Before discussing neurodiversity affirming practice, it is important to understand neurodiversity. Neurodiversity is the concept of natural differences across the spectrum of human brains. Each person has something unique and valuable to offer the world due to their neurological differences. Neurodiversity can include individuals across the spectrums of Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dyspraxia, etc. Our approach to neurodiversity affirming practice is one we are actively learning about and working to improve upon daily. As a neurodiversity affirming practice, we use methods that allow children to exercise their right to bodily autonomy. This means that we listen to both verbal and nonverbal cues (e.g. body language). We reinforce attempts to communicate the need for personal space, breaks, sensory interventions, assistance, etc. We use hand over hand prompting as a last resort, as this is considered an intrusive intervention and we strive to create an environment where children can learn with the least restrictive supports in place. Statistically, Autistic children are 6-7 times more likely to be victims of sexual assault. Our mission to reduce physical prompting and teach self advocacy skills and bodily autonomy has a lot to do with keeping every child safe throughout their lives. Furthermore, we are looking into alternative assessments that do not focus on deficits. The current assessment methods hold neurodivergent kids to neurotypical standards. It’s unfair and frankly, unethical. These types of assessments do not foster a positive sense of self for our learners. Unfortunately, the way funding sources are set up requires us to use these deficit based measures in order to obtain the necessary authorizations for insurance coverage. As more practitioners join the neurodiversity movement, we hope to see this change in the near future