Synesthesia (or synaesthesia) is a psychological phenomenon where a person experiences one stimulation or use one sensory pathway and another sensory pathway activates simultaneously. This phenomenon effects around 4% of the population. For instance, as someone is listening to an orchestra performance, they may see a variety of colors dependent on the pitches of the piece or the piece as whole that is being performed. There are many types of synesthesia including grapheme-color synesthesia (associating a color to written numbers or letters) and chromesthesia (also known as "colored-hearing" where one sees colors when hearing certain sounds).

Synesthesia (or Synaesthesia)

Neurological diversity refers specifically to the biological heterogeneity of people's minds, including differences in brain structure, nervous system, sensory processing, neurocognitive functioning, emotional reaction.

New York University

the understanding of neurological variation as a natural form of human diversity, subject to the same societal dynamics as other forms of diversity,” such as gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation

Neurodiversity

variation in the configuration and functioning of human brains and minds is regarded as “a natural, healthy, and valuable form of human diversity”


Neurodiversity Paradigm

insists on a “right,” “normal” or “healthy” way for human brains and minds to be configured and to function, and claims that substantial divergence from this dominant “normal” standard equates with the blanket assessment that there is “Something Wrong With You”

Pathology Paradigm

Neurological Diversity

- Developmental Applied 
- Developmental Clinical 
- Acquired Clinical Neurologic
- Acquired Clinical Psychiatric 


Types of Neurodiversity 

Neurodiversity References 

Historically, research on neurodevelopmental disorders has relied on the medical model which focused on curing disabilities. There is a new movement away from that and towards a new more neurodiversity affirming model. 

- The scope of research on neurodivergent individuals can be broadened to talk about strengths, not just weaknesses.

- Research regarding neurodivergent people may be biased.

- There are unequal power dynamics in research where researchers have more power than the neurodivergent people do. 

- Researchers studying neurodiversity have a duty to engage in community advocacy and be aware of the historical harms that have been done to the community through research 

- Researchers should be aware of the language that they are using and try to use neutral or strengths-based language 

Neurodiversity and its implications for researchers 

There are three main models of approaching disability, the medical model, social model, and neurodiversity approach. The medical model views the disability as a disorder or deficit that needs to be cured. The social model views the disability as a result of the environment. The neurodiversity approach views disability as an interaction between the characteristics of the disabled person and the environment.

Dwyer (2022) explains that there is not just one neurodiversity approach, but many different definitions of what neurodiversity means. The neurodiversity model aligns more with the biopsychosocial approach, which stipulates that disabilities are the result of a combination of biological, social, and environmental factors. 


Three models for viewing disability

References for neurodiversity & higher education node 

References for neurodiversity & higher education

Neurodiverse students face many stressors in the college environment (Clouder et al., 2020). College transitions may be more difficult for these students and students may face anxiety related to personal, social, and academic lives. Many suggestions arise to make the college environment more accepting and inclusive for neurodiverse students. Awareness and acceptance of neurodiversity may be the first steps towards systemic change in higher education (Wilson & Dallman, 2024). Campus-wide efforts to promote neurodiversity understanding amongst students, faculty, and staff are recommended (Dwyer et al., 2023; Hotez et al., 2023; Wilson & Dallman, 2024).  Scholars suggest including neurodiverse students in efforts to improve the student experience (Dwyer et al., 2023; Wilson & Dallman, 2024). Universal design for learning and implementing a flexibility of modalities for instruction are recommended (Clouder et al., 2020; Dwyer et al., 2023; Wilson & Dallman, 2024). There should be an emphasis on understanding the strengths of neurodiverse students in order to facilitate acceptance (Wilson & Dallman, 2024). 

Neurodiversity & Higher Education

Price reclaims "mad" and "crazy" not as insults but as rhetorical indicators that expose discrimination. Her goal is to apply Disability Studies (DS) theory to transform "thinking about thinking in the classroom"—reframing how academia understands cognitive difference. She gets inside the heads of the anxious, the shy, and the awkward, treating neurodiversity as a critical resource for higher education rather than deviancy to be eliminated. Moving beyond familiar diagnoses like Autism or ADD, Price analyzes cognitive disabilities we cannot yet name, opening new directions for understanding diverse minds in academic spaces.

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