In early May, Professor Francesca Happé of King’s College London dropped a quiet bombshell: she suggested that most people in the UK now self-identify as neurodivergent. It’s a claim that not only challenges conventional thinking – it could overturn it entirely. If true, it demands that we radically rethink our understanding of identity and the very idea of what it means to be “typical.”

If neurodivergence is the norm, then maybe normal never existed at all.

For too long, the language around mental and cognitive differences – words like “disorder,” “condition,” and even “illness” – has pathologised traits that are just part of the rich spectrum of human neurodiversity. As individual as fingerprints, each brain works in their own unique way. Some are methodical and linear. Others connect ideas in patterns and bursts. Some feel and speak with intensity. Others are calm, logical, and relentlessly precise. None of these ways of thinking are inherently better or worse. They are variations. And we need them all.

Yet society still upholds rigid and often invisible rules for how people should behave, communicate, think, and learn. Those who don’t conform can be made to feel “defective”. This leads many to “mask” their true selves to fit in at work, school, and even among family and friends.

But masking comes at high cost. It’s exhausting, alienating – and increasingly – making people unwell.

As a neurodiversity coach and mental health first aider I’m fast coming to realise that so much of the anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation and burnout that we see – particularly among young people – isn’t just a reflection of individual vulnerability. It’s the result of our brains attempting to function within schools, workplaces and social norms that fail to embrace how minds truly work.

Dr. Ned Hallowell, a leading American psychiatrist, author, and neurodiversity advocate, says, “A kidney doesn’t mind being told it’s sick. A mind does.” He warns that when we label minds as deficient or disordered, we risk creating illness, not only in those individuals but also in those who love them. The mental health stigma many face can become a double injury.

So what if, instead of trying to ‘fix’ those who don’t fit the mould, we change the mould itself?

Professor Happé’s insights suggest that the current understanding of mental health is no longer fit for purpose. Too often, emotional distress is seen to be individual pathology rather than a natural response to the kind of environments we’re asking  people to operate in. For many neurodivergent individuals, it’s not their wiring that causes distress – it’s being expected to function in systems not designed with their needs in mind.

This kind of reframing is beginning to echo in public life. Phoebe Gates, daughter of Bill Gates, recently shared that her father has traits once associated with Asperger’s syndrome (noting its a term no longer used due to painful historical associations). What matters isn’t the label, but the fact that many of the world’s most successful and innovative people would, under current medical definitions, be considered to be “abnormal” and “disordered.”

But given the value such individuals bring, given our current global challenges, isn’t it time to re-evaluate what success, capability, and ‘human’ looks like?

The timing couldn’t be more urgent. As artificial intelligence begins to take over the predictable and the repetitive, what becomes truly valuable are the human traits machines can’t replicate – creativity, empathy, divergent thinking, and complex emotional reasoning. These are precisely the areas where neurominorities excel if given the right environments and support to thrive.

So, what do we do next?

First, we need to evolve our understanding of cognitive difference – from something we diagnose and fix to something we support, accommodate, and embrace. I’m not suggesting that we pretend that every challenge is a gift, or every condition a superpower. It means holding space for the whole, nuanced reality: that being human is inherently complex and that society needs to view mental normality through a social and a neurological lens.

This shift is especially critical for future generations. Children and young adults are growing up in a world flooded with messages that something is wrong with them if they feel too much, think differently, or struggle with rigid systems. But what if we told them they aren’t broken? They’re just wired differently – and their differences are valid, needed, and valuable?

To support them, we need to redesign the environments they grow up in. Schools, workplaces, healthcare systems, even social spaces must begin to reflect the true cognitive and emotional diversity of the population. This isn’t about ticking boxes on an inclusion form. It’s about creating structures where people can show up as their whole authentic selves – without fear, shame, or having to shrink to fit in.

Ultimately, this is about belonging.

It’s about building a society where difference is not only tolerated, but fully embraced. Where curiosity replaces stigma, and authenticity replaces conformity. Where unmasking isn’t a risk – it’s a relief.

We are long overdue to stop chasing the mythical unicorn of neurotypicality. There’s no such thing as normal.

In fact, there never was.