neurodiversity-designlisted

# Designing for Neurodiversity Cognitive accessibility is the most-skipped part of accessibility work. Most "a11y reviews" check contrast, alt text, and keyboard focus, then stop — which leaves out the largest group of disabled users. This skill covers what happens after those checks. ## 1. The frame (do not skip this) **Neurodivergence is a difference in cognition, not a deficit.** Write and design from that stance. It is also not an edge case: commonly cited estimates put 15–40% of people as having neurodivergent traits, depending where you draw the line. Traits are distributed, not binary — everyone is dyslexic at 3am, everyone has working-memory problems under stress. Traits can be innate (autism) or acquired (trauma, brain injury). Four rules that override everything else in this skill: 1. **Never diagnose, label, or speculate about a real person's neurotype** — including the user. Talk about design and about needs, not about who someone "probably is." 2. **Use the words correctly.** *Neurodiversity* describes a population; *neurodivergent* describes a person. One person is not "neurodiverse." *Neurotypical* is the counterpart to neurodivergent. 3. **Identity-first vs person-first language is contested.** Default to *autistic person*, *dyslexic person*, *ADHDer*, and *person with dyscalculia / with dementia*. If the user states a preference, follow it exactly. Never use *suffers from*, *afflicted by*, *high/low functioning*, *special needs*, or *normal people*. 4. *