The seed for the Neurodivergent Academy was planted more than 20 years ago. The idea was simple: neurodivergent kids should be taught by neurodivergent educators.
Reality was much less simple. School programs, perhaps especially those dedicated to educating neurodivergent youth, weren’t interested. Teaching the history of the disability rights movement was deemed “too controversial.” Mandatory “social skills’ programs required students to suppress their natural ways of moving and communicating. Success was defined as becoming indistinguishable from the neurotypical majority.
The expectation of conformity was perhaps the most tragic part of the whole experience. Accommodations and support are seen as hindrances to overcome when they should be the tools that support success and removed at the first sign of progress. Thousands of children are being denied access to challenging curriculum because they cannot meet the social expectations of “readiness.”
To give the next generation the chance to emerge from school without the trauma inflicted by the current system.
ND Academy Founder, Sharon Rose Alterman
After more than 20 years trying to change the system from the outside, Neurodivergent Academy founder and primary teacher, Sharon Rose Alterman, left classroom teaching with a goal of creating an alternative: To create and teach the curriculum that the schools refuse to teach. To build a learning environment where neurodivergent behaviors and communication differences are celebrated instead of suppressed. To give the next generation the chance to emerge from school without the trauma inflicted by the current system.
Founded on the core disability rights principles of presuming competence and dignity of risk, Neurodivergent Academy is a virtual education option for neurodivergent students being failed and left behind by the educational institution. With options for full and part time enrollment as well as parent training and support, our goal is simple: Make education better for the next generation of neurodivergent students.
Neurodivergent Academy 