Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools:

Transforming Practices So All Students Feel Accepted and Supported

By Emily Kircher-Morris and Amanda Morin

Available now!

Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools is a guide for K-12 educators to better understand neurodivergence and help neurodivergent students thrive. Inside, you’ll find the background information and concrete practices you need to create a school or classroom culture where neurodivergent students feel safe, valued, and understood. You’ll also find clear explanations of behaviors common in neurodivergent learners, such as masking, rejection sensitivity, and novelty seeking. Then, discover specific practices that you can use right away.

This accessible book is designed to help you take action. By the end of each chapter, you’ll understand how the key takeaways apply to your particular situation and how you can meet neurodivergent students’ needs in ways appropriate to their unique cognition. Written by two experts on neurodiversity education, this book teaches you how to:

  • Use established practices like strengths-based instruction in neurodiversity-affirming ways

  • Prevent neurodivergent students from checking out and becoming burnt out

  • Identify the unique ways that neurodivergent children express their needs and difficulties

  • Emphasize and model emotional regulation skills at the classroom level

  • Create more effective, strengths-based IEPs and 504 Plans

This book also provides real-world examples in the form of vignettes of neurodivergent students and the educators that support them. These features contextualize what you’ve learned to help you feel confident as you implement change. You’ll also get access to a study guide to facilitate using this book with professional learning communities. Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools is your practical and comprehensive guide to creating opportunities for neurodivergent learners to succeed.

Praise for Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools

  • Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools is a book that needs to sit on every educator’s desk. Amanda Morin and Emily Kircher-Morris’s voice and wisdom holistically embrace how schools can build learning environments where all students thrive.

    Juliana Urtubey, NBCT, 2021 National Teacher of the Year

  • After nearly 20 years supporting kids in schools, I feel like I finally have that one book I can share with parents, teachers, and colleagues alike to help create inclusive and affirming schools for our kids. Spoiler alert… it’s not nearly as hard as you think!

    Dr. Andrew Kahn, licensed psychologist, neurodiversity specialist/consultant

  • Kircher-Morris and Morin offer practices for us to dream and realize a version of schools where both our neurodivergent and neuro-normative students and teachers can thrive. They challenge us to reflect on practices… and refine them in a way that truly supports kids’ unique differences.

    Laurent Jewett, NCT, exceptional needs

  • Emily Kircher-Morris and Amanda Morin advocate for a system that adapts to the learner and gets there through gradual and sustainable change. Every child deserves to feel like they belong, and this book takes us one step closer to schools that do just that.

    Tim Villegas, director of communications, Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education

  • Image of Cindy Johanson

    Emily Kircher-Morris and Amanda Morin skillfully blend theory and practice in an essential guide for creating truly inclusive classrooms. Their neurodiversity-affirming approach challenges educators to move beyond mere accommodation to celebration of cognitive differences.

    Cindy Johanson, executive director, George Lucas Educational Foundation

  • Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools is an invaluable resource to help educators change their practices and mindsets… Informed by research, and written with care, thoughtfulness, and understanding, this is a book all educators need.

    Kareem Neal, M.Ed., special education teacher, 2019 Arizona Teacher of the Year, 2022 National Teachers’ Hall of Fame inductee

About the Authors

  • Driven by her personal journey as a neurodivergent individual, Emily Kircher-Morris has dedicated her career to transforming how we understand and support neurodivergent minds. As a licensed professional counselor, educator, and thought leader, she brings a unique blend of clinical expertise and lived experience to her work with neurodivergent individuals.

    Through her widely-followed Neurodiversity Podcast, Emily explores cutting-edge research and practical strategies for supporting neurodivergent people across their lifespan. The podcast has become a vital resource for families, educators, and clinicians seeking to better understand and embrace neurodiversity.

    Emily's acclaimed books offer practical guidance for educators and families supporting neurodivergent young people. Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools builds on her previous publications, including Teaching Twice-Exceptional Learners in Today's Classroom and Raising Twice-Exceptional Children: A Handbook for Parents of Neurodivergent Gifted Kids. She regularly shares her insights at conferences and professional development sessions worldwide, helping educators and mental health professionals create more inclusive and supportive environments.

    Drawing from her background as a gifted education teacher and school counselor, Emily now maintains a specialized private practice near St. Louis, Missouri. Here, she works extensively with neurodivergent youth and adults. Her approach integrates evidence-based practices with a deep understanding of the unique challenges and strengths that come with neurodivergent thinking, making her a trusted voice in the field of neurodiversity-affirming care and education.

  • Amanda Morin is a neurodivergent neurodiversity activist, an award-winning author, early childhood specialist, certified teacher, and nationally known speaker, deeply committed to fostering accessible and inclusive environments for neurodivergent individuals. She is an impact-driven, mission-oriented expert within the fields of education and neurodiversity who provides unique expertise, and innovative perspectives to mission-driven education and family-facing organizations and coalitions. She played an integral role in launching Understood.org in 2014.

    She works with print and digital media, educational professionals and parents, empowering them to affirm the pivotal roles they play in building knowledge about mental health, neurodiversity, and disability. Her bylines appear in Education Week, The Learning Professional, ASCD’s Educational Leadership, Edutopia, NAESP, Parenting Special Needs Magazine, DotDash (formerly known as About.com), Popsugar Moms, and more. Amanda has also worked with many organizations and companies, including Nickelodeon, New York City Charter School Center for The Collaborative for Inclusive Education, Hill Learning Center, Bright & Quirky, Matan, and Hidden Sparks Without Walls.

    Amanda proudly serves as a subject matter expert for the DUCC (Developing & Using Critical Comprehension) project for the Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University, sits on the advisory board of Digital Promise’s Learner Variability Project, the professional advisory board of Matan, and the Technical Expert Panel of the American Academy of Pediatrics Center of Excellence on Social Media & Youth Mental Health. She received special education advocacy training from the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates and holds a certificate in Universal Design for Learning from the UDL Implementation and Research Network.

    She is also the author of five other books: Adulting Made Easy: Things Someone Should Have Told You About Getting Your Grown-Up Act Together, What Is Empathy? A Bullying Storybook for Kids, On-the-Go Fun for Kids: More Than 250 Activities to Keep Little Ones Busy and Happy — Anytime, Anywhere!, The Everything Kids’ Learning Activities Book, and The Everything Parent’s Guide to Special Education.

Order your copy now!

We want to hear from you!

Contact Us