Seven Mindset Shifts for Neuro-Affirming Practice
- curiosityspotuk
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Beyond Reasonable Adjustments
When I worked as a Disability Advisor in a University we talked a lot about reasonable adjustments. These were exceptions we could make to the standard rules and procedures to try and negate accessibility issues for students due to a disability. But there is only so much you can do with reasonable adjustments and I was often left frustrated by the limitations, or the way the recommendations we made were implemented in practice.
When I was starting to build my private practice I knew I had an opportunity to go beyond reasonable adjustments and to think about how the structure of my practice could be affirming without the need for individual adjustments. However there was also a tension because at this time I had recently received my autism diagnosis and developed long covid. I needed to build a practice that was not only affirming for my clients, but also for me.
I had to start by offering myself the same curiosity, kindness and compassion that I wanted to offer my clients. I had to start by understanding the boundaries of my own capacity so I could construct a container that would allow me to show up for my clients safely and ethically. This meant balancing my own competing needs, because I have to practice what I preach.
Knowing what my boundaries are means I can be clear about where there is space to flex in response to someone else’s needs. When I’m asked what working with me is like, the honest answer is that I don’t know. Because how I work shifts and changes depending on who I’m working with and what they need. It’s a collaborative process where we are trying to find what’s in the middle of the Venn diagram of how I work and what they need.
This is what makes my work neuro-affirming, not a list of reasonable adjustments.
It’s about maintaining curiosity, kindness and compassion.
It’s about owning when my own limitations mean I can’t meet a specific need.
It is about recognising that it is a practice, and something that needs to be continually worked on and adjusted as we learn more and as the context changes.
Neuro-affirming practice is a mindset, and it’s one that we can all develop, if we choose to.
From Prescriptive to Curious
From Comfort to Growth
From Expert to Collaborator
From Individual to Systemic
From Deficit to Difference
From One-Size-Fits-All to Radical Individualisation
From Shame to Celebration
They aren’t rules, they are intentions to move towards. Values to hold onto to guide us as we build practices that allow us to flex where we can, and to hold our boundaries with kindness and compassion to minimise the potential for unintended harm. Most importantly we must apply it to ourselves, because our practice is not truly affirming, if it misses us.
If you’d like to know a little bit more, you can download an introduction to the mindset shifts and what they mean here.
For those who find it helpful to body double or process verbally, I’m running a webinar on the Seven Mindset Shifts on 16th June where we will be working through each of the shifts in turn. I’ve created a workbook with prompts for each shift to help us reflect on what they mean for us and our practices. There will be the opportunity to explore them in small groups or on your own depending on your preference. There’s even a recording available for those who want to work through it in their own time.
Remember, this is a practice, it’s ok to be unsure, it’s ok to not have all the answers. We can meet ourselves with the same curiosity, kindness and compassion that we meet our clients with.
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