this book to gain a better understanding as to what might be helpful and what might be harmful. I appreciated how the authors of this book explained the detrimental effects that masking has on neurodivergent learners as I have found myself pushing back against some “norms” of teaching “social skills” because it felt like I would be forcing students to mask who they are and what their needs were. While many educators know about UDL, I don’t think everyone sees how it includes creating a classroom that embraces all students who are neurodivergent and that this does not mean only kids with autism. Since COVID, I have seen many more students with sensory processing needs that are not being accommodated which causes them to struggle, and have more disruptive behaviors, and the reaction is that they are being difficult.
I appreciated how Inclusion was discussed, that we can’t talk about it without acknowledging how the alternative is exclusion and that many classrooms are set up so that students who are neurodiverse do not feel included or that they belong. “True belonging isn’t about being included in spaces you’d otherwise be excluded from. It’s about feeling welcome from the start”. Along those lines, I connected with the social model of disability discussion, that “it’s not neurodivergence that is disabling - it’s systemic barriers, negative attitudes, societal views, and exclusion that create the concept of disability. In other words, it is not the students who are disabled, but the environment-the school-that is disabling”. One of the statements that hit me hard was that “the hard truth is that for many neurodivergent learners, school is an environment where trauma occurs” because of how the environments are not set up to include them but judge them negatively.
I would recommend this to anyone working in a school system, teachers, administrators, mental health staff, paraprofessionals, as well as parents of neurotypical and neurodiverse children.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book.
I appreciated how Inclusion was discussed, that we can’t talk about it without acknowledging how the alternative is exclusion and that many classrooms are set up so that students who are neurodiverse do not feel included or that they belong. “True belonging isn’t about being included in spaces you’d otherwise be excluded from. It’s about feeling welcome from the start”. Along those lines, I connected with the social model of disability discussion, that “it’s not neurodivergence that is disabling - it’s systemic barriers, negative attitudes, societal views, and exclusion that create the concept of disability. In other words, it is not the students who are disabled, but the environment-the school-that is disabling”. One of the statements that hit me hard was that “the hard truth is that for many neurodivergent learners, school is an environment where trauma occurs” because of how the environments are not set up to include them but judge them negatively.
I would recommend this to anyone working in a school system, teachers, administrators, mental health staff, paraprofessionals, as well as parents of neurotypical and neurodiverse children.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book.
February 15, 2025
This book provides a comprehensive guide to supporting neurodivergent children in the school setting, including a thorough and accessible description of neurodivergent with examples of neurodivergent language, focus on strengths, and examples of ways in which neurodivergent children may mask symptoms. The authors approach the topic in a hopeful and collaborative manner that aims to make small, gradual changes in the classroom over time that will one day lead to classrooms that are structured in ways that benefit multiple types of students.
As a child/adolescent therapist, this guide will be an incredibly valuable tool for me moving forward as I continuously partner with my clients, their parents/caregivers, and members of school teams to advocate for school-based practices that affirm neurodivergence. I am appreciative to have a guide like this one at my disposal when collaborating with school teams moving forward. I was especially appreciative of portions of the guide which included information on trauma practices; an entire chapter on emotionally competent classrooms; an entire chapter on strengths instruction; guidance on how to incorporate sensory needs into the classroom, which can be intimidating to school teams at times; and another entire chapter on mental health needs as related to neurodivergence! Additionally, the chapter focused on explaining IEPs and 504 Plans is written in a way that is easy to comprehend for those who may be unfamiliar with the legal side. This section will be helpful once again in my clinical practice when sharing new information with clients and parents/caregivers. Overall, this book is a great addition to the library of any teacher, school counselor or school psychologist, other school personnel, therapists, other providers who work alongside children and families, and the families and caregivers of children in general!
Thank you to NetGalley and Free Spirit Publishing who provided a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!
As a child/adolescent therapist, this guide will be an incredibly valuable tool for me moving forward as I continuously partner with my clients, their parents/caregivers, and members of school teams to advocate for school-based practices that affirm neurodivergence. I am appreciative to have a guide like this one at my disposal when collaborating with school teams moving forward. I was especially appreciative of portions of the guide which included information on trauma practices; an entire chapter on emotionally competent classrooms; an entire chapter on strengths instruction; guidance on how to incorporate sensory needs into the classroom, which can be intimidating to school teams at times; and another entire chapter on mental health needs as related to neurodivergence! Additionally, the chapter focused on explaining IEPs and 504 Plans is written in a way that is easy to comprehend for those who may be unfamiliar with the legal side. This section will be helpful once again in my clinical practice when sharing new information with clients and parents/caregivers. Overall, this book is a great addition to the library of any teacher, school counselor or school psychologist, other school personnel, therapists, other providers who work alongside children and families, and the families and caregivers of children in general!
Thank you to NetGalley and Free Spirit Publishing who provided a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!
December 31, 2025
“Inclusion wouldn’t exist without exclusion. It’s important to recognize the uncomfortable truth that inclusion means that somebody has the power to decide who gets to be included. That’s not belonging.” @emilykm_lpc @amandarmorin
I finished this book back in January as an #advancedreaderscopy from @netgalley and @tcmpub - somehow I didn’t post a review and I’ve been using this as a resource for the last two Neuro-Affirming Staff Meeting slideshows at school.
This book is a must read for anyone working in schools or that knows/loves a school-aged human. It’s clear in its presentation, concisely explaining vocabulary and concepts with models and visuals. It’s relentless in its pursuit of acceptance and the concept that schools should be a place where every child is met where they’re at, whether that is physically, cognitively, or emotionally.
“It is not the students who are disabled, but the environment—the school—that is disabling.”
When you know better, you do better. And in this timeline where disability rights are being threatened and even stripped, we cannot continue to act as if those that are different do not deserve to live and learn and love. Or that those that are different do not contribute to our society. Different is NOT less.
When we apply standards and practices that support all learners, then we create an environment in which all learners can succeed. When we challenge past routines and adopt ones that control for executive functioning challenges, attentional challenges, or varying cognitive strengths- we create an environment in which all learners can succeed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#2025bookchallengebook100of100
#neurodiversityaffirmingschools
#netgalley
#differentisnotless
I finished this book back in January as an #advancedreaderscopy from @netgalley and @tcmpub - somehow I didn’t post a review and I’ve been using this as a resource for the last two Neuro-Affirming Staff Meeting slideshows at school.
This book is a must read for anyone working in schools or that knows/loves a school-aged human. It’s clear in its presentation, concisely explaining vocabulary and concepts with models and visuals. It’s relentless in its pursuit of acceptance and the concept that schools should be a place where every child is met where they’re at, whether that is physically, cognitively, or emotionally.
“It is not the students who are disabled, but the environment—the school—that is disabling.”
When you know better, you do better. And in this timeline where disability rights are being threatened and even stripped, we cannot continue to act as if those that are different do not deserve to live and learn and love. Or that those that are different do not contribute to our society. Different is NOT less.
When we apply standards and practices that support all learners, then we create an environment in which all learners can succeed. When we challenge past routines and adopt ones that control for executive functioning challenges, attentional challenges, or varying cognitive strengths- we create an environment in which all learners can succeed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#2025bookchallengebook100of100
#neurodiversityaffirmingschools
#netgalley
#differentisnotless
June 23, 2025
I am not a teacher but my wife is running a book group about this book and she wanted me to read it so I did. I thought the Bill of Rights was particularly good and that the chapter about unlearning ableism would probably be useful for people other than teachers as well.
Minus one star because when I tracked down the citation about how many negative comments children with ADHD receive during their education (because I wanted to know how they'd obtained such a precise number), the number of corrections per hour (which is the basis of the calculation) appears to have just been totally made up? There is no indication that it is sourced from any kind of data at all. And while, yes, I understand that the point is that students with ADHD receive much more criticism than neurotypical students, and I'm not disputing that that's true, if you're actually going to give me a hard number, I feel like that number should be provably real.
However, the book is still great.
Minus one star because when I tracked down the citation about how many negative comments children with ADHD receive during their education (because I wanted to know how they'd obtained such a precise number), the number of corrections per hour (which is the basis of the calculation) appears to have just been totally made up? There is no indication that it is sourced from any kind of data at all. And while, yes, I understand that the point is that students with ADHD receive much more criticism than neurotypical students, and I'm not disputing that that's true, if you're actually going to give me a hard number, I feel like that number should be provably real.
However, the book is still great.
April 5, 2025
This is one of those books that makes me text people at inappropriate hours demanding to know if they have read it (and to wave it around in front of my colleagues to try to entice them to read it). Not a ton of new info* for those who are well informed already, but very clearly laid out. Authors are both neurodivergent themselves.
*Two things were new for me: the claim that g/t kids/people have sensory issues like other neurodivergent folks (I have to follow up their citations on this), and presenting the idea of teaching "social acuity" rather than "social skills" (pretty exciting!).
*Two things were new for me: the claim that g/t kids/people have sensory issues like other neurodivergent folks (I have to follow up their citations on this), and presenting the idea of teaching "social acuity" rather than "social skills" (pretty exciting!).
November 16, 2024
📕📚This book is very informative and shares a lot of information about neurodiversity and planning as well as tips for helping scholars grow. I love that this book speaks on planning and how to have us as the teachers, adults professionals adjusting to what the scholars need versus the other way around. I love that we are looking at how we can help make them more comfortable versus confirming them to what the world is. Amazing book
March 11, 2025
I really enjoyed how informative this book is. I am currently in a Masters of Special Education program and plan to use some of the things I learned from this book in the classroom. I recently was diagnosed with ADHD and reading through this was very validating for me as a person as well as an educator.
NetGalley provided me this book for free for my feedback 😊
NetGalley provided me this book for free for my feedback 😊
August 6, 2025
Read this one as a course requirement. I think it's a great book for general education teachers or for people who do not yet have a lot of experience with neurodiversity.
March 9, 2025
A must read for educators wanting to reimagine traditional educational practices to better support neurodiverse students! This book supports the mindset shift needed to transform any school or learning environment. It includes a balance of information and practical strategies that will inspire educators to take action.
December 31, 2025
Such an engaging, informative and comprehensive guide. This book has been written to support educators to understand neurodivergence and help neurodivergent students to succeed, although I would argue that many elements in this book are incredibly relevant for parents and other professionals who work directly with neurodivergent individuals.
There are so many nuggets of wisdom in this book, including information about functioning labels, learner variability, universal design strategies, double empathy problem, presuming competence, hidden curriculum, among so many more!
This book is a must-read for all educators, to support true inclusion and to encourage ALL students to thrive!
I appreciate the layout of this book, including the points to ponder, what to remember and how easy it is to navigate the book from the contents page, to support re-reading or referencing.
There are so many nuggets of wisdom in this book, including information about functioning labels, learner variability, universal design strategies, double empathy problem, presuming competence, hidden curriculum, among so many more!
This book is a must-read for all educators, to support true inclusion and to encourage ALL students to thrive!
I appreciate the layout of this book, including the points to ponder, what to remember and how easy it is to navigate the book from the contents page, to support re-reading or referencing.
May 7, 2025
All school personnel should read this book.
Too many times, schools intentionally traumatize children, including neurodivergent children. The authors provide a wealth of information about creating school environments that allow all children, no matter their neurotype, to thrive.
This should be required reading in educator preparation programs.
Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for an ARC of this book!
Too many times, schools intentionally traumatize children, including neurodivergent children. The authors provide a wealth of information about creating school environments that allow all children, no matter their neurotype, to thrive.
This should be required reading in educator preparation programs.
Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for an ARC of this book!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews