New Year For Neurodiversity

What are we actually talking about when we talk about neurodiversity in creative industries?

Too often, the conversation feels like surface-level inclusion statements. Corporate. Predictable.

Has creativity ever thrived in predictability or progressed? In some sense through team collaboration and audience appreciation, the works of comedians, writers and speakers have shaped

In an era defined by disruption, saturation, and creative fatigue, neurodiversity is far too often treated as a box to tick but as a transition to alternative thinking that challenges dominant systems in much the same way alternative medicine challenges conventional healthcare or Jordan challenged those in his team to be and work harder.

Yet without the guidance of coaches, leaders and those who understand its lost to a space perhaps more damaging.

In an ever evolving world of mixed media, contemporary design, whether digital or traditional, neurodiversity doesn’t simply adapt to existing systems it questions them, reshapes them, and often improves them not without disrupting them first.

For many, this process can feel confusing. Trust me.

Often overlooking each role, forgetting that each human navigating neurodivergence and those observing it from the outside may struggle to articulate what is happening or why it matters.

Valuable lessons are often overlooked. However, through open choice, personal reflection, and a conscious move away from framing neurodivergence as a problem to be solved, it becomes possible to see it as a positive challenge.

This challenge asks industries to rethink how ideas are developed, communicated, and valued not just for neurodivergent people, but for everyone.

Creating better environments for autistic individuals is not solely an HR or policy issue. It is a cultural one. Leaders, collaborators, educators, and clients all play a role in shaping expectations and behaviours.

Small changes matter: clearer briefs, flexible communication, respect for focus, and a reduction in unnecessary social performance.

We have all come to appreciate that, neurodivergent individuals possess extraordinary strengths whether digital or traditional. Key traits like pattern recognition, lateral thinking, and hyper focus fuel creativity, problem-solving, and multi-disciplinary skills.

Neurodiversity is often discussed in terms of access, inclusion, or accommodation.

Being neurodiverse doesn’t simply adapt to existing systems it breaks the natural order of things.

Rather than framing it as a problem to be solved, its one that can be understood as a positive challenge: one that asks industries to rethink how ideas are formed, communicated, and valued.

From the boundaries that are broken in the labs to the conceptual features that Pushing boundaries does not require grand gestures.

Often, it begins with listening, flexibility, and a willingness to unlearn habits that no longer serve both parties. Yes the fingers on you silly!

Those with relative thinkign are already shaping the future of mixed media and design, not by asking for permission, but by working in ways that feel authentic to how they think and feel.

The challenge for the wider industry is simple: keep up.

Where the challenges and conversations can change, everyone benefits and for where old experiences of those with neurodiversity have set what appears to be a narrative one framed to be damaging, closed off or hiding a hidden agenda it's simply the curiosity of creativity one without a boundary.