“Treat us as capable”: Neurodivergent youths’ perceptions on adult support in digital participation

Digital participation is essential for neurodivergent youth. However, parents, teachers, and professionals often struggle to provide appropriate digital support. Like offline contexts, supporting neurodivergent youths’ online behaviors requires finding a balance between protection from potential risks and the promotion of autonomy and empowerment. Until now, scholars have predominantly focused on caregivers' perspectives. Therefore, in this study perceptions of these youngsters themselves are investigated. Survey data of 58 neurodivergent youth on experienced digital support were analyzed. Responses supported the distinction between enabling-authoritative support and restrictive-authoritarian support. Neurodivergent youth reported that parents and teachers more often applied enabling-authoritative support and indicated that they found this approach more effective. These findings underscore the importance of enabling rather than restrictive digital support also for neurodivergent youth, as digitalization opens up new opportunities for redressing their inequities in participation.