by Prof. Charlotte Valeur, Founder of ION

In societies around the world, people are becoming more aware of the need for cultural competence, learning to respectfully navigate differences in ethnicity, race, gender, and language. But one critical dimension of diversity remains neglected: neurological difference.

Whether in classrooms, clinics, boardrooms, or courtrooms, neurotypical norms still shape how communication, emotion, intelligence, and behavior are judged. People with minority neurotypes, such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, or Tourette’s, are expected to conform to a set of invisible standards they did not create.

This imbalance highlights a vital, under-recognised concept: neurocultural competence.

What Is Neurocultural Competence?

Neurocultural competence is the ability to understand, respect, and work effectively across different neurotypes. Just as cultural competence addresses the differences between people of different ethnic or linguistic backgrounds, neurocultural competence recognises that cognitive and sensory experiences differ, and that no one neurotype is ‘the default.’

It means being aware that:

• Eye contact may be painful for some.
• Directness is not rudeness.
• Different speech patterns or different facial expression doesn’t imply lack of empathy.
• Meltdowns are not tantrums, they are overwhelm.
• Stimming can be a form of emotional regulation.

It’s not enough to be “kind.” Inclusion demands fluency.

A One-Way Street: Who Learns Whose Culture?

Neurominorities spend their lives studying the dominant neuroculture, how to speak, move, listen, work, and even grieve in socially acceptable ways.

They often:

• Mask their authentic traits to avoid rejection or punishment.
• Decode social nuances that don’t come naturally.
• Suppress their needs to avoid appearing “difficult.”
• Monitor their behavior to reduce judgment or misinterpretation.

This is neurocultural labor, unseen, exhausting, and constant.

Meanwhile, most neuromajority individuals are never expected to learn about other neurotypes. They may interact with neurominority peers, employees, or patients without any training in neurocognitive differences.

This asymmetry reinforces power dynamics where one way of thinking and behaving is seen as correct, while others are seen as disordered.

What Happens Without Neurocultural Competence?

1. Misdiagnosis and Misinterpretation

Autistic children are seen as “defiant” rather than dysregulated. ADHD traits are mistaken for laziness. Tourette’s is misunderstood as intentional rudeness. The result? Harsh discipline, exclusion, or involuntary detention.

2. Inaccessibility and Exclusion

Environments designed for one neurotype become unbearable or impossible for others. Bright lights, loud sounds, inflexible rules, and fast-paced communication exclude many by default.

3. Mental Health Crisis and Burnout

The pressure to hide one’s identity, regulate without support, and conform constantly leads to anxiety, depression, and in many cases, trauma.

4. Broken Systems

Without neurocultural fluency, systems meant to support, like education, healthcare, or justice, end up harming. Families fracture. Promising students disengage. Talented employees leave. Legal decisions are made on faulty assumptions.

From Cultural Competence to Neurocultural Fluency

We have made progress in understanding that cultural and racial identity matters. But neurological identity matters too, and it must be part of the equity conversation.

To build neurocultural competence, institutions must:

• Train all professionals, not just specialists, in neurocognitive differences and inclusive communication.
• Center lived experience, allowing neurominority people to lead conversations about their needs and realities.
• Redesign systems with flexibility and multiple communication formats.
• Acknowledge the emotional labor neurominorities do, and begin to share the load.

A Two-Way Future

Neurocultural competence is not about treating neurominorities as problems to be fixed. It’s about understanding how different minds make sense of the world, and how misunderstanding is a two-way street.

It’s about building a culture where no one has to apologize for their brain.

If we want to create truly inclusive societies, we must stop asking: How can they fit in? and start asking: How can we meet in the middle?

Conclusion: Toward a New Norm

The work of neurocultural competence is not remedial, it is revolutionary.

It invites us to move beyond tolerance and into respect.

Beyond charity and into equity.

Beyond accommodation and into belonging.

And it begins with the willingness to listen to minds unlike our own.