What are Neurodiversity-Affirming autism and ADHD IEP goals: A Practical Guide

Introduction:

Autistic and ADHD students are frequently misunderstood and consequently mismanaged and mistreated in schools. Their unique neurology is often seen through a deficit lens that prioritizes compliance and  conformity to neurotypical norms. Rather than being understood in the context of their unique strengths and differences, these students are often pressured to perform as if they are neurotypical. This focus on neurotypical behaviors often is reflected in the IEP goals, which might not cover any other skills. Resulting IEP goals reinforce ableism by pushing neurodivergent students to mask, suppress their natural behaviors, or perform in a way that is not possible for them without a significant cost to their mental health.

This system creates classrooms where neurodivergent students are taught that they are problems to be fixed. They may be given goals that discourage stimming, reduce their access to sensory tools, penalize them for needing movement, require speed of performance that they are not capable of, and penalize them for being unable to perform skills they are yet to learn.

Neurodiversity-affirming IEP goals, however, take a different approach. They honor neurological differences, prioritize student well-being, and empower students to build skills that support both their learning and their identities. These goals promote skill building, self-awareness and self-regulation, self-advocacy, and using strategies that work for the student's neurology.

By incorporating neurodiversity-affirming principles, schools can create better accommodations for autism and ADHD that reflect the real needs and strengths of students, rather than asking them for the impossible and causing harmful discomfort in the process.

What Makes an IEP Goal Neurodiversity-Affirming?

A neurodiversity-affirming IEP goal:

• Recognizes the legitimacy of neurodivergent ways of thinking, learning, and interacting

• Respects a student’s need for sensory regulation, autonomy, and authentic expression

• Focuses on building access, flexibility, and support rather than compliance.

• Is co-created with the student (when possible) to reflect their input, goals, and values

• Shifts from a deficit model to a strengths-based and needs-aware framework

  
  

When goals reflect the strengths of autistic and ADHD students, students have an opportunity to see themselves in a positive light and in a balanced way, as whole people who have both strengths and challenges. Recognizing autistic and ADHD students' special interests and integrating them into academic instruction can help create motivation and engagement in students who struggle with so-called "non-preferred tasks,' either refusing to engage in them, or having behavioral outbursts when those tasks are presented. Capitalizing on those areas of special interest and expertise can also help students find their groove in social interactions as experts on interesting topics or kids who can teach others interesting things.

In summary, ableist IEP goals promote expectations that are unhelpful at best, and harmful at worst. Neurodiversity-affirming IEP goals create true opportunities for learning and development in directions that support neurodivergent students learning to live well as neurodivergent individuals.

Below are common examples of ableist IEP goals and how they can be rewritten to be neurodiversity-affirming.  

Goal area: Executive Functioning

Ableist Goal: "Student will sit still for 15 minutes with body oriented to speaker/instructor during whole-group instruction."

Why It's Wrong: This goal prioritizes neurotypical expressions of attention (stillness and orientation), which may be unnatural or distressing for autistic or ADHD students. It pathologizes neurodivergent attention styles like doodling, fidgeting, or looking away while listening. It also disregards some students’ need for movement around the classroom, or sitting somewhat outside of the group in order to pay attention.

Neurodiversity-Affirming Goal: "Given use of self-regulation strategies (e.g., using a sensory item, doodling, moving around) student will demonstrate engagement in whole-group instruction by answering 2 out of 3 multiple choice questions related to the content of whole-group instruction during a post-teaching opportunity.”

Goal area: Behavior

Ableist Goal: "Student will reduce task refusal in non-preferred activities, such as writing and reading, by participating in 4 out of 5 weekly lessons."

Why It's Wrong: neurodivergent students often struggle with certain aspects of academic tasks, such as reading and writing. Task refusal is usually an indicator that something about the task is difficult and accommodations are needed.

Neurodiversity-Affirming Goal: "Given a co-regulation opportunity prior to challenging tasks, as well as a modified task presentation (scribe or speech-to-text tool available, audio books, breaks as needed, tasks broken into small steps, scaffolding, etc.) student will participate in reading and writing tasks in 4 out of 5 weekly lessons."

Goal area: Play

Ableist Goal: "Student will accept play bids from peers in 9 out of 10 opportunities."

Why It's Wrong: This assumes a neurodivergent child should accept requests for play even if they do not feel like it. The expectations is that neurodivergent students should engage in neurotypical forms of play even when they prefer parallel play, shared interest play, or solo play.

Neurodiversity-Affirming Goal: "Student will respond to play bids from peers either by agreeing or declining in a way that is clear to the communication partner in 9 out of 10 opportunities."

Goal area: Emotional Regulation

Ableist Goal: "Student will use a calm-down strategy to return to baseline within 3 minutes of becoming dysregulated."

Why It's Wrong: It places time limits on emotional processing and implies that regulation should be quick, quiet, and invisible. It may punish students for having big feelings.

Neurodiversity-Affirming Goal: "Given pre-teaching and no more than 2 in-the-moment verbal or non-verbal reminders, student will use preferred self-regulation strategies (e.g., movement, quiet space, sensory tools) to support regulation. Given scaffolding, student will perform a self-check-in and communicate readiness to return to academic or social activity. Student will demonstrate these skills in 8 out of 10 instances of dysregulation.”

Goal area: Task completion

Ableist Goal: "Student will complete academic tasks such as a set of math problems or a classroom writing assignment at the same pace as peers."

Why It's Wrong: It penalizes students with slow processing speed for a neurological difference they cannot control, rather than supporting them in accessing learning in a way that works for them.

Neurodiversity-Affirming Goal: "Given needed accommodations (checklists, visual timers, etc.) and 50% extra time to complete academic tasks such as a set of math problems or a classroom writing assignment, the student will complete the task according to the instructions 80% of the time.”

Goal area: Self-Regulation

Ableist Goal: "Student will reduce reliance on sensory tools and use them only during designated break times."

Why It's Wrong: It treats sensory tools as crutches rather than essential supports and limits student autonomy in self-regulation.

Neurodiversity-Affirming Goal: "Student will be able to identify own early signs of dysregulation and access preferred sensory tools (e.g., fidgets, headphones, weighted items) throughout the day to support focus and regulation in 80% of opportunities."

Conclusion

There is a reason that parents fight for good IEPs for their children. They are life-changing. Neurodiversity-affirming IEP goals have the power to transform how children experience school. When schools shift away from compliance-driven, one-size-fits-all IEPs and instead work on goals that reflect individual needs, children start liking school and feeling like they belong there. They feel seen and understood. They see value in going to school. And when school is truly affirming, it is such a relief for parents not to hear "I hate school" and not have their child experience school-related anxiety.

You can find some downloadable resources on neurodiversity-affirming IEPs, accommodations, teaching strategies, and many other school-related topics in my store: https://www.theexpertally.com/all-downloads