There is no master list of neurodivergent conditions, and any course that pretends otherwise is selling you certainty it doesn't have. What follows is a working library of 16 profiles that come up most often in workplaces, schools, families, and communities. You don't need to memorize them. You need to recognize the names, understand the shape of each one, and know where to look when a specific situation comes up.
Cognitive & learning differences appear in roughly four clusters. Most neurodivergent people meet criteria for more than one — co-occurrence is the rule, not the exception, which is the subject of Lesson 3.
Autism is a difference in how the brain processes social information, sensory input, and patterns. Autistic people often have deep, sustained interests, strong pattern recognition, and direct communication styles. They often experience sensory overwhelm, social-energy depletion (sometimes called 'masking fatigue'), and difficulty with unspoken social rules. There is no 'mild' or 'severe' autism — there is autism plus an environment that either supports or punishes it.
ADHD is a difference in the brain's executive-function system: the parts that manage attention, motivation, time perception, and task initiation. ADHDers often bring hyperfocus, creativity, crisis-mode performance, and high energy. They often struggle with routine tasks that lack stimulation, with object permanence (out of sight, out of mind), and with time blindness. Stimulant medication helps many ADHDers; it is not a moral question.
Dyslexia is a difference in how the brain processes written language. Dyslexic people often have strong spatial reasoning, big-picture thinking, narrative memory, and verbal fluency. They often experience slower reading speed, difficulty with phonetic decoding, and exhaustion after sustained reading. Dyslexia is not a vision problem and not a marker of intelligence.
Open the Conditions Library when you need depth on a specific profile — for a person you know, a project you're scoping, or a self-inquiry. Each entry uses the same four headings: what it is, common strengths, common challenges, and what helps. The library is a reference, not a diagnostic instrument.
A senior engineer with 14 years of shipped product experience is rejected after a behavioral interview where she gave brief, literal answers. Her profile is autism + dyspraxia. The hiring manager later realizes the interview measured social fluency, not engineering capability. The team changes to a take-home plus a 45-minute work-sample conversation and starts hiring people who actually do the job well.
Takeaway: When you understand the profile, you can see which interview formats are filtering out the people you most want to hire.
Explore deeper (opens in new tab)
Open the full Conditions LibraryThis opens in a new tab so you don't lose your place in the lesson.
Your lesson progress is saved — these links open the relevant reference page so you can return here any time.
Tap a prompt to open the AI Companion with it pre-filled. Choose a learner profile above for more tailored suggestions.
I'm a learner. Give me a one-paragraph briefing on [insert profile, e.g., Dyspraxia]. Cover: what it is, two real strengths, two real support needs, and one common misconception. Use strengths-and-supports framing.
Open in CompanionI'm a learner. Compare [Profile A] and [Profile B] in a short table: shared features, distinguishing features, and where the two might co-occur. Keep it under 200 words.
Open in CompanionI'm a learner. I'll describe someone I know in 3-4 sentences. Help me see what kind of cognitive profile their pattern of strengths and struggles might suggest, without diagnosing — only naming the patterns I should pay attention to and which Conditions Library entries to read.
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