Conference Program

In recent decades, the concept of neurodiversity has increasingly challenged deficit-oriented perspectives on neurological difference, proposing instead that cognitive variability is a natural and valuable dimension of human diversity (Kapp, 2020; Dwyer, 2022). Within educational discourse, however, neurodiversity is still frequently framed in terms of accommodation, remediation, or support for students identified as having special educational needs. While these approaches have contributed to greater awareness and inclusion, they often leave unquestioned the epistemic norms that structure educational institutions and define what counts as legitimate knowledge, learning, and intelligence.

This paper argues that neurodiversity should be understood not only as an issue of inclusion but as a matter of epistemic justice (Fricker, 2007). From this perspective, educational systems can reproduce forms of testimonial injustice, in which neurodivergent individuals’ perspectives and experiences are dismissed or undervalued, as well as hermeneutical injustice, where dominant interpretive frameworks fail to adequately represent neurodivergent ways of understanding the world. Addressing these injustices requires moving beyond compensatory models toward a broader transformation of educational epistemologies.

The study draws on theoretical perspectives from epistemic justice, cognitive democracy, and decolonial education to develop a conceptual framework for interpreting neurodiversity as a resource for plural knowledge ecologies. Cognitive democracy theories emphasize that democratic societies depend on the coexistence of diverse forms of knowledge, perspectives, and problem-solving strategies (Santos, 2018). Similarly, decolonial scholarship highlights how dominant epistemologies often marginalize alternative ways of knowing (Mignolo & Walsh, 2018). When viewed through this lens, neurodiversity can be interpreted as a form of cognitive plurality that enriches collective intelligence and expands the boundaries of educational knowledge.

In this context, the paper explores three interconnected research questions: how neurodiversity can be interpreted as a matter of epistemic justice within contemporary educational systems, and consequently how prevailing educational norms and institutional practices produce epistemic exclusions that affect neurodivergent students. This ultimately leads to a further research and educational question: how educational environments might be reimagined as democratic ecologies of knowledge, capable of supporting diverse cognitive styles and ways of knowing. To address these questions, the paper develops a philosophical-pedagogical analysis that connects neurodiversity to broader debates on social justice, knowledge pluralism, and democratic participation in education. Particular attention is paid to the role of learning environments, pedagogical design, and knowledge representation in shaping the epistemic conditions in which diverse cognitive perspectives can be expressed and valued.

Recent research suggests that inclusion policies in higher education frequently remain limited to procedural accommodations rather than addressing deeper structural inequalities embedded in knowledge systems and curricula (Clouder et al., 2020; Botha & Gillespie-Lynch, 2022). By linking neurodiversity with epistemic justice and cognitive democracy, this paper proposes a shift from integration to epistemic transformation, where educational institutions become spaces for cultivating diverse cognitive perspectives and forms of understanding.

Ultimately, embracing neurodiversity as epistemic justice means recognizing that the plurality of minds is not merely a challenge for education but a fundamental condition for democratic knowledge societies capable of responding creatively to the complexity of contemporary global challenges.