A 360-Degree Roadmap

Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools: Transforming Practices So All Students Feel Accepted & Supported by Emily Kircher-Morris and Amanda Morin
Free Spirit Publishing, January 21, 2024

‍Supporting Neurodivergent Teachers: How Schools Can Help the Helpers by Emily Kircher-Morris
Cult of Pedagogy, November 23, 2025

As the presence of neurodiverse profiles in our learning spaces continues to grow, there is a critical need for schools to create genuine communities of belonging and support for all neurodivergent thinkers. Together, the book Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools and Emily Kircher-Morris’s article “Supporting Neurodivergent Teachers: How Schools Can Help the Helpers” offer a comprehensive, 360-degree roadmap for transforming the educational ecosystem for both students and educators. In Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools, authors Kircher-Morris and Morin provide a much-needed bridge between theory and practice. This book honors the professionalism of educators while striving to fill in gaps of knowledge about neurodiversity through a lens that affirms all learners. The authors don’t shy away from the hard truths — acknowledging how neurodivergent students have historically been ignored or even harmed in traditional classrooms — but focus on specific, actionable ways to do better. Kircher-Morris also extends this lens to a frequently overlooked group: neurodivergent educators. In her Cult of Pedagogy article on "Helping the Helpers," she challenges school leaders to apply the same accessibility standards to staff that they do to students. She highlights how many teachers only recognize their own neurodivergence later in life, despite being trained to spot those same traits in their students. By shifting school structures to normalize neurodiversity among staff, administrators can tap into the unique strengths these educators bring while mitigating the systemic challenges that lead to burnout. Overall, these works emphasize that reimagining school structures through a neurodiversity-affirming lens helps leaders foster healthier, more sustainable teaching communities where both educators and students thrive.