Exploring Neurodiversity in MSK Practice
A series for clinicians navigating difference, communication, and care
Why this series
This series explores what it means to work in musculoskeletal (MSK) practice within a neurodiverse world — not as an abstract concept, but as something that shapes everyday clinical encounters.
Many of our models of communication, rapport, and “good practice” assume a shared understanding between clinician and patient. But what happens when that assumption doesn’t hold?
Across each part, I’m trying to think more carefully about:
how neurodivergent patients experience MSK care
how clinicians interpret (and sometimes misinterpret) behaviour
where breakdowns in understanding occur
and how we might practise in ways that are more affirming, accurate, and humane
This is not a how‑to guide.
It’s an ongoing attempt to think well about complexity.
The series so far
You can read each part below:
Part 1 — The Pathology Paradigm vs the Neurodiversity Paradigm
What if many of the problems we locate in patients are actually products of how we frame difference in the first place?
Part 2 — The Social Model of Disability: What It Means for MSK Clinical Practice
What we often call “non-compliance” or “avoidance” may be less about the person—and more about environments that don’t fit.
Part 3 — Ecological Diversity & Neurodiversity: Why Context Shapes Everything
If behaviour changes across contexts, what does that tell us about where the “problem” actually sits?
Part 4 — The Double Empathy Problem
What if communication difficulties in clinical practice are not one-sided, but emerge from a mismatch between different ways of experiencing the world?
Part 5 — Sensory Processing: Why “Sensitivity” Isn’t a Deficit
How much of what we call “sensitivity” is actually a mismatch between nervous systems and environments — and what does that mean for how we interpret pain, behaviour, and engagement?
(New parts will be added here as the series develops.)
Why this matters for practice
In MSK settings, we often rely on subtle interpersonal cues — body language, tone, narrative coherence — to guide clinical reasoning.
But these cues are not universal.
If we don’t account for different ways of communicating, sensing, or processing:
we risk misunderstanding patients
we may pathologise difference
and we can unintentionally narrow what “good engagement” looks like
Thinking about neurodiversity isn’t an optional extra. It’s part of practising well.
About the author
I’m an educator, podcaster, and neurodiversity advocate working in MSK healthcare. I no longer work clinically.
My work sits at the intersection of clinician education, communication, and neurodiversity — supporting clinicians to move beyond surface-level models of behaviour and towards a clearer understanding of how people think, communicate, and engage with care.
Alongside this, I work in Further Education with learners who have often been let down by traditional systems, particularly those with unrecognised or unsupported neurodivergence.
Across both contexts, the focus is less on changing people — and more on creating conditions where understanding, agency, and meaningful change can emerge.
Talks and related work
This series feeds into a number of talks and sessions I’ll be running in 2026.
Exploring Workplace Conversations Through a Neurodiversity Lens
(The Unbound Project)
🗓 Tuesday 14 July
🕖 9:00 (BST / UK)
📍 Live on Zoom
🎟 Link: Free (registration required)
Changing the Room, not the Person: Neurodiversity and MSK clinical Practice
(Therapy Show 2026)
🗓 Thursday 26 November
🕖 10:30 (GMT)
📍 Therapy Show at NEC Birmingham
🎟 Link: Tickets & details
Stay connected
If this series resonates with your work, you can subscribe to receive future parts.