writing-reading-practice: a neurodivergent approach to academic writing
I have always been neurodivergent, but I have not always known it. Somehow, despite leaving school without enough GCSEs to go to college, I managed to return to education and work my way through to PhD study. It’s challenging when you have to work against your brain to fit the system. But, the longer you’re in education, the more you are able to tailor it to suit your interests and that really works for neurodivergent brains.
A change of mindset helps. Reading and writing is not separate to practice, it informs it. Strengthens it. It develops intelligent practice, allowing you to merge your interests and find a you-shaped gap in the field. Understanding yourself, your neurodivergence, and your practice can help you make informed choices and avoid burn out. Certain course elements might be non-negotiable, like practical assessments and essays or dissertations, but there are other opportunities to strengthen your professional practice beyond course submissions. For example, as reading and writing informs your career direction, you can pinpoint what practical experience you might need to gain, or what conferences would help you meet people in the industry and share your niche. Targeting your time and energy will help take advantage of the time you are supported on your course. Not every opportunity is an opportunity and we can burn out when holding ourselves to neurotypical standards, but we need to be aware of the voice we have internalised that tells us we can’t do this. Believe you can. Ask for help to get it done.
I’ve experienced higher education on different sides. I’ve been a neurodivergent student, I am a neurodivergent researcher, and I teach. It’s not easy. I’m not one for toxic positivity and neurodivergent ‘super powers’, but, I do believe we have the right to have our ideas out there as much as anyone else. How we think is valuable and we deserve to be where we are now. The educational system will never change without us. Below, I will share some of my tips to get going on the writing before overwhelm and perfectionism kick in. These work for me at different times (I’m still working on some!). They might not work for you, but it’s a start. The more you understand how you work, the more you can lean into that.
For more on compassionate pedagogy and inclusive teaching practice for neurodivergent students:
Hamilton LG, Petty S. Compassionate pedagogy for neurodiversity in higher education: A conceptual analysis. 2023: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9978378/
UCL Teaching Toolkit: Supporting neurodiversity in education, 2023:
www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/publications/2023/oct/supporting-neurodiversity-education
Dwyer P, Mineo E, Mifsud K, Lindholm C, Gurba A, Waisman TC. Building Neurodiversity-Inclusive Postsecondary Campuses: Recommendations for Leaders in Higher Education, 2023:
Who are you?
Where are you in your work? What are the common themes running through your practice? What are you drawn to? What gets you in the guts? What made you sign up to this course? Write down your ‘buzz words’ on post-its and stick them on a wall when they come to you. What words are repeating? How can they feed into your writing-reading-practice?
Procrastinating? Break it down & Pomodoro
Sometimes I realise I’m cleaning instead of writing. I’m trying to clean visual clutter because my mind is mentally cluttered. Or, I’m doing the small things, rather than the big thing I need to get on with. When I catch myself, I’ll break the big thing up. Then break it up again.
If I’m writing a chapter, I will list the things I need to cover. Then I’ll arrange the mini sections so they flow. I’ll put a pomodoro timer on for 25 minutes followed by a 5 minute break. More often than not, I find the break is interrupting my flow, so switch to a 1.5-2hr timer, then a short break.
There are lots of Pomodoro timer apps for apple and android. This one is for desktop:
Procrastinating? Try body doubling
The good thing about writing as part of a structured course is that the other students are in the same boat. There’s a chance they keep putting the writing off too. Tap into that. See if a small group of you can get together at a specific time to write. This works well online. Set up a meeting for a set amount of time. What can you all commit to? 2 hours? 4 hours? Start by spending 10 mins telling each other what you’re going to work on. Be strict with time, set Pomodoro timers, only talk in the breaks. It’s structured. It’s accountability. And, you know you’re not the only one pushing through.
Send the bloody draft! You need more than your own perspective
WIPs, Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria and Perfectionism… it’s a wild ride. The blank page is our nemesis. Free write. Get something down and edit it later. I can’t start anything when I’m thinking about my grammar, the best word to use, or the most important citation.
Perfectionism and deadlines… If you’re ADHD, deadlines can be great! Deadlines kick me into gear, but, if I leave my writing until last minute, I know there will be loads of mistakes. Re-reading after submission only makes me feel worse.
I’ve had to understand my rejection sensitivity. Even expecting criticism can feel as bad as receiving it. But, the more I write without feedback, the more I find my writing goes stale. I need more eyes. Realising this has given me some distance. I’m not personally being criticised, I’m being given support. Sending WIPs to my supervisors has really helped pick up on connections I have missed and to bounce ideas. Having someone look over the work let me know whether what I am thinking in my head is cutting through. If it’s not, I know what I need to make clearer. And, sometimes, I’m told I’m on the right track. After feedback I’m reassured and recharged.
Send the bloody draft.
Map your route
Mind maps!!! I can’t stress how much this helps. Write your ideas, pin them up, re-arrange, find the patterns.
Whether it’s post-it notes floating on the wall, tweaking them whenever I walk in the room, or digital maps per chapter. Getting things out of my head, visually seeing it, instantly changes the course of the writing.
Plan your route through the map. How does the writing meet the aims and objectives? What links each chapter? Signpost what’s coming next. Make each paragraph link to the next. You’re guiding the reader through the text.
These resources might help:
Canva’s mind-map templates: https://www.canva.com/graphs/mind-maps/
Descriptive writing vs critical writing: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=51388§ion=4
How to form an argument: https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/argumentative-essay/
Voice notes
Sometimes you can’t summon your ideas when you’re sat at the computer. If genius strikes at random o’clock, don’t try and hold onto it, voice note it.
1 document. 1 quote folder
Working in one document in Word helps to keep track of everything when working on a dissertation or research article. I also have a separate folder for quotes. Rather than individual documents per reference, I group multiple references into ‘patterns’ that I recognise between them. I create a contents page at the beginning, listing the literature included in the document.
In Word, you can create a live document and contents page by setting the title and chapters as ‘Headings’ in the styles pane. Once the headings are set, you can create a contents page via the ‘Reference’ section. This can be updated as you work, and allows you to click on the contents page and be taken straight to the section of the work you’re working on.
I write the text body in black, things I need to add in red, and my thoughts in blue. Easily deleted before submission.
I paste quotes into each section in red and delete them once I have included them.
Word can read documents to you, so you can copy and paste PDFs and eBooks into a document and select ‘view’ in the ribbon, then ‘immersive reader’.
MS Word can dictate, making it easier to read quotes from books as it types – but check the text; it can mishear words. Dictate is under the ‘home’ ribbon.
Sometimes, handwriting notes can help things sink in. I’ve got tons of notebooks, but I have hardly looked back through them. I wouldn’t know where to find anything. If handwriting works for you, write, then immediately photograph and insert it into the document, or, type your notes into your document.
Create your own space
How do you work? Do you work best at night when distractions lessen? Are you sensory? Dim the lights, whack a delicious candle on, get the right kind of background noise going. Need to sit on the floor rather than a desk? Do it. Drop the ‘should’. ‘Shoulds’ come from other people.
Writing doesn’t have to happen in some idyllic retreat in the middle of nowhere, or some grand library. Create your own writing space. Start noticing what goes right, what gets you in a flow.
For background noise, I mostly use:
www.calm.com/app/music/soundscapes
Take a break before you break
Resting is not lazy, it’s productive. Know when to ask for help, even if you’re not sure what kind of support you need. We might not always recognise how we feel in our bodies, but that is different to noticing you’re running on empty but feel you’re not doing enough or behind others. Sickness should not be the point you feel justified to rest. Your health is the most important thing.
Mistakes
I can see other people’s mistakes a mile off, but if when I’m writing for a long time, I can’t see the wood for the trees.
Know when to step away. In the end, you know what’s coming next so are you even really able to proof-read it anymore? Go back with fresh eyes.
My friend gave me a tip. At the end of a chapter, after she felt she was ‘done’ proof-reading, she would print it out. Switching from writing on the screen to reading on the page not only helped to check for mistakes, but helped her to see how the text flowed.
What does this mean?
I love reading, but it makes my brain power down. I have to re-read often, and dense academic texts don’t help. I have found it useful to speak to other people who are reading, or have read, the same text. How are they interpreting it? What are they getting from it? It’s interesting to hear how people are building on the same piece of work differently.
If none of my peers are reading the same literature, I will search for other publications who are referencing it and YouTube videos unpacking it. The visual and spoken aspect helps before I re-read the text.
Imposter? Maybe it should be simpler
Academic texts can be inaccessible. It can be exhausting and infuriating, especially when it could be useful or relevant to many. It also raises questions about research in general. If the texts are inaccessible, is it research for people or on people? Writing simply is a decolonial practice. It breaks down barriers between academia and the public. When we have received so much criticism throughout education, it is understandable that we might feel that we need to prove how much we know, that we do understand. But do we want to be part of the system that excludes? There is skill in simplifying complexities.
Move your body - or at least move away from the work!
Again, you need to step away and let things percolate. ADHD me needs to move my body, even when fatigued. ADHD me also falls into hyperfocus mode and before I realise it, hours have passed and I’ve not moved, not ate, not drank. Autistic me loves my research topic, it’s a special interest, so its nearly impossible to switch off. AuDHD me has a lot of hang-ups, feeling like if I am not sat there reading and writing for 8, 10, 12 hours a day, I’m not doing my best. It’s taking a lot of unlearning and it’s a WIP. Academic reading and writing is dense stuff. Is it really possible to do this productively for that amount of time a day? For anyone? I doubt it.
I’ve learnt to step away. Move my body. Try to switch off and let everything stew subconsciously. It’s productive.
HELP!
This section comes with a side note: getting an official diagnosis isn’t easy and accessing student disability allowance isn’t easy (I gave up!).
If you can access the allowance, it might be worth speaking to student wellbeing and disability support to see what Assistive Technology you can apply for. Can you apply for a ReaderPen or Touch-Type Read and Spell software? Studiosity is a university proof reading service with a pretty quick turn-around time (when it’s not peak crunch time!), but, ADHDers are notoriously last minute. Could you then apply for Grammarly or ProWriting Aid?
On Instagram, ‘learn activate’ gives tips for Dyslexics, but they seem pretty applicable to everyone. They suggest:
highlighting using colour coding.
using spell checkers and predictive text. I’m sure Word offers predictive text…
mind mapping. Canva has free options. Scrapple is £19, £14 with student discount: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scapple/overview
use dyslexia friendly fonts like OpenDyslexic: https://opendyslexic.org/
audiobooks. Can the library help with this?
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/learnactivate
www.instagram.com/succeedwithdyslexia
www.instagram.com/adhd_doctoralstudent
www.instagram.com/teachingwithadifference
Podcasts: (I’m going to dive into these, let me know what you think!)
Talking Learning and Teaching Podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/show/3eDuVUwJywaeb2UYcRmHN2
Enabled in Academia Podcast (student led!):