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If you’ve ever sat at the kitchen table with your child staring blankly at a worksheet, you know the question that follows: “Why do I have to learn this?” For neurodiverse students, the question isn’t just about frustration, it’s about relevance. Parents often wonder the same thing: “How will long division, spelling lists, or diagramming sentences prepare my child for adulthood?”

Many parents of neurodiverse children describe school as something they have to endure rather than a place they feel embraced. They talk about new teachers every year, rotating aides, and rules that shift without explanation. They receive progress reports or emails filled with jargon and little warmth. One mother told us, “I felt like I was dropping my son off at an institution, not a community. No one really knew him. No one really knew us.”

When conversations about autism make headlines, parents often find themselves caught in a storm of confusion, guilt, and fear. One of the...

One of the most damaging misconceptions in autism education is the belief that if a student is not or less verbal, they can’t learn. Too often, children who are nonverbal, or who rely on prompts or devices to communicate, are underestimated. They’re placed in classrooms with low expectations or given busywork because adults assume their silence means a lack of ability.