As paediatricians, we are familiar with seeing patients with a wide range of neurodevelopmental diagnoses; however, we are often less comfortable with acknowledging neurodiversity amongst members of our profession.
As a late-identified neurodivergent doctor, I have become increasingly aware of how many neurodivergent colleagues there are, the benefits a neurodiverse workforce can bring, and the challenges and discrimination neurodivergent physicians face.
What is neurodiversity?
Neurodiversity describes the idea that all humans think and learn differently, with no single ‘right’ way of thinking. The term technically encompasses all people; however, in recent years it has come to describe ‘neurological minorities’ such as Autism, ADHD and learning difficulties (Baumer & Frueh, 2021). A more appropriate term is neurodivergent, meaning having a brain that works differently from the majority.
Neurodiversity is fundamentally a social justice movement which aims to embrace neurological differences and ways of thinking but is often used as shorthand for ADHD/Autism. The other important word used in this discussion is neurotypical – the neurological majority. Being true to the concept of neurodiversity, it is not better to be neurotypical; however, much like any other minority group, prejudice and stigma remain all too present in our society.
A note on language
The language we use when discussing neurodiversity matters and can be emotive.
For many people, a diagnosis is not simply a diagnosis but is an integral part of their identity that they cannot be separated from. These individuals are likely to prefer ‘identity first’ language, e.g. autistic person. Other people prefer person-first language, e.g. a person with Down syndrome, to emphasise the personhood before the characteristic. There is no ‘one size fits all’ rule, and you should check with the person in question for their preference; however, for this article I will use the majority preference in each group.
A (very) brief history
Evolutionary biologists have found evidence that neurodiversity has been a feature of human life for as long as humanity has existed (Collins, 2025).
Whilst it is impossible to identify the exact evolutionary advantages of the neurological differences seen today, many have speculated on the survival benefits of different ways of seeing the world. For example, the novelty seeking and risk taking associated with ADHD may have allowed hunter-gatherers to go further afield and search out new food sources for their community. The logical thinking and focus on problem-solving associated with Autism may have enabled greater innovation and the development of new technologies.
Although they have always existed, many conditions under the umbrella of neurodiversity were not identified until the last century. In 1902, ADHD was first described as a ‘deficit of moral control’. In 1961, Ritalin (methylphenidate) was approved to treat behavioural issues in children. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, children with ‘challenging’ behavior were diagnosed and medicated however it was not until much later that the internal experiences of people with ADHD were recognized and the ‘well-behaved’ children could begin to receive support (Holland, 2024).
Grunya Sukhareva, a Russian psychologist, first described autism in 1925, 20 years before Kranner (often called the father of autism) published his first paper; we don’t have time to go down the rabbit hole of women’s contributions to science. She described 6 boys and 5 girls who demonstrated extremely rational, logical thought processes but struggled to communicate with typically developing children or identify their own and others’ emotions. Her descriptions are kind, compassionate, and align remarkably with the DSM-5. 20 years later, autism was described by Kranner and Asperger using a deficit model and focusing on boys (Rippon & Bailey, 2025). This is the concept of autism that stuck around.
What do the numbers say?
Globally, an estimated 15-20% of people are neurodivergent (Neurodiversity Statistics 2026). Unfortunately, there are not currently any studies looking at the prevalence of neurodivergence in medical professionals overall; however, the RCPsych estimate that 1% of psychiatrists in the UK are autistic, which matches the overall prevalence in the UK (McCowan, S. et al., 2022).
In addition, people who go on to study medicine are academically able, motivated, and generally get through school without much difficulty, which increases the chance that neurodivergent individuals are not diagnosed or recognise their neurotype.
Finally, medical school admission criteria favour skills such as logical thinking, pattern recognition, and creative problem solving. This combination of factors has led some people to hypothesise that neurodiversity is more common among doctors than in the general population.
Embracing neurodiversity in healthcare
Diversity in healthcare has long been shown to improve outcomes for minority groups. An American study showed a 27% mortality reduction in black patients treated by black Doctors (Hill et al., 2023). Women having a heart attack are more likely to receive timely care if treated by a female doctor (Greenbaum-WUSTL, 2018). Diverse teams perform better at creative problem-solving and overall innovation (Haddon, 2025). We can extrapolate from this that neurodivergent patients are likely to have improved health outcomes when a neurodivergent doctor is on their medical team.
With the life expectance for autistic people at 36-57 years old and people with ADHD 4 times more likely than neurotypical people to die prematurely, any improvement in healthcare is beneficial. It is often said that autistic people do not have poor social skills; they have good autistic social skills. Personally, I have always found it easy to engage and build relationships with neurodivergent patients and their families, and I can recall multiple encounters where patients expressed their needs or concerns in ways they couldn’t with my very experienced neurotypical colleagues. That said, ask me to make small talk about the weather with a neurotypical family, and we will stand there in awkward silence, not exactly a recipe for relationship building!
Autistic doctors may demonstrate excellent logical thinking, the ability to do in-depth research on interesting presentations, and exceptional pattern recognition that enables rapid diagnosis. They may have a strong sense of justice and can be strong patient advocates. Doctors with ADHD may display creative problem-solving, the ability to ‘think outside the box ’, and thrive in busy and stimulating environments. Â
Possible challenges faced by neurodiverse healthcare professionals and ideas of support strategies
Most of this article has focused on the positives neurodivergent doctors bring to healthcare. However, I don’t want to overlook the very real challenges many of these doctors face.
Each person is different and will need individualised support or adaptations to thrive in their chosen career. The following list provides examples of challenges and suggested adjustments. It may serve as a starting point for neurodivergent doctors considering adjustments to request or implement in their lives, supervisors looking to support neurodivergent trainees, or doctors seeking ways to support their colleagues.
Sensory sensitivity: noise-dampening earplugs, quiet space for admin work, lower lighting levels in offices/break rooms
Distractibility: Quiet space for administrative work/prescribing, working from home for self-development time, working with music/background noise, protected short breaks during shifts, fidgets
Social exhaustion: modification of shift pattern to allow breaks between long shifts, less than full-time work, shorter shifts, provide clear written expectations and responsibilities, allowing cameras off in meetings, use of fidgets
Difficulty with change: Longer rotations, ensuring rota is provided in advance, meeting supervisor prior to rotation, giving as much notice as possible of rota changes
Executive dysfunction: Body doubling (doing boring work in the same room as a friend or colleague), Frequent check ins/deadlines with supervisors
Auditory processing difficulties: Writing a job list and confirming with a consultant/colleagues, recording instructions, following up on meetings with emails.
Why is all this important?
Online there is a lot of talk about ‘overdiagnosis’ and ‘everyone wanting a label’, however acknowledging and accepting my ‘label’ has been incredibly beneficial to me and many other neurodivergent doctors. Perhaps there is some nuance to be added to the discussion about overdiagnosis – if we were all a bit more accepting of people’s differences and supportive of needs, perhaps people wouldn’t feel the need to receive an official diagnosis to validate their difficulties or access support, but unfortunately that is not where we are as a society.
I had no idea I was neurodivergent until my F2 year. Throughout school and university, I excelled academically, but behind the scenes I struggled. It was a constant battle with executive dysfunction, sensory overload and feeling like I never quite fit in. I looked around, and everyone else seemed to be fine. I came to the only conclusion I could – I was broken, a failure, lazy, simply not good enough. Exploring my neurotype, a journey I am still on, didn’t fix any of these issues. But it did make me feel less alone. It helped me identify my specific challenges and put systems in place to overcome them. I can now understand why my brain reacts differently to sensory input and how to work with it, not against it, on those boring but important tasks (I’m looking at you, portfolio). It’s an ongoing process, but at the end of the day, it’s comforting to know you are a normal zebra, not a funny-looking horse.
References
Collins, N. (2025) Neurodiversity could be an essential consequence of human evolution, Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. Available at: https://humsci.stanford.edu/feature/neurodiversity-could-be-essential-consequence-human-evolution (Accessed: 18 August 2026).
Nicole Baumer, M. and Julia Frueh, M. (2021) What is Neurodiversity?, Harvard Health. Available at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-is-neurodiversity-202111232645 (Accessed: 10 August 2026).
(2023) Review for ‘Embracing evolutionary theories of autism: Implications for psychiatry’ [Preprint]. doi:10.1111/acps.13653/v1/review1.
Rippon, G. and Bailey, C. (2025) The lost girls of autism how science failed autistic women – and the new research that’s changing the story. S.l.: Pan Macmillan.
Holland, K. (2024) The history of ADHD, Healthline. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/history (Accessed: 18 August 2026).
Neurodiversity Statistics & Neurodivergent Research Data (2026) The Neurodiversity Directory. Available at: https://neurodiversity.directory/neurodiversity-statistics/ (Accessed: 18 August 2026).
McCowan, S. et al. (2022) ‘A full circle: Inclusion of autistic doctors in the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ values and equality action plan’, The British Journal of Psychiatry, 221(1), pp. 371–373. doi:10.1192/bjp.2022.14.
Hill, A.J., Jones, D.B. and Woodworth, L. (2023) ‘Physician-patient race-match reduces patient mortality’, Journal of Health Economics, 92, p. 102821. doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2023.102821.
Greenbaum-WUSTL, K. (2018) Female doctors boost women’s survival after heart attack, Futurity. Available at: https://www.futurity.org/heart-attacks-women-doctors-1833142/ (Accessed: 18 August 2026).
Haddon, R. (2025) The astonishing impact of diversity on Team Success – Diversity Council Business Blog, Diversity Council. Available at: https://diversitycouncil.org/the-impact-of-diversity-on-team-success/ (Accessed: 18 August 2026).
