By Anne Johnson, OTR/L, Occupational Therapy

As awareness of neurodiversity grows, many people are learning that conditions like autism and ADHD are not flaws—they’re simply different ways of thinking. This shift in understanding and toward recognizing unique strengths and challenges helps individuals and families feel seen, supported, and empowered. Occupational therapy plays an important role in this journey by helping neurodivergent individuals build skills, adapt routines, and thrive in their daily lives.

What Is Neurodiversity?

In recent years, we have gained a lot of insight into what diagnoses like autism and ADHD really are. From that, the neurodiversity movement began with the goal of building awareness and acceptance of different ways of thinking. With that, you may have also noticed an increase in diagnosis rates. What does this mean if you or someone you know is now diagnosed with autism and/or ADHD? It can be hard to know where to start, but occupational therapy can help!

How Occupational Therapy Helps

Occupational therapy (OT) began in the early 1900s when medical providers started recognizing the importance of participating in meaningful activities to recover from illness or injury. Today, OT is a holistic approach that helps everyone be active participants in their daily lives, whether they are born different, have an injury, or are recovering from an illness. The term “occupation” doesn’t necessarily mean your job but instead refers to all the tasks you do each day—caring for yourself, your household, your family, and your community.

With our growing understanding of neurodiversity – neuro meaning “nerve or nervous system” and diversity indicating a wide array of differences – we have gotten far better at learning how to adapt daily tasks to allow everyone to participate more actively in their roles and occupations. We have learned that both autism and ADHD often come with executive function deficits and difficulty with tasks. Challenges with organization, attention, problem-solving, and emotional control are common. Therefore, occupational therapists are better able to help people with neurodiversity build these executive function skills to gain more independence.

We are learning so much more about different means of communication, which significantly reduces frustration and allows people with autism to speak up for their own goals, what’s important to them, and when they need a break. Just having a voice dramatically improves quality of life.

Autism and ADHD can also come with sensory differences. How each person understands the sights, sounds, feelings, and smells around them can have a major impact on their ability to function from day to day and moment to moment. Occupational therapists can help people better understand the sensory inputs, how to organize them, and adapt as needed when situations become too much or not enough, so that they can stay engaged.

For most people, the nervous system works automatically, while many people with neurodiversity have to do these things manually, which takes much more energy. These examples are only a few of the new understandings we have about neurodiversity. As an occupational therapist, my personal goal is to provide more understanding for those who are learning about their differences and challenges, or those of people they love. Finding current information and resources can be challenging, but occupational therapy is a beacon of support. If you or a loved one is navigating life with autism, ADHD, or similar challenges described in this post, OT offers a path toward empowerment and a more active, fulfilled life.