Different is Human: Rethinking Inclusion from the Inside Out

In recent years, schools across Ireland have opened more and more autism classes. This is genuinely positive progress. For many families, these classes mean access to support that previously simply didn’t exist. They represent recognition, awareness, and a willingness to adapt our education system to meet diverse needs. But while celebrating this progress, I often find myself wondering: what about the other neurodivergent students? What about ADHDers? What about twice-exceptional learners? What about students whose needs don’t fit neatly into one category? Neurodiversity is much broader than any single label. Autism classes can provide essential support for many students, but the wider school environment is still often built around a very narrow idea of how children should learn, move, focus, and behave. When that happens, teachers, even the most dedicated ones, are left trying to bridge the gap between students’ needs and environments that were never designed with them in mind. And there are so many incredible teachers in Ireland doing exactly that every day. But sometimes the issue isn’t teaching practice. Sometimes the issue is the environment itself. Equity in education doesn’t begin and end in the classroom. It extends to the entire school building. Lighting, noise levels, movement spaces, sensory regulation areas, predictable routines, flexible seating, quiet corners, and safe places to decompress can make an enormous difference. For many neurodivergent children, these environmental factors determine whether they can truly engage in learning or simply try to get through the school day. This is where the concept of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) becomes so powerful. Universal design asks a simple but transformative question: What if we designed schools from the start to work for as many learners as possible? Instead of creating systems that fit only one type of student and then adding accommodations later, universal design encourages us to build environments that naturally support a wide range of minds. Flexible spaces. Multiple ways to engage with learning. Opportunities for movement. Different ways to show understanding.  When schools embrace this approach, everyone benefits, not just neurodivergent students. Autism classes are an important step forward, and the teachers working in them, and in mainstream classrooms, deserve enormous recognition. But the long-term goal should be broader: schools designed with neurodiversity in mind from the start, where different ways of thinking, learning, and being are expected rather than accommodated. Because when we create environments that support different kinds of minds, we don’t just make school more accessible. We make it better for everyone.

Too often, especially with neurodivergent children, we fall into the trap of using rewards and praise as tools to manage behaviour. Stickers, points, praise, "good girl", "well done", "good job" — these may seem harmless, even helpful. But they risk teaching children to perform for approval, rather than to develop a deep, personal connection to what they do and why they do it. We are not raising children to please teachers, parents or therapists. We are guiding them to become emotionally intelligent, self-aware adults who know how to care for themselves, not because someone told them to, but because they value themselves. This is intrinsic motivation. And it matters. As adults, how many of us go to work each day simply to earn money. How many dread Mondays, feel disconnected from their work, and live for the weekend. This is the cost of relying on external rewards. When work is disconnected from meaning, we lose motivation, fulfilment and identity. So why are we raising children to follow the same path? Instead, let us raise them to do things because they matter to them . Let us support them in discovering their own sense of accomplishment and pride. Rather than saying "good girl" or "well done", how about: "You’ve made it. You should be so proud." "I can see how hard you worked. I’m sure you are thrilled with what you’ve done." These kinds of responses help children locate pride and satisfaction within themselves , not in the reactions of others. We want them to feel the gratitude of taking care of themselves, and the joy of achieving something for their own growth, not to earn someone else's approval. This is not just theory. This is backed by decades of research. In Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us , Daniel H. Pink explains that intrinsic motivation, autonomy, mastery and purpose, is far more powerful and sustainable than external incentives. Likewise, research by Amabile, Hennessey and Grossman (1986) in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showed that expected rewards can actually reduce creativity and internal motivation. Jane Nelsen’s Positive Discipline also offers a compassionate, respectful and evidence-informed approach to helping children grow into capable and resilient adults, without bribes, punishment or empty praise. Children are not here to make our lives easier. They are here to grow into people with a strong self-concept, rooted in their own values. Our job is not to control them, but to support them in becoming themselves. Let us stop asking, “How can I get them to do it?” Let us start asking, “How can I help them want to do it — for themselves?” Because in the end, this is not about compliance. It is about becoming.  Recommended reading: Drive by Daniel H. Pink (2010) Positive Discipline by Jane Nelsen (2016) Amabile, T. M., Hennessey, B. A., & Grossman, B. S. (1986). Social influences on creativity: The effects of contracted-for reward. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology