NeuroDiversity-Inclusive Coach Model White Paper

 

THREE PILLARS

Developmental

Ethics

Self-Reflective

 

Explains the primary influences on the model

TPD

Vertical Development

Embodied Cognition

Creativity Coaching

Agile Coaching

Systems Coaching

DBT

Internal Family Systems Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Rites of Passage

Theatre as ritual container for transformation

Improvisation for self-awareness

InterPlay and the Ethic of Play

Talks about why the model is needed

Too many coaching programs aimed at coaching neurodiverse populations are based in outdated understandings of neurodiversity and healthy development.

Neurodiversity is a universal human phenomenon that crosses all racial, ethnic, gender, socio-economic and/or religious boundaries. Clusters of identifiable patterns of neuordiversity—such as ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, giftedness or other exceptionalities—include patterns of mental processing that impact the effectiveness of specific coaching and teaching methods.

What works for coaching neurodivergent people works for coaching all people, whereas many of the assumptions embedded in traditional coaching practices don’t work or actively cause harm to neurodivergent people. All coaches should have an understanding of how neurodiversity impacts the coaching relationship, how to recognize their own limits as coaches, and how to grow.

Many people with unidentified neurodivergent processing come to coaching because of challenges related to a mismatch between how they have been taught and how they learn, or with self-esteem issues due to a history of misunderstanding their own mental processing. A coach uninformed about neurodiverse differences in processing information or initiating change not only can fail to actively support a client in achieving desired results, but runs the risk of damaging a client’s self-esteem and impeding their progress.

Has a cool graphic

Because all models need a cool graphic!

This is designed as part marketing and part foundational information for students

distribute widely under a creative commons attribution without changes license 

assign as suggested prereading for lots of classes; require for certification

5-12 pages in length

long enough to make sense

short enough to be readable