🧠 Neurodivergent-Affirming Research Checklist

A tool to evaluate whether a study honors the dignity, agency, and complexity of neurodivergent people

This checklist is rooted in values of neurodivergent thriving: self-determination, lived experience, collective care, creative expression, and resistance to pathologizing norms.

Download a pdf file here of it.

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Framing & Language

• Does the research use identity-first language (e.g., “autistic people”) in alignment with community preferences?

• Is neurodivergence framed as a natural and valuable part of human diversity—not a disorder or deficit to be corrected?

• Does the language reflect respect and nuance, avoiding clinical or pathologizing terms unless critically examined?

• Are the goals focused on supporting authenticity, autonomy, and well-being, rather than compliance, normalization, or behavior control?

Affirming language reflects dignity and avoids medicalizing differences unless clearly necessary.

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Purpose & Ethics

• Is the study designed to support ND lives, not to suppress, cure, or erase neurodivergent traits?

• Do the researchers share their positionality (e.g., whether they are ND, allies, clinicians), and reflect on their role with humility?

• Does the research prioritize quality of life, self-expression, and choice over productivity or performance metrics?

• Are risks, power imbalances, and potential harms clearly acknowledged? Does the study include harm-reduction principles?

Affirming research is transparent, reflexive, and grounded in care.

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🗣️ Inclusion of Lived Experience

• Are neurodivergent people actively involved in the research—not just as subjects, but as collaborators, consultants, or leaders?

• Is the research co-produced or participatory, shaped by the voices and values of ND communities?

• Are ND-led scholars, creators, or organizers cited, acknowledged, and centered?

• If the study involves children, are their experiences, autonomy, and rights considered—not just parental or professional views?

Affirming research values lived experience as essential knowledge.

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Outcomes & Measures

• Are outcomes based on what matters to ND people—like comfort, connection, sensory safety, or communication—rather than neurotypical ideals like “eye contact” or “quiet behavior”?

• Are sensory, emotional, and relational experiences treated as valid and meaningful data?

• Are alternative forms of expression (e.g., stimming, behavior as communication, AAC) recognized and respected?

Affirming measures reflect real lives, not just observable behaviors.

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Contextual Awareness

• Does the research account for intersectionality, including how race, gender, class, sexuality, and trauma shape ND experiences?

• Does it explore social, sensory, and systemic barriers—instead of locating “problems” within the individual?

• Are issues like diagnostic bias, cultural invalidation, and access to care acknowledged?

• Does the study challenge ableism or reflect on how research structures may reinforce it?

Affirming research sees people in context—not in isolation.

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📣 Dissemination & Access

• Is the research open access, or shared in ways that are accessible to the communities it impacts (e.g., plain language summaries, infographics, zines)?

• Are findings returned to the community that contributed to the research?

• Are the ethical implications and potential misuses of the research explored—especially around coercion, surveillance, or behavioral control?

Affirming research shares power—not just findings.

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🌈 Bonus: Neuroqueer-Inspired Reflections

• Does the study celebrate difference as meaningful, joyful, or creatively generative—not just something to manage or reduce?

• Does it challenge rigid norms about development, emotion, or communication, making room for fluidity, ambiguity, and neurodivergent ways of being?

• Are non-normative expressions of identity, gender, emotion, or behavior treated as valid?

• Does the study include or value joy, sensory pleasure, resistance, play, or connection as meaningful outcomes?

Affirming research expands what counts as success, progress, and knowledge.

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✨ Reflection Notes

I have been working on developing this when sorting through all the research I read AND workshops I attend to help me filter through what to save, keep, and pay attention to because I hoard information.

I thought it might also be interesting for others. I’m not a researcher, but I love research and hate when it’s used for evil.

I think:

• A study might check many boxes and still carry bias.

• A flawed study might be a starting point for transformation.

• No study will check all these boxes.

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I’m Kristen McClure, MSW, LCSW—a therapist with 30 years of experience, a child and mental health advocate, and a neurodivergent-affirming coach. I run a therapy practice in Charlotte, NC, and have developed a comprehensive, neurodivergent-affirming program for ADHD and AuDHD women.

🔹 Learn more about the Flourish program: here
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Thanks for reading the ADHD advocate.