Short Abstract:

The article analyses the impact of the lack of focus of inclusive educational development in South Africa on the higher education sector, subsequently critiquing the negative framing of neurodiversity in policy and research discourse. Looking at literature and policies concerning the South African higher education system, we argue for positive views of neurodiversity as diversity not a deficit.

Long Abstract:

Title: Reconceptualising neurodiversity in the South African higher education system, a study of policy and research on ASD and ADHD.

Authors:

Moleli Nthibeli nthibelimoleli@gmail.com

Dr Dominic Griffiths dominic.griffiths@wits.ac.za

Dr Tanya Bekker tanya.bekker@wits.ac.za

All affiliated with the Wits School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand

Estimated word count of final manuscript: 8000-12000 words

Current status of the manuscript: 4000 words (complete manuscript draft: 31 May 2024)

Title: Reconceptualising neurodiversity in the South African higher education system, a study of policy and research on ASD and ADHD.

Authors:

Moleli Nthibeli nthibelimoleli@gmail.com

Dr Dominic Griffiths dominic.griffiths@wits.ac.za

Dr Tanya Bekker tanya.bekker@wits.ac.za

All affiliated with the Wits School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand

Estimated word count of final manuscript: 8000-12000 words

Current status of the manuscript: 4000 words (complete manuscript draft: 31 May 2024)

Authors:

Moleli Nthibeli: nthibelimoleli@gmail.com

Dr Dominic Griffiths: dominic.griffiths@wits.ac.za

Dr Tanya Bekker: tanya.bekker@wits.ac.za

Abstract

This paper is situated within the advocacy for neurodiversity, specifically in the South African higher education system, as part of the human development for all. This focus is motivated, firstly, by the fact that neurological difference, in the sub-Saharan African context, is commonly associated with negative attitudes because of superstitions, misinformation, and lack of awareness about different neurodevelopmental conditions (Abubakar, Ssewanyana & Newton, 2016). Secondly, there is little evidence of South Africa’s efforts in higher education to develop an inclusive education system that caters for the needs of people with neurodivergent traits (Mutanga, 2017). The emphasis in research, policies, and government initiatives, concerning inclusive education, tends to focus on the basic education system, rather than the higher education system, and on disability and impairment (Rambe & Moeti, 2017). This necessitates research that builds more understanding of the levels of participation of neurodivergent individuals in the higher education context, which this study aims to do. Also, there is a need to ensure that inequality is eradicated through advancing educational opportunities to disadvantaged people, particularly in the development of human livelihoods in the global south. This conceptual study focuses on higher education policy and critiques the lack of representation of neurodiversity in it, further making recommendations for how a more targeted and positive emphasis of neurodiversity can improve the university experiences of students with ASD and ADHD.

Within the focus on neurodiversity, the present study seeks to raise awareness about two of the most prevalent examples of neurodiversity; autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Significantly ASD and ADHD are currently classified as neurodevelopmental ‘disorders’, thus positioning neurodiverse individuals as having a disorder, or ‘suffering’ from an impairment (Acevedo & Nusbaum, 2020). Additionally, research shows that there is little knowledge about ADHD and ASD among the general South African public, despite their increasing worldwide prevalence. (see for instance, Guler et al., 2018; South, Rodgers & Van Hecke, 2017). This is not only the case in South Africa, as Bakare et al. (2022) report that sub-Saharan Africa remains among the least informed global regions about ASD. ADHD is also not well-documented and information about it is lacking, particularly among black South Africans (Muthukrishna, 2013, Topkin & Roman, 2015). To address this lack of awareness, studies are needed to position neurodiversity in the context of the global South where research is lacking because ASD and ADHD are globally distributed, and therefore should be documented worldwide (Topkin & Roman, 2015). This study, therefore, adds a South African perspective to neurodiversity, which as we will show, is crucial to improving the experiences of neurodivergent individuals in our higher education system.

Moreover, the existence of laws and policies is a vital component in the development of inclusive education, and the policies have to be comprehensive to cover different kinds of difference. In terms of policy guidelines in South Africa there is no specific reference to neurodiversity in ‘Education White Paper 6 – Special Needs Education’ (Department of Education, 2001), which is the guiding policy for Inclusive Education in South Africa. There is also no mention of neurodiversity and its implication in any higher education policy documents. The absence of clear neurodiversity discourse in policy can harm the inclusion of neurodiverse students in the higher education system because their diversity is not recognised and catered for. Significantly, people’s views of neurological differences motivate their treatment of neurodivergent individuals, so the encouragement of positive views on neurodiversity is central to the neurodiversity movement (Nicolaidis, 2012). Negatively framing ASD and ADHD as disabilities should be challenged because it disadvantages neurodiverse students. Instead, we argue that recognising and re-positioning neurodiversity in policy will lead to better experiences for students with ADHD and ASD in higher education institutions. Such policy development, we add, should be intersectional and Afrocentric. Intersectionality is therefore included in the theoretical framework along with the cultural model of disability to highlight the interconnectedness of exclusion of neurodivergent students and to conceptualise inclusive education in a locally and culturally relevant manner (Crenshaw, 2006; Waldschmidt, 2018).

In addition, the paper looks at inclusive education as an avenue through which human development can be achieved, especially in the Global South to which South Africa belongs. Education is a significant part of human development (United Nations Development Programme, 2019), and if any group of people are denied a meaningful educational experience, their opportunity for development is jeopardised. An institution's development and its ability to develop human livelihoods can be measured by its willingness to include minority groups such as neurodiverse students (Nunan et al., 2000). We therefore argue that the repositioning of neurodiversity as a respectable form of difference and not a disability, is imperative in ensuring the development of neurodiverse individuals academically, socially, and in all areas of human existence. Education is herein used as an anchoring area of concern which, when evenly distributed, can lead to further human development in South African higher education and the broader society.