Is ‘Neurodiversity’ the New DEI in Education?

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A parental rights group is accusing the nation’s largest school counselors association of repackaging critical race theory and queer theory under the banner of “neurodiversity” and “neuro-affirming counseling.”

The parental rights group Courage Is a Habit warns in a new report that the American School Counselor Association‘s neurodiversity framework effectively turns counselors into left-wing activists intent on changing an “oppressive” status quo.

“‘Neuro-affirming counseling’ is a dishonest rebranding designed to capture every student under an unchallengeable, non-medical umbrella,” Courage Is a Habit President Alvin Lui told the Daily Signal. “It’s the new operational vehicle for critical race theory and queer theory in K-12 schools.”

Lui warned that “‘neuro-affirming’ frameworks bypass parents to initiate social-emotional interventions without explicit, written consent.”

“Parents must demand an immediate end to unapproved mental health surveys and enforce strict opt-in rules for all school counseling programs,” Lui concluded.

The Courage Is a Habit report quotes the ASCA paper “Neurodiversity and Neuro-Affirming School Counseling: Practical Strategies Across the Three Tiers.”

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Courage Is a Habit warns that “ASCA’s neurodivergent guidelines” are “born out of social science and activism, not clinical medicine.” The report also notes that “ASCA instructs counselors to embed ‘neuro-affirming’ identity concepts directly into Tier 1 programming.” (The paper refers to “Tier 1” as “school-wide prevention.”) Courage Is a Habit interprets this to mean that “counselors are pushing non-clinical identity frameworks onto 100% of the student body.”

The report claims that under a “neuro-affirming” model, “standard behavioral expectations, like turning in homework on time and not being disruptive in class, are pathologized as forcing kids to conform to ‘neuronormativity.’”

“Instead of helping children build resilience and skills to navigate the real world, counselors are trained to reward dysfunction and blame ‘the system’ for a child’s difficulties,” the report states.

The ASCA paper explicitly states: “Neuro-affirming school counseling is grounded in critical theory, mainly critical disability theory; identifying and combating systemic oppression impacting neurodivergent youth. This builds off the work of other scholars who have described critical theories within school counseling, including critical race theory and antiracist practices and queer theory.”

Jonathan Butcher, a senior research fellow in education policy at The Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Signal that the framework resembles previous efforts to introduce ideological concepts into schools through other programs.

“Similar to the way leftists use so-called social-emotional learning as a way to push DEI, this report shines sunlight on the ways in which progressive educators are using neurodivergence treatments to favor their ideology,” he argued. “Schools must focus on knowledge and skills: Teach students to read and be proficient in math, then expose them to civics, history, science, and essential subjects.”

Critical theories analyze institutions through the lens of power, privilege, and oppression, and often emphasize changing systems viewed as perpetuating inequality. Analysts often start from the assumption that America’s system is structurally oppressive.

In the words of the ASCA report, “Aligned with the civil rights movement, critical theories aim to identify and actively change oppressive systems or power structures in society, particularly those perpetuating marginalization to certain identities: those who are the global majority or Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); LGBTQ+; women; and disabled people. Stemming from this is critical race theory, queer theory, feminism, and critical disability theory.”

The Daily Signal reached out to the American School Counselor Association and will update this story with any response.