Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2026

You do not need a diagnosis to consider yourself neurodivergent or to get help. There are a few reasons for this:

1. Waiting lists – Waiting lists to be diagnosed on the NHS are currently years long, and requiring people to go through this process before they can identify as neurodivergent limits their ability to adopt helpful coping strategies.
   
   
2. Student and staff satisfaction – With some waiting lists for diagnosis longer than university courses, students could easily go through their entire time at university without a diagnosis. To support students and staff, adjustments should be offered as standard as part of work. For example, a workplace could allow staff to wear noise cancelling headphones if they find noise distracting rather than make a specific exemption to the rule against them for neurodivergent staff.
   
   
3. Equality – Race and gender can influence whether a person gets diagnosed, with diagnostic bias favouring white males. Some minoritised groups, like trans people, may feel unwilling to seek a diagnosis due to a perception that this could mean their views are taken less seriously in medical contexts. Therefore rejecting self-id disproportionately impacts marginalised groups.
   
   
4. Legal - You’re considered disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. This means that if a person can provide medical evidence of substantial long-term need for treatment, they may be legally considered as disabled even without a diagnosis.
   
   
5. Personal – Many neurodivergent people feel reluctant to put adjustments in place for themselves or make allowances for themselves without a diagnosis, but many neurodiversity strategies can be implemented without specialised medical help and having some understanding of yourself can be a step towards that.