Neuroaffirming means using approaches, language, and practices that respect and celebrate neurological differences instead of trying to fix them. It’s about affirming identity, supporting people as they are, and creating environments where neurodivergent people feel valued and safe.
It’s centred around recognising and respecting the natural diversity of human minds, rather than trying to change or correct people to fit a single idea of “normal”. It means questioning assumptions about “what works” or what “is best”, and being open to doing things differently.
For autistic, ADHD, and AuDHD people, it means being understood on our own terms, not as broken versions of something else, but as people whose ways of thinking, feeling, and connecting are valid and valuable.
It’s about dignity and trust: believing that neurodivergent people know themselves best, and that difference is something to be met with curiosity, not correction. It listens rather than fixes, asks what helps rather than what’s wrong, and understands that support should make life more liveable – not make us feel less ourselves.
It is a fluid and developing term – living language that is evolving as neurodivergent people are increasingly able to be and see themselves, unmasked and supported.