What Does Neurodiversity Mean to You? Shared Meanings from University Students, Faculty and Staff

Through the lens of a neurodiversity affirming paradigm, an Institutional Review Board approved nonexperimental survey was developed to gather meanings of neurodiversity among students, faculty, and staff of a multi-campus university community. Research questions included: What do meanings of neurodiversity reveal about a larger cultural understanding of neurodiversity? What are the similarities and differences between meanings provided by neurodivergent and neurotypical campus community members? How present and/or internalized is ableism and a deficit lens of disability in the shared meanings? And, do the shared meanings take a strengths perspective? Responses ( N = 627) were coded using thematic analysis. Findings are framed in relation to three models of disability: medical, social, and neurodiversity. A majority of students, faculty (teaching employees) and staff (non-teaching employees) acknowledged human differences in relation to social norms, followed by a medical view of neurodiversity as pathology; and thirdly, a lens of neurodiversity affirming culture. Patterns were similar for students, faculty and staff identifying as neurodivergent and not identifying as neurodivergent.