Are Public Schools Toxic for Neurodivergent Students?

It has been clear for years that the school system in the United States is not welcoming to neurodivergent (ND) students. School is an intensely intimidating and frightening place for many ND kids.

 As the percentage of identified ND students grows (the percentage of the total student population in California is currently around 20%) the number of children damaged by the school system grows as well.

Research is clear as to both the inappropriate structure of schools, and the long-term emotional damage it does to these students.

 In this episode, I summarize a research article that condemns the current school structure as we know it.

 As the researcher/author writes, “Mainstream schools…are not currently safe spaces for ND children. Whether it is possible, with significant policy change, political will, and considerable investment, to transform mainstream schools into smaller, sensory-sensitive, nurturing, flexible, and truly inclusive places for ND children to be, is an open question.” 

Many thanks to the researcher/author of the study, Dr. Sinead Mullally (sinead.mullally@ncl.ac.uk

www.ncl.ac.uk/psychology/people/profile/sineadmullally.html)

Research article that underpins the “popular” articlehttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37810599/

 “Popular” article related to above (and used for the podcast script)

https://researchfeatures.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Sinead-Mullally.pdf

Universal Design for Learning official website:

https://udlguidelines.cast.org/

and a parents' guide to UDL:

https://www.advocacyinstitute.org/resources/ParentUDLGuide.pdf

Summary

This podcast episode presents research findings on the severe distress experienced by neurodivergent (ND) students in mainstream schools. The host summarizes a British study showing that over 92% of children with school attendance problems are neurodivergent, and describes the emotional and physical harm caused by unaccommodating school environments. The episode concludes with recommendations for systemic reform and mentions Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a potential framework.

Key takeaway

School Distress and Its Impact

School distress is defined as extreme emotional turmoil—including anxiety, depression, and sensory overload—triggered by a typical school environment, manifesting as avoidance, crying, or physical illness.

The host explains that researchers coined the term "school distress" to capture the struggle children face in attending school, with symptoms including profound anxiety, depression, and sensory overload.

Prevalence of Neurodivergence in Attendance Problems

A large-scale British study found that 92.1% of children with school attendance problems were neurodivergent, with 83.4% being autistic, and common co-occurring conditions including ADHD, sensory processing difficulties, and anxiety.

The host reports that these conditions created complex profiles that amplified school distress.

Harmful Effects on Children and Families

Parents reported chronic physical displays of intense anxiety in their children, including vomiting, bed-wetting, and attempts at self-harm at the prospect of going to school, along with evidence of pathological demand avoidance.

The host cites parents' accounts as "harrowing" and notes that the survey showed clear evidence of pathological demand avoidance as extreme resistance to everyday demands.

Teacher Misinterpretation and Punitive Responses

Teachers often mistook neurodivergent children's distress behaviors as defiance rather than cries for help, and punitive measures deepened the harm.

The host states that punitive measures only deepened the wounds, based on the research findings.

Need for Systemic Reform

The host argues that the current education system is not fit for neurodivergent children and is causing significant and enduring harm, requiring acceptance of this failure, ending punitive attendance policies (with California's 2026 ban as example), and challenging the legal presumption that school is the best place for all children.

The host notes that California banned all punitive measures for truancy starting January 2026, and that there is little scientific evidence to support the assumption that school is best for every child.

Universal Design for Learning as a Framework

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is presented as an existing educational framework that allows all students to learn and demonstrate understanding in their strongest modality, already used in thousands of schools but needing faithful implementation.

The host mentions that UDL has been developed over the last thirty years and addresses equitable educational opportunities, and that a future podcast episode will go into detail.

Thanks to  Soundimage.org for free access to the AI generated music used in this podcast (https://soundimage.org/) 

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Transcript

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Special Education in Five Minutes. I'm David Poeschl, your host. Let's get right to the program. 

This episode features the work of a British neuroscientist and colleagues who looked at the effects, including significant harms done, of being a neurodivergent student in a mainstream school. 

In my current work as a parent advocate, the stories are discouragingly similar to what the authors found in theirs.

Children suffering in a system that in many, if not most cases, simply does not work. 

Just a note, ND is used for neurodivergence in the article. 

Here now is the research summary. 

Schools should be safe spaces if they're to encourage children to learn. However, even the seemingly safest and most supportive school environments can harbor perils for ND children and young people.

The hustle and bustle of an active classroom can generate deep anguish. This is their daily reality and emotional battleground with them at the front lines. So it should be no surprise when they want to retreat. 

Researchers have coined the term school distress to capture the extreme emotional turmoil faced by children who struggle to attend school. Symptoms usually including profound anxiety, depression, and sensory overload triggered by a typical school environment, which they find simply overwhelming are typical.

Their distress manifests in various forms from avoidance to crying spells and physical illness. This distress isn't just limited to missing school. It also includes the emotional trauma that accompanies being present in a classroom, feeling terrified or alienated. 

In a different large scale British study, researchers found that a staggering ninety-two-point one percent of children with school attendance problems were ND, with eighty-three-point four percent being autistic. ADHD, sensory processing difficulties, and anxiety were also common companions, creating complex profiles that amplified school distress.

The parents’ accounts of that distress were harrowing, often referring to their children's chronic physical displays of intense anxiety, including vomiting and bed wetting and attempts at self-harm at the prospect of going to school. 

The survey showed clear evidence of pathological demand avoidance manifesting as extreme resistance to everyday demands and a heightened need for control. 

What made matters worse were teachers mistaking their behaviors as defiance rather than cries for help. Punitive measures only deepened the wounds. 

Based on all of this, we maintain that mainstream schools are not currently safe spaces for ND children.

How to start to address this? The first step is accepting that the current education system is not fit for educating ND children and that the current status quo is all too frequently causing significant and enduring harm to ND children and young people and indeed to their families. 

Due to this, ending punitive attendance policies for ND children is essential. 

 This is a note from David. In California, starting in January 2026, all punitive measures for truancy were banned, including any penalties for parents.

Back to the article. Crucial too is challenging the legal presumption that school is the best place for all children as there is currently little scientific evidence to support it. There's no panacea for this, and the answer will require an informed, skilled, and flexible education system that can rapidly respond to the unique learning needs of all of its students. 

That's the end of the summary. The author's suggestion on school attendance and the questioning of the value of traditional schools at all are good places to start.

As I mentioned, California has addressed the truancy issue. Reforming the education system to include multiple ways to structure future schools is a long-term project and one that may never fulfill the promise. 

However, there is an educational framework developed over the last thirty years that addresses the issue of equitable educational opportunities. The framework is universal design for learning. 

There is or will shortly be a podcast in the series that goes into detail.

Simply put, with the universal design for learning or UDL, all students are able to learn and demonstrate understanding of what they learn in their strongest modality, such as visual spatial or verbal or traditional read and write instruction. 

So that's one idea that we can put in place immediately. And universal design for learning is used in thousands of schools around the country. However, what we need to make sure of is that it's implemented with fidelity. 

Well that's it for this episode.

Thanks so much for listening and please join me again.