Challenging Misconceptions About Neurodivergence
We have moved into homes where walking on plain ground is far from possible. The very experience of feeling the earth beneath our feet is becoming rare. There are no easily accessible gardens, and time and space have turned into privileges. For years, I have ranted about public parks being shut during the day, about how our societal concerns seem more focused on moral policing than on the far greater loss—the absence of play in our children’s lives.
Early schooling and long seated hours take away what should be fundamental to child development—sensory integration and proprioception. These are not just abstract psychological terms; they are the foundation of how children develop coordination, balance, and awareness of their own bodies. Yet today, they have been reduced to areas of concern for specialists rather than being an intrinsic part of everyday life.
What was once fundamental to generations before us, in a country that had both space and the skills to pass down, has now become a concept locked away in books, disconnected from lived experience.
The ability for the mind and body to work together, to engage all senses in harmony, is not a luxury—it is a necessity.
This is why I have a deep appreciation for the Waldorf methods of learning, which are grounded in movement, handwork, and play. These are not just supplementary activities; they are essential to how children learn, grow, and integrate their senses with their cognitive and emotional development. The ability for the mind and body to work together, to engage all senses in harmony, is not a luxury—it is a necessity. However, if we take any philosophy or educational framework literally, without critically adapting it to the realities of our world today, we fail the very essence of what education is meant to be: a process of cultivating thoughtful, adaptive, and aware individuals.
This same principle applies to the way we understand neurodivergence. The notion that autism or other neurodivergent conditions are a lifestyle disease is not just inaccurate—it is dangerous. Lifestyle diseases, by definition, imply that they are a result of choices—an accumulation of habits that can be altered or avoided. They suggest that the individual has control over their condition. But neurodivergence is not that. It is a neurological difference, present from birth, shaped by genetics and brain development. It is not a condition that one “develops” due to external factors; it is an intrinsic part of how a person experiences the world.
We cannot afford to conflate neurodivergence with diseases like diabetes, heart disease, or hypertension—conditions that emerge over time due to factors like diet, exercise, and stress. Neurodivergence is not something that can be “acquired” or “reversed” through lifestyle changes. It does not need fixing or curing. It requires understanding, support, and an environment that allows individuals to thrive as they are.
Perpetuating the idea that neurodivergence is a lifestyle disease, in a world that already struggles to fully understand it, does more harm than good. It fuels misconceptions. It places undue blame on individuals and families. And most of all, it takes away from the real conversation—one that should be focused on acceptance, inclusion, and systemic change.
We live in times where space for movement, for play, for understanding the natural rhythms of childhood, is shrinking. But that does not mean we must shrink our thinking as well. If we are to truly build an inclusive world, we must challenge these narratives, engage with complexity, and move beyond simplistic labels. Because shame and blame have never been the path to progress. Awareness, adaptation, and acceptance, on the other hand, just might be.
