F.07. Neurodiversity, Education, and Social Justice

Neurodiversity refers to the natural variability of human neurocognitive functioning—the plural ways in which we attend, sense, move, communicate, and learn. The panel invites proposals that move beyond deficit-based and medicalized frameworks to consider neurodivergence as an epistemic, social, and democratic resource.

This paradigm concerns the various conditions of neurodivergence that may entail special educational needs, as well as the potentially limitless neurological variability found among individuals.

The term “neurodiversity” should therefore not be associated with disability and special education, but with the differences and neurological variability that characterize and represent the richness and expressive capacities of human beings.

Indeed, we are all neurodiverse, since neurodiversity is a subset of the broader concept of biodiversity.

Embracing the concept of neurodiversity in the worlds of education, training, and work thus means adopting a perspective of equity, democracy, and social justice, with a view to excellence for all and for each person.

The panel aims to articulate an intersectoral and eco‑social approach to education—across early childhood, schools, higher and adult education, workplaces, and other contexts —that recognizes neurological diversity as part of biodiversity and as a condition for excellence.

By centering equity, voice, and social justice, we ask how education can shift from remediation to transformation, building environments in which different minds can flourish and contribute to democratic life.