There are several ways, here’s the first: The concept of umwelt.
Umwelt is an ecological/evolutionary concept coined by biologist Jakob von Uexküll, and the foundation of Ed Yong’s book, An Immense World. It basically means that organisms inhabit different realities based on how they sense and process their environment. (e.g., imagine a human, a bee, a bat, an insect, and an organism like birds that have 4 or more opsins looking at the Mona Lisa.)
I think this is an apt concept for thinking about how differently neurodivergent students (actually, all students) sense and process the world.
I was never very judgmental of students- but this concept has removed any judgement I had. And, it is a force that drew me to spend the effort meeting every student where they are.
It is also a way to think about the common dilemma of a student hearing something completely different than what you thought you said.
Every organism, including every person, can’t help but assume that everyone else as the same reality as they do.
Umwelt helped me understand that students probably don’t sense and process the world in the exact same way that I do. That along with being an empath has been powerful.
I talked about this on the Uniquely Human Podcast with Barry Prizant, Ph.D., CCC-SLP and Dave Finch on an episode that aired July 3, 2026.
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