Resources

ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is a condition where the brain works differently to most people. If you have ADHD, you may have trouble with things like concentrating and sitting still. There are things you can do to help manage your symptoms.

From: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/adhd-adults/

Autism influences how people experience and interact with the world. It is a lifelong neurodivergence and disability. Autistic people are different from each other, but for a diagnosis they must share differences from non-autistic people in how they think, feel and communicate.

Being autistic means you may feel things and react to them differently to non-autistic people. You may find socialising confusing or tiring, and you may become overwhelmed in loud or busy places. You may have intense interests, prefer order and routine, and use repeated movements or actions to calm yourself or express joy. You might mask your discomfort to fit in, which can lead to mental illness.

From: autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/what-is-autism

Maths Difficulties are best thought of as a continuum or spectrum.

Dyscalculia falls at one end of the spectrum and will be distinguishable from other maths issues due to the severity of difficulties with number sense, including subitising, symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude comparison and ordering.

Dyscalculia is defined as a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers, which can lead to a range of difficulties with mathematics. It occurs across all age ranges, levels of education and abilities. It can occur singly but often occurs with other conditions.

From: dyscalculianetwork.com/what-is-dyscalculia/

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty which primarily affects reading and writing skills. However, it does not only affect these skills. Dyslexia is actually about information processing. Dyslexic people may have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear, which can affect learning and the acquisition of literacy skills. Dyslexia can also impact on other areas such as organisational skills.

It is important to remember that there are positives to thinking differently. Many dyslexic people show strengths in areas such as reasoning and in visual and creative fields.

From: bdadyslexia.org.uk/dyslexia/about-dyslexia

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), also known as Dyspraxia in the UK, is a common disorder affecting fine and/or gross motor coordination in children and adults…

An individual’s coordination difficulties may affect participation and functioning of everyday life skills in education, work and employment. Children may present with difficulties with self-care, writing, typing, riding a bike, play as well as other educational and recreational activities.

In adulthood many of these difficulties will continue, as well as learning new skills at home, in education and work, such as driving a car and DIY. There may be a range of co-occurring difficulties which can also have serious negative impacts on daily life. These include social emotional difficulties as well as problems with time management, planning and organisation and these may impact an adult’s education or employment experiences.

From: movementmattersuk.org/what-is-developmental-coordination-disorder-dyspraxia/

The term “neurodivergent” describes people whose brain differences affect how their brain works. That means they have different strengths and challenges from people whose brains don’t have those differences.

Neurodivergent isn’t a medical term. Instead, it’s a way to describe people using words other than “normal” and “abnormal.” That’s important because there’s no single definition of “normal” for how the human brain works.

The word for people who aren’t neurodivergent is “neurotypical.” That means their strengths and challenges aren't affected by any kind of difference that changes how their brains work.

From: my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23154-neurodivergent

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a genetically determined neurological condition, the key features of which are tics, involuntary and uncontrollable sounds and movements. TS is a complex condition and covers a wide spectrum of symptoms.

From: tourettes-action.org.uk/