BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS: NEURODIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVE PRACTICES IN SCHOOLS

Abstract

The increasing visibility of neurodiversity in school contexts has stimulated debates about how cognitive, behavioral, communicative, and sensory differences are understood and incorporated into educational practices. Although diagnosis may facilitate access to rights, services, and specialized support, its use as the primary reference for interpreting students may lead to labeling, reduced expectations, and the displacement of pedagogical issues into an exclusively clinical domain. This article aims to analyze neurodiversity in school contexts, discussing inclusive practices capable of moving beyond a diagnosis-centered understanding of learning. This is a qualitative, bibliographic, exploratory, and analytical study grounded in research on neurodiversity, inclusive education, difference, pedagogical mediation, curriculum, assessment, and teacher education. The analysis indicates that inclusive practices require flexible planning, diversification of forms of participation, intentional mediation, formative assessment, and the reorganization of barriers within school environments. It is concluded that overcoming the centrality of diagnosis does not imply denying its relevance, but rather preventing it from determining students’ educational possibilities in advance. Inclusion requires a school capable of recognizing singularities without turning them into predetermined limits to learning.