Research Spotlight: Sharing Best Practice for Neurodivergent Students and Staff - Development of international knowledge base and inclusive strategies

Lucie Wheeler
Aug 21
3 min read

Group photograph of the research team in Indonesia

This research team is made up of 11 researchers between England and Indonesia:

Poppy Gibson, Lecturer in Education, The Open University

Sarinova Simandjuntak (Associate Professor), Anglia Ruskin University

Christianus I Wayan Eka Budiartha, Sampoerna University, Jakarta

Herdiana Hakim, Sampoerna University, Jakarta

Arkhadi Pustaka, Sampoerna University, Jakarta

Anak Agung Ngurah Perwira Redi, Sampoerna University, Jakarta

Ade Iva Murty, Lecturer in Psychology, Sampoerna University

Sarah Wall (Senior Lecturer) Anglia Ruskin University and (Practitioner Tutor) University of Birmingham

Saskara B’tari Chedana, Sampoerna University, Jakarta

Gabriele Teresa Budiarto, Sampoerna University, Jakarta

Elvina Binu, Anglia Ruskin University

Did You Know?

➤ 52% of Indonesian respondents in our survey said they had not heard of the term ‘neurodiversity’ before.

➤ Among those who said yes, only 84.3% had the correct understanding of what neurodiversity is.

➤ This suggests only about two out of five people in Indonesia understand neurodiversity.

What was the research looking at?

These statistics encouraged a team of researchers, led by Dr Sarinova Simanjuntak, to take action and design a research project to bring together universities in the United Kingdom and Indonesia to exchange knowledge around neurodiversity and share best practice.

This project is funded by the UK Department for Science Innovation and Technology, in partnership with the British Council.

The overarching aim of the study is to create and develop sustainable support frameworks to better meet the needs of our neurodiverse students.

How did you conduct your research?

➤ The project involved literature reviews and policy reviews.

➤ There were two key events: one in Cambridge, UK (November 2024) and one in Jakarta, Indonesia (June 2025).

➤ The project also involved online quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to understand opinions and experiences and to collect best practice in the classroom.

What are your key findings?

Illustration of a person pondering with a green question mark overhead, conveying confusion. Simple gray lines on a white background.

➤ A large part of inclusion comes back to the language we use, however; even the terms ‘intervention’ or ‘support’ implies a deficit for neurodivergent learners.

➤ The way we use language such as ‘acceptance’ as opposed to ‘awareness’ is also key in dissolving stigma around neurodivergent conditions.

➤ This change can destigmatise the condition, allowing autistic individuals to share their experiences on their own terms.

➤ We have also found that there are pockets of very good practice happening across both the UK and Indonesia; our project highlights these and will present them as a best practice framework later this year.

Any recommendations?

➤ It is important to reflect that educational institutions are still in the learning phases of how best to support neurodivergent students and staff, and part of the complexity of this comes from the wide range of conditions and behaviours that can be classed as ‘neurodivergence’.

➤ Schools, colleges and universities are, whilst in their quest to nurture and guide each learner, fundamentally bound by funding restrictions, assessment expectations, and staff limitations.

➤ As this international project highlights, each country and culture has its own understanding of neurodivergence and neurodiversity; learning from each other is the best way forward.

Your final word…

The best we can do is keep making space for these conversations and to gather lived experiences of neurodivergent learners and educators to understand and share best practice.