In recent years, the United States has experienced a surge in diagnoses of neurological disorders with the most prevalent being Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ASD has seen as much as a 300% increase in diagnosis in the last 20 years.1 With such a substantial increase in such a short amount of time, it brings into question how our education systems need to adjust to suit the needs of everyone in our society.
In an article titled, “Our Nation’s Public Schools are Failing Neurodivergent Learners. That Needs to Change,” the director of the Education Collaboratory at Yale, Christina Cipriano, provides a personal insight regarding the changes that are needed in the United States’ public education system. Cipriano begins by explaining a personal experience of hers in which the teacher of her neurodivergent daughter expressed that her daughter was “taking instructional time away from other students” after receiving an official diagnosis, prompting the creation of an Individual Education Plan (IEP). This was a shock to Cipriano and caused a feeling that the school was “waiting for her daughter to fail instead of providing a way for her to succeed.” Cipriano’s daughter is one of many in this country not being provided this need. Cipriano continues by explaining that our public schools need to change the way they operate to better support neurodivergent learning. One criticism is that despite funding, states are still having trouble hiring suitable special education educators. This poses an issue as most educators have only taken one class on how to educate students with disabilities, putting into question if this is a good enough standard. A large point being made is that neurodivergent students should not need to learn how to learn differently, meaning closer to the general population. Doing so would decrease the effectiveness of the teaching and the understanding of the student. Education systems should adjust to the students they are teaching and incentivise better understanding of how to teach to more unconventional learners.2
There is a lot of reason for the necessity of these changes in the fact that those with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) do in fact learn differently than others. Often it is not a lack in the ability to understand a concept, rather it is the way it is presented. In a study titled, “A single-session behavioral protocol for successful event-related potential recording in children with neurodevelopmental disorders,” Maggie W. Guy et al. explore the use of Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) and their use in data collection along with the effectiveness of a single-session protocol. ERPs are a type of brain measurement collected using EEG. They are a useful tool in measuring brain activity because they are able to track very fast responses to stimuli in the brain. Traditionally, individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders would be excluded from studies looking at ERPs, but not only individuals with NDDs but also children with anxiety, lower IQ, and more sensory sensitivity. This can become an issue when data excluding these individuals causes a skew toward higher functioning more compliant children, which isn’t representative of the general population. The idea behind this study is that by developing a single-session protocol in which individuals are desensitized and prepared for data collection beforehand, then a single-session could be used, prompting more inclusion of data from individuals with NDDs. This specific single-session protocol was designed to support behavior and help young children with ASD and fragile X syndrome (FXS) by preparing them before the lab visit, desensitizing them to the EEG cap, and personalizing their experience through gauging preferences. Results of the single-session protocol show that it was effective for 100% of the typically developing (TD) children and 73% successful for children with ASD. In children with FXS, however, it was only about 38% successful. Some other findings regarding the success of these groups are that higher cognitive maturity and less severity in autism symptoms led to more success in all groups. Surprisingly, slightly higher anxiety in children with FXS was linked to better performance and sensory sensitivity did not reduce success as expected. These findings show that in instances the protocol can work, but does not work equally for everyone. This is shown through the high success in TD and ASD children and low success in children with FXS. Inclusion of these individuals in studies depends a lot on how the study is designed; it must account for differences and have intentional adjustments. From this information a key takeaway is formed, that is, there isn’t a “one size fits all” solution.3
This takeaway can be applied when looking at the argument for reform in education in the US. As in the study by Guy et al., success of the individuals may depend on how the system has been designed to account for the differences of the individuals. The single-session protocol worked with some groups but wasn’t as effective with the FXS group; this is similar to the way that standardized teaching methods have worked with a majority but have failed to support individuals in a broader range of neurodivergent learners. These examples highlight that there is a need to create environments where all students are given a chance to succeed. Expecting students to adapt to rigid systems is exclusive to those who learn more effectively using different methods. Incentivising more development for teachers to learn and understand how to create more personalized approaches that meet diverse learning needs would be beneficial to the students and families.
References:
1. Is there an autism epidemic? | johns hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health. June 6, 2025. Accessed April 29, 2026. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/is-there-an-autism-epidemic.
2. Cipriano C. Our nation’s public schools are failing neurodivergent learners. that needs to change. - edsurge news. EdSurge. April 20, 2026. Accessed April 28, 2026. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2024-02-14-our-nation-s-public-schools-are-failing-neurodivergent-learners-that-needs-to-change.
3. Guy MW, Black CJ, Hogan AL, Coyle RE, Richards JE, Roberts JE. A single‐session behavioral protocol for successful event‐related potential recording in children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Developmental Psychobiology. 2021;63(7). doi:10.1002/dev.22194
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