Better Together: Neurodiversity in International School Leadership

Historically, schools have grappled with deep questions, including how the brain works, how best to meet individual needs, and how to design school ecosystems to support learning and learners. Through this work, educators have remained at the forefront of conversations about neurodiverse students, where brains, individual needs, and ecosystems come together. Along this journey, we have learned that when schools are made better for neurodiverse students, they are also made better for all students (Wesolowski, 2024). In this article, we propose extending this work: by making schools better for neurodiverse leaders, schools will also be made better for all within the school community.

Neurodiversity Is Normal and Beneficial

In establishing the context for this article, most important is our conviction that neurodiversity is a normal and beneficial reality of the human condition. Having gathered evidence through personal interviews with neurodivergent individuals who are already part of many schools’ teams, and with “neurodivergent people [making] up about 15 to 20 percent of the total population” (Lee & Leger, 2024, p. 1), we can make a strong case that schools benefit from up-to-date mindsets about the qualities of successful leaders.

As multiple researchers have established, neurodiversities have associated qualities which are assets in a leadership capacity (Bumiller¹, 2008; and Lee & Leger, 2024). While these assets vary with individuals, they include (as a small sample from much longer lists):

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Problem-solving, creativity and resourcefulness (Schippers et al., 2022)
• Autism: Detail orientation, systematizing, analytical skills and ethics (Ameri et al., 2018; Baron-Cohen, 2012) 
• Bipolar Disorder: Creativity, ambition and sociability (Greenwood, 2017; J.D., 2022)
• Dyslexia: Logical reasoning, cognitive flexibility, and judgment and decision making (EY & Made By Dyslexia, 2018)
• Highly Sensitive Person (HSP): Empathy, deep processing and sensory intelligence (Suttie, 2023).

Many people with forms of neurodiversity have embraced their unique neurosignatures, and see them as assets rather than conditions in need of cures (Austin and Pisano, 2017; Lee & Leger, 2024; Spaeth and Pearson, 2023). Our interviewees universally echoed this viewpoint, and described a variety of ways in which they leverage their unique strengths in service of their leadership. In one iteration, neurodivergent characteristics are developed as assets in and of themselves. As an example, one hyper-sensitive leader purposely engages his ability to sense others’ emotions as a way to better understand the needs of the school community. In another approach, interviewees reported using strengths as scaffolding for weaker areas. To illustrate, I (Diana Rosberg) apply my systematizing skills to control my calendar and compensate for my inability to remember specific dates. The efficacy of such efforts may explain why “managers have begun thinking more deeply about leveraging the talents of all employees through greater sensitivity to individual needs” (Austin & Pisano, 2017, p. 98).

Neurodiverse Workplaces Are Advantageous

Beyond having advantages for the individuals themselves and their specific jobs, as reported above, a neurodiverse workforce provides benefits for the school and its students. Qualities such as those mentioned above should be welcome on any school’s leadership team. Indeed, they should be deliberately sought, recruited, nurtured, and supported. If a team is fortunate enough to include problem-solvers, pattern recognizers, empathizers, and analyzers, there will be few challenges that the team is unable to match. As Austin and Pisano (2017) explained, “Most managers are familiar with the advantages organizations can gain from diversity in the backgrounds, disciplinary training, gender, culture, and other individual qualities of employees. Benefits from neurodiversity are similar but more direct. Because neurodiverse people are wired differently from ‘neurotypical’ people, they may bring new perspectives to a company’s efforts to create or recognize value” (p. 98). 

According to Spaeth and Pearson (2023) schools have a very specific benefit to gain by fostering a neurodiverse workforce; they wrote about the importance of “drawing upon first-hand experience when designing for marginalised populations” (p. 110). In their explication of approaches for meeting the needs of neurodiverse students, they found that due to the double empathy problem², schools with a more neurodiverse complement of teachers are better able to plan for, and meet, the needs of neurodiverse students. By extension, neurodiverse leaders – both through role-modeling and decision-making – can nurture an environment where the needs of neurodiverse students and faculty are met, and indeed where community members of all neurosignatures can thrive.

Recognizing and Overcoming Bias

There is significant, replicated, evidence that employers frequently discriminate against those with apparent or disclosed conditions, sometimes acting against their own best interests in hiring or promoting less effective candidates (Ameri et al., 2018; Lee and Leger, 2024; Lord, 2020). In one carefully designed real-world experiment, Ameri et al. (2018) found that recruiters discriminated significantly against applicants who disclosed a disability, even when the disability (Asperger's) is likely to provide the candidate with specific advantages in the job (accounting). This finding reinforces the risk that school leaders face when they consider disclosing their neurodiversity. Lee and Leger (2024) found that with an “unemployment rate of 30–40 percent for neurodivergent individuals, roughly eight times the rate for individuals without a disability”, employers are overlooking excellent additions to their teams (p. 5). If even advantageous neurosignatures are impediments to hiring and advancement, to what extent have schools truly developed the supportive school environments which are required by accreditation standards from the Council of International Schools (2022), or the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (2024)? And what are schools and students missing out on when well-qualified candidates with unique neurosignatures, and concomitant leadership skills, are left behind? 

When biases are overcome, schools become more diverse, and neurodiverse leaders can let their particular strengths shine while getting the support they need to thrive, schools can expect to see positive changes in climate and culture. Lord (2020), documenting one university’s journey with neurodiversity inclusion, reported: 

the initiative’s novel collaborations, which involve neurodivergent students as advisers as well as researchers, have led to more inclusive practice. “Our actions are actually starting to make changes in our culture and values within our group,” attests INCLUDE project manager Connie Syharat, [...] “I’m super excited.” She notes the empowering “common language,” with its emphasis on cognitive diversity as an asset and an intentionally broad definition of neurodiversity that encompasses differences in sociability, mood, and other mental functions, that the team has begun using when discussing the new inclusion framework. (p. 32)

How Can Schools Help Neurodiverse Leaders, and Everyone Else?

Fortunately, even though neurodiversity describes a broad set of neurocognitive functioning processes, with each recognized condition expressed in multiple ways, the ways to care for and nurture neurodivergent team members can look remarkably similar. Both a literature review and conversations with neurodiverse school leaders suggest that the approaches outlined below will have a deep impact towards creating and nurturing an inclusive, respectful and effective school culture. 

The first group of recommendations is centered around workplace accommodations; most require minimal effort from the school.

1. Provide choice and flexibility in how tasks are done, separating elements that are non-negotiable from those that allow for different approaches and timelines (CAST³, 2024).
2. Allow for strengths in solo performance versus teamwork in allocating tasks, especially for those who struggle with social interaction or group-imposed work pace (CAST, 2024).
3. Allow for a balance of physical and virtual attendance in meetings or classes, where possible (Spaeth and Pearson, 2023); our interviewees stressed that this can be key to reducing the overstimulating effect of certain environments.
4. Monitor the sensory environment, especially lighting and noise levels, and allow individuals control over their personal environments where possible (CAST, 2024; our interviewees).
5. Make clear the expectations and relevance of roles and requests; this is most effective when done in collaborative communication with the neurodivergent leader (Spaeth & Pearson, 2023).
6. Create support groups and/or provide coaches for ongoing dialogue about the needs, achievements and possible accommodations for neurodiverse community members (Lee and Leger, 2024).
7. Create or designate a space whose sole function is as a quiet recovery place, where overstimulated senses and emotions can get back to baseline (Spaeth and Pearson, 2023). Every neurodivergent leader we interviewed mentioned the benefits of this concept; ideally it would include plants, soft lighting, comfortable seating, and have options for listening to music via individual devices.

Beyond accommodations for neurodiverse individuals and teams, schools might also consider a few strategies for shifting the overall culture:

1. Provide training, across all school constituencies, around neurodivergence; greater understanding fosters increased accommodation and championing of neurodiverse community members (Lee and Leger, 2024).
2. Presume good intentions around the irregular behavior of neurodiverse community members, recognizing their strengths (Lee and Leger, 2024).
3. Ensure that key teams in your school are built with an appropriate balance of neurosignatures, and that you are paying heed to Collins’ (2001) advice to get “the right people on the bus” (p.41). As outlined in the first section of this article, neurodivergent people bring tremendous strengths to leadership, including seeing opportunities, design flaws and questions that might go unnoticed on homogenous teams. When diverse teams are built to put those strengths to work, the teams produce more robust products (Austin and Pisano, 2017), which could encompass everything from policies to instructional units, strategic plans to school fetes. 
4. Inquire about the learning, processing, and communications styles and preferences of your leadership team, and consider building some version of “Team Playbooks” and “User Manuals,” tools which teams are increasingly using to facilitate effective team dynamics (Atlassian, n.p., n.d.). Go further by inviting individuals to advocate for supports and workplace adjustments they need to perform at their best. Be guided by what they tell you, evaluate it on its merits, and don’t compare their needs with others. Normalize conversations about these supports and adjustments so that the neurodivergent members of the community don’t feel intimidated about expressing their needs (Lee and Leger, 2024).

Additional steps to creating a diverse and inclusive environment might include infusing the school’s recruiting practices with awareness of, and sensitivity to, neurodiverse leaders and educators⁴. These suggestions, which work well for a diverse range of job-seeking candidates for a school’s leadership team, include:

1. Demonstrate your commitment to access and inclusion in all job advertisements, including specifying neurodivergence in your inclusivity commitment (Lee and Leger, 2024).
2. Avoid requests for a formal neurodivergent diagnosis from applicants. We have found that there is little to no benefit to an employer insisting on a medical diagnosis. Indeed, as Anderson (2021) discovered, this may turn away otherwise qualified applicants. However, there is significant benefit to considering how best to deploy an individual’s special skills, as voluntarily disclosed by the individual, and making appropriate accommodations to allow those skills to flourish (Spaeth and Pearson, 2023).
3. Don’t list requirements that aren’t actually requirements for the job. For example, some neurodivergent leaders may have had an atypical route through school and/or the leadership landscape. Their lack of formal credentials or typical career experience doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of performing well in a leadership role (Lee and Leger, 2024). Further, certain types of attributes, such as excellent communication skills, may be preferred rather than essential, especially in balance with the particular skills that accompany neurodivergence (Ameri et al., 2018).
4. Avoid subjective or figurative language in a job posting that could confuse a linear/literal thinker; e.g. rather than someone who ‘wears many hats,’ list the range of responsibilities a successful candidate might take on (Spaeth and Pearson, 2023).
5. If interviewing in person, consider sensory needs. Bright lights and noisy environments can cause disequilibrium for a neurodivergent job candidate (Spaeth and Pearson, 2023).

By recognizing and celebrating the talents and accomplishments of neurodiverse team members, schools can highlight the beneficial aspects of their neurodivergence. The knock-on effect for school communities? Seeing and experiencing leadership in all of its manifestations.

¹ Multiple references in this article, including to Bumiller, come from research which centers largely or exclusively on autism. This is due to the overwhelming trend for research in the neurodiversity sphere to center on autism, particularly when the research is on adults in the workplace rather than on children in school. While we bemoan the relative shortage of research specific to other forms of neurodivergence, we take the pragmatic approach, as do many authors in this field, that research related to autism can often be extrapolated with intention to a wider range of neurosignatures.

² The double empathy problem, introduced by Milton in 2012, posits that lapses in understanding between neurodiverse and neurotypical individuals can be caused not by any lack of skill on either party’s part, but due simply to both of them understanding and interpreting the world in different ways. Akin to speakers of different languages attempting to converse, a person with autism and a neurotypical person may misunderstand each other even though each is highly skilled at communicating. 

³ CAST, Inc’s (2024) Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides guidelines for policies, processes and environments that benefit neurodiverse learners, and are adaptable for school leaders. 

⁴ Helpful guides include those from the Recruiting and Employment Confederation (2023) and the UK’s National Autistic Society (n.d.).

References

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