We are calling for a Neurodiversity Commission to safeguard the rights of neurodivergent people. This must be part of a programme of policies ensuring that our voices are heard in decisions about us, as the UN CRPD (expected to be incorporated into Scots Law) requires.

More than 30% of children in Scottish schools are now thought to have so-called 'additional' support needs (see Morgan report) - needs which mainstream education does not meet by default. Most of these pupils are neurodivergent: they process information in ways that diverge from neurotypical norms, meaning that they will be disabled if society does not learn to accommodate them, and they may have a label of autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia or learning disability.

There is every reason to expect that people of all ages are neurodivergent to similar degrees, but older generations are less likely to have attracted a label. We live in a neurodiverse society, and always have.

However, because society is not set up for people who think very differently from most, neurodivergent people are much less likely to be in gainful employment, and much more likely to end up with poor mental health. We are also over-represented in the prison population, although evidence does not suggest that neurodivergent people are any more inclined to commit crimes.

Neurodivergent people are too often talked over by people who say they want to help, but won't listen when we tell them what we need. Policies are routinely developed, and services run, with too little input from the populations they most affect. The conversation is too often dominated by charities that simply do not represent the people they are set up to help. 'Nothing about us without us' must be made a reality.