If you’ve spent any time reading the news or scrolling social media recently, you’ve probably seen it.
“Autism is overdiagnosed.”
“Neurodiversity has become a catch-all label.”
“Everyone thinks they’re autistic these days.”
It’s become one of those conversations that seems to generate more heat than light.
To be honest, I’m tired of it.
Not because I think we should avoid difficult conversations, but because we’re arguing about the wrong thing.
We’re debating whether people exist instead of asking how we help them thrive.
Maybe we’ve got the story backwards
Whenever society starts recognising people who have always been overlooked, there seems to be a predictable reaction.
We saw it with mental health.
We saw it with dyslexia.
We saw it when left-handed children stopped being forced to write with their right hands.
Recognition gets mistaken for an epidemic.
Visibility gets mistaken for a trend.
Acceptance gets mistaken for going too far.
History has a habit of making those reactions look rather dated.
Perhaps this will be no different.
Neurodivergent people didn’t suddenly appear
They’ve always been here.
In our schools.
In our families.
In our workplaces.
In every generation.
The difference today is that more people finally have the language to describe experiences they’ve carried for years.
For some, a diagnosis isn’t about finding an excuse.
It’s about finally finding an explanation.
There’s a world of difference.
What if the real problem isn’t neurodivergence?
What if it’s the environments we’ve built?
Most schools still reward one way of learning.
Many workplaces still reward one communication style.
Too often, we mistake confidence for competence, eye contact for honesty and fitting in for belonging.
Then we wonder why so many talented people burn out trying to become someone they were never meant to be.
Maybe the problem was never the people.
Maybe it’s the system.
The world needs different minds
Look around at the biggest challenges facing society.
Climate change.
Healthcare.
Education.
Artificial intelligence.
Productivity.
Loneliness.
None of these problems will be solved by getting everyone to think in exactly the same way.
Progress has always depended on people who see things differently.
People who notice patterns others miss.
People who ask awkward questions.
People who challenge assumptions.
People who become deeply curious about solving problems.
Different thinking has always moved humanity forwards.
Why would we want less of it now?
Imagine a different conversation
Imagine if we stopped asking:
“What’s wrong with this person?”
And started asking:
“What helps this person do their best work?”
Imagine schools designed around curiosity rather than conformity.
Imagine recruitment processes that recognised talent instead of rewarding the best interview performer.
Imagine leaders who understood that inclusion isn’t about treating everyone the same—it’s about giving everyone the opportunity to succeed.
Imagine workplaces where people didn’t waste energy pretending to be someone else.
That’s not lowering standards.
That’s creating the conditions where more people can contribute.
And when more people contribute, everyone benefits.
This is bigger than autism
This isn’t really about labels.
It’s about people.
It’s about recognising that human beings have never all thought, learned or communicated in the same way.
They never will.
And that’s something worth celebrating, not fearing.
The future won’t be built by one type of brain.
It will be built by teams of people who bring different perspectives, different experiences and different ways of solving problems.
That’s what innovation has always looked like.
My rally cry
So let’s stop debating whether neurodivergent people exist.
Let’s stop treating diagnosis as a culture war.
Let’s stop asking people to justify who they are.
Instead…
Let’s build schools where every child can flourish.
Let’s create workplaces where authenticity is valued more than conformity.
Let’s design systems that work for human beings rather than expecting human beings to work around poor systems.
Let’s replace judgement with curiosity.
Let’s choose understanding over assumptions.
And let’s remember something very simple.
A society that works for neurodivergent people usually works better for everyone else too.
Different isn’t broken.
Different isn’t less.
Different is human.
And perhaps that’s exactly what the future needs.
Simon Prior 