Everyone has their own unique way of experiencing the world. There are countless ways of perceiving, interpreting, processing, and interacting with one’s environment. Neurodiversity, or neurological diversity, refers to the variation that exists among different people’s nervous systems, which govern all of these processes. 

While no two nervous systems are identical, some characteristics are more common than others. People with these more common traits are called neurotypical. People with less common configurations are called neurodivergent. Autism, ADHD, epilepsy, Down syndrome, Tourette syndrome, depression, dyslexia, and dyspraxia are some common types of neurodivergence, though there are many more. 

The neurodiversity movement pushes for the acceptance and inclusion of all neurotypes (autistic, ADHD, neurotypical, etc.) rather than idealizing a single type as the best. Most settings in the industrialized world are optimized specifically for neurotypical people. Neuroinclusive environments, on the other hand, are more flexible and are designed to accommodate members of various neurominorities as well as neurotypical individuals. 

Neuroinclusion is about recognizing that there are many valid ways of being. This doesn’t mean neurodivergence is never a disability. It means there are all sorts of valid ways of learning, playing, connecting, and communicating. Some people have a hard time making eye contact or sitting still. Some people use gestures, sign language, letter boards, or other AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) to communicate. Some people need extra help taking care of their bodies. Different people need different types and amounts of support.

Rigid behavioral expectations are a barrier to neuroinclusion. Expecting uniform behavior across a neurodiverse group— that is, a group of people with various neurotypes— means expecting certain individuals to do extra work to camouflage their differences. This can lead to social isolation, depression, anxiety, and other long-term problems. 

Negative assumptions about behavior are another barrier to creating neuroinclusive spaces. For example, an adult may assume a child is being defiant when they are actually unable to follow a particular instruction. It is much safer to assume that kids do well if they can. From there, it is helpful to take a curious approach. What does each person need to learn best? What are potential sources of distress, and what would help? How do you know when someone is unable to meet the expectations placed on them?

To set neuroinclusive behavioral expectations, it is essential to consider neurodiversity in the areas of neuroception and inhibitory control. Neuroception is a person’s sense of danger or safety. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one example of a type of neurodivergence that can significantly alter a person’s neuroception. Differences in neuroception cause differences in stress responses. A particular trigger can cause extreme distress for one person while going unnoticed by others. Neuroinclusive settings make space for different people to have stress responses to different stimuli.

Differences in inhibitory control are also part of neurodiversity. That means different people have different levels of ability to control their movements, thoughts, and feelings. Further, one person’s abilities can be different at different times. Disinhibition is a trait associated with many types of neurodivergence, including Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, OCD, autism, and others. Someone experiencing disinhibition may involuntarily perform an action as a result of it being mentioned, such as if they are specifically instructed not to do it. Disinhibition can occur in many different ways, and it occurs at higher rates in children than adults.

The U.S. Department of Education offers guidance on preventing and correcting behavior problems in schools through the National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The materials on the center’s website focus on preventing and stopping “problem behavior,” examples of which include things like not following instructions and not finishing assignments. However, the website does not include information about how to determine if a problem is caused by a student’s poor choices, inappropriate classroom expectations, or something else. 

One of the core features of PBIS is data-based decision-making, which is supposedly an objective approach. (1) The website instructs educators to collect data on student misbehavior, including the “perceived motivation” or “function” of the behavior. However, one person’s guess at another person’s motivation is a subjective assumption, not objective data. 

Behavior is the product of a person’s internal experiences, which have varying levels of connection with observable external factors. Since a person’s neurology impacts every aspect of their internal experiences, someone who doesn’t understand neurodiversity cannot form meaningful hypotheses about the reasons for other people’s behavior. 

Plus, not all behavior is voluntary. Behavior only has a motivation if it’s intentional, so the PBIS model fails to account for stress responses, reflexive actions, and other involuntary behaviors. Everyone exhibits involuntary behaviors, but this can look different in neurodivergent and disabled individuals than in neurotypical, non-disabled people. 

Treating involuntary behavior as voluntary can cause trauma, which can sensitize a person to new stimuli. This increases the number of situations that may produce a stress response, which can cause additional involuntary behavior. This creates a vicious cycle that traumatized students can’t escape. 

The PBIS website includes materials about working with students with disabilities, but it mainly discusses physical accessibility and clear communication of expectations. It doesn’t talk about how disabilities and neurodivergences can affect behavior. 

The PBIS website includes a publication about supporting autistic students, but the only information it includes about autism is in a single-sentence summary of the DSM definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder. (2) The bulk of the document lists various types of strategies for influencing students’ behavior. It does not mention apraxia– a condition characterized by a person’s inability to perform certain tasks when they want to– despite the fact that it co-occurs in more than 60% of individuals with an autism diagnosis. (3) Nor does it say anything about supporting nonspeaking students, even though behavior may be the best communication tool available to some of them. 

In addition to treating all behavior as voluntary, the PBIS training materials say that the function of any behavior is either getting or avoiding something, such as attention or an activity. (4) This is simply not how people work. There are many functions of voluntary behavior, including self-expression and social connection. When adults treat children’s attempts to connect with others as mere attempts to get attention, those children learn to understand relationships as purely transactional. 

Behavior with motivations of self-expression and social connection can look lots of different ways across the various intersections of cultures, neurotypes, abilities, age groups, and individuals. Treating these actions as attempts to get or avoid something can make people ashamed of who they are. 

It’s also worth noting that from a purely logical perspective, “getting adult attention” appears to be a catchall function. If someone is filling out a form about a behavior, it means that the behavior has captured the attention of that person. According to the PBIS literature, the function of a behavior is the same as the consequence, which is “what happened right after the behavior occurred.” (5) Therefore, anything a child does that catches the attention of an adult can be said to serve the function of getting adult attention. This process teaches some children that other people’s reactions supersede their true motivations. 

This whole system relies on classifying all behavior as functioning to get or avoid something and treating these classifications as data. This implicitly denies the reality of neurodiversity, other types of diversity, and the overarching richness of human experiences. It also creates the potential for health crises to be treated as misbehavior. 

Neurodiversity is an important dimension of human diversity. Neuroinclusive classrooms foster learning in neurodiverse populations. Planning for neuroinclusive environments requires an understanding of various aspects of neurodiversity. Analyzing behavior without understanding neurological differences creates barriers to inclusion. Approaching challenges with curiosity allows for respectful solutions and helps students learn to solve problems collaboratively. 

References

1 Data-based decision making. Center on PBIS. (n.d.). https://www.pbis.org/topics/data-based-decision-making

2 Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Through School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. (August 16, 2022). https://www.pbis.org/resource/supporting-students-with-autism-spectrum-disorders-through-school-wide-positive-behavior-interventions-and-supports

3Tierney, C., Mayes, S., Lohs, S. R., Black, A., Gisin, E., & Veglia, M. (2015). How Valid Is the Checklist for Autism Spectrum Disorder When a Child Has Apraxia of Speech?. Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP, 36(8), 569–574. https://doi.org/10.1097/DBP.0000000000000189 

4 Loman, S., Strickland-Cohen, M., Borgmeier, C., & Horner, R. (October 28, 2019). Basic FBA to BSP Trainer’s Manual, Appendix A, p. 7. https://www.pbis.org/resource/basic-fba-to-bsp-trainers-manual 

5 Loman et al., 2019, Appendix A, p. 40.