Neurodiversity can sound like a fuzzy, catch-all word until you picture the ordinary moments where brain differences can suddenly matter.

A person who doesn’t respond right away to a command may not be refusing – they may still be processing it. Someone who seems disruptive in a crowd may really be overwhelmed. And a patient who can’t explain what hurts may still be in distress. 

The healthcare around this is changing.

What is neurodiversity? 

Karen Lindgren

Neurodiversity can include autism, ADHD, sensory differences and intellectual or developmental disabilities.

“What may appear to be disruptive behavior is often a way of communicating an unmet need, feeling or challenge,” says Dr. Karen Lindgren, Ph.D., chief clinical officer at Bancroft, which serves children and adults with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities. “Understanding the reason behind the behavior is critical to providing effective support.”

But Lindgren says the more important focus is seeing the whole person – their strengths, interests, communication style and what helps them feel understood, supported and successful.

That is where care is changing – beyond diagnosis and therapy into the everyday settings where people need access, support and understanding.

Care designed around real-life barriers

For someone with autism, sensory differences or other neurological differences, a medical visit can be difficult. A crowded waiting room, beeping machines, bright lights, unfamiliar staff and the anxiety of not knowing what comes next can all become part of the appointment.

Now, medical care, workplaces and public spaces are being shaped with neurological differences in mind. 

“We are finding ways to shape medical care and society to allow people to participate more fully,” says Jefferson Health psychiatrist Sahil Patel, MD. 

Jefferson’s Center for Autism and Neurodiversity, which focuses on neurodivergent-affirming care across the health system, has pushed Jefferson to think about those barriers earlier. Patient feedback helped shape design choices in their facilities ranging from sensory-friendly furniture, privacy screens and rocking chairs to meditation space, adult changing stations and exam rooms designed to reduce overstimulation and unnecessary transitions during care. 

Patel compares the shift to the way ramps, Braille and other accessibility measures opened more of public life to people with physical disabilities decades ago.

Beyond the exam room 

Education is reaching more of the people likely to encounter neurodivergent children and adults –  at work, in school, at home or during emergencies.

 Bancroft also partners with Cooper University Health Care on mobile medical visits to day programs and some residences, bringing care into familiar surroundings whenever possible. At the same time, they are working with local colleges, universities and workforce organizations to strengthen training pipelines for direct support professionals – the staff members who help neurodivergent people navigate daily routines, medical appointments, work, communication and community life. 

“They’re a lifeline for every person who we support,” Lindgren says. 

Jefferson’s neurodiversity team has expanded the work into public venues as well, consulting on sensory-friendly spaces for the Sixers, Flyers and Eagles, while executing neurodiverse experiences tied to the World Cup. Wendy Ross, MD, who leads Jefferson’s Center for Autism and Neurodiversity, also consulted on The Pitt, the medical drama featuring a neurodivergent physician navigating the sensory intensity of an emergency department.

Crossing into adult care

Sahil Patel, MD

A child with autism may have years of structure around them: school services, an IEP, speech therapy, occupational therapy, pediatric specialists and parents who know which calls to make when something stops working.  

Then adulthood arrives, and the system changes. Lindgren says many families experience a “services cliff” once individuals age out of the school system.

In New Jersey, she says, children and adults move through different systems of care. The transition often means helping families sort through adult services that can feel far less coordinated than the pediatric system they knew for years. 

“Our mission is to ensure that families are connected to the resources, services and support they need,” Lindgren says.

Jefferson’s FAB Complex Care program – For Adolescents and Beyond – addresses the medical side of that handoff, helping patients with complex, childhood-onset conditions move from pediatric providers into adult care. 

“Sharing medical information is not the same thing,” Patel says, noting that new providers need to understand more than a diagnosis – how the patient communicates, what supports have worked and what families already know from years of care.

Care across a lifetime

For years, autism care has rightly emphasized early diagnosis, school services, therapy and family support. Lindgren says providers are now looking more closely at what happens decades later, when a person’s needs change with age.

Health changes can be harder to recognize in neurodivergent adults. Communication challenges are barriers to understanding medical, social and cognitive changes, leading to delayed diagnoses and treatment.

At Bancroft, she says, that means tracking each person against their own baseline: whether someone is communicating less, moving differently, struggling with familiar routines or showing signs that something medical may be changing.      

“Social isolation can have a significant impact on overall health, exacerbating medical conditions and contributing to cognitive decline over time,” says Lindgren.

Regular contact becomes essential – through day programs, residential staff, therapy supports and mobile medical partnerships, where people who know someone well may be the first to notice a change.   

“We want to make sure that beyond diagnosis, people feel like there is a system that’s actually caring about them and carrying them through,” Lindgren says.