Embodied Dis/Comfort in the University

Heightened political and medicalised discourses around Autism, ADHD and other neurodivergences continue to marginalise neurodivergent people, positioning their lived experiences as peripheral in education and research. Our project developed an MA elective, Neurodiversity: Participatory Action in Research and Education (2024–2025), to unsettle these structures through praxis-led, intersectional pedagogy. By exploring both comfort (embodied experience) and discomfort (subverting norms, exposing erasures), we examined tensions within academic infrastructures affecting neurodivergent educators and students alike. This reflection re-appraises our course, shifting focus from methodological fidelity to enhancing autonomy, empowerment and participatory engagement for neurodivergent learners.