Why Traditional Education Fails Neurodivergent Learners and How Better E-Learning Can Bridge The Gap

If You're Neurodivergent Like I Am, I Reckon You'll Relate to This

Picture school. You're sitting in maths class and the teacher is going over a new concept. Maybe trigonometry or Pythagoras. They're writing stuff on the board. Everyone else seems to be nodding along like it makes sense, but you're thinking: What on earth is happening?

Then the teacher asks, “Does everyone understand?”

And you nod.

Not because you do understand. Not because you don’t want help. You nod because you've been down this road before.

You've asked for help before and got nothing. Or worse, got a frustrated teacher taking out all their frustration on you.

Or maybe the teacher invites you over and tries to explain it again. And maybe they mean well, but it's still just a blur of words. It might as well be in Mandarin. Then they stare you in the eyes (something us neurodivergent people really love), and say, “Does that make sense now?”

You clear the lump in your throat and mumble an unenthusiastic “yeah.”

I really hope I'm not the only person who's experienced this.

For years, I thought it was just me. That I was slow. Even though I was often in the higher sets, I still felt totally lost. Looking back, that’s another issue in itself, the whole idea of sets, which I’ll definitely write about another time.

Here’s a quote I came across recently, on Reddit, that hit me hard. I don’t know if this person is neurodivergent, but they captured exactly what I’ve felt:

“I was bottom set in science and maths and around mid range for English.
I went to uni to study Fine art and discovered that I have a knack for writing and excelled in writing essays (despite being dyslexic).
I have to use maths a fair bit in my current job and I can very quickly solve numerical problems. I also do numerical based puzzles as a past time because to be honest, I'm good at it.
I still to this day have absolutely no idea about science but I do not use it in my every day life.
I'm in a job that I love with decent pay. I was never once questioned about my qualifications and exam results.
I genuinely think the school system failed me... I was made to believe that I wasn't "good enough" at these subjects and they were essential to doing well in life. I learned everything I needed to (and more) after I'd left education. I actually found that my teachers never wanted to help students that couldn't get to grips with things straight away and would instead support the students that were already doing well. So I taught myself.”

Why the Current System Doesn’t Work

It wasn’t just school. I’ve taken and taught on other courses that had the same problem. It’s all geared around this unspoken rule: if you’re struggling, it’s your fault. You weren’t paying attention. You didn’t revise properly. You didn’t try hard enough.

But for people like me, who are more than capable if given the right tools, this system just sets you up to fail.

Assessments often feel like a trap. Like assessors are trying to catch you out instead of support you. And when you’re already riddled with anxiety and overthinking everything, that pressure just builds and builds.

Neurodivergent learners, especially those with ADHD, don’t respond well to verbal overload. Spoken instructions go in one ear and out the other. It’s not that we’re not listening. It’s that our brains work differently.

Quick ADHD Side Tangent

When asking the location of somewhere, usually people above a certain age liek to give directions, instead of giving you an address and postcode to put on your phone, they prefer to say something along the lines of:
“Take the third left, then cut across the bush opposite the hairdressers, just by the post office. Then go round the roundabout and take the fourth exit, merge onto the slip road, go about 700 feet, past the old pub, take the seventh left and it’s on your right…” all while staring you dead in the eyes? Then they seem frustrated that you didn’t appreciate their ‘super simple’ directions.

Yeah. That’s what traditional learning feels like sometimes.

How E-Learning Can Help

In school, sixth form and even parts of university, I honestly learned nothing in the classroom. My notes made no sense. The only way I kept up was by taking the lecture slides back, breaking them down and turning them into flashcards using Anki. That finally worked, because spaced repetition works for me.

Many learning platforms are outdated. They’re poorly structured, scattered, or full of fluff. Often they don’t match what’s being taught. In my opinion, e-learning should be at the centre of education — not just an afterthought.

Great e-learning is:

Clear
Simple
Structured
Repeatable
Multi-format
Reassuring

It should include mock questions, example assessments, videos and resources you can actually refer back to. I’m currently using Scrimba to learn to code, and whoever built that platform gets it. You watch the teacher, pause or rewatch as much as you want, then you try it yourself. Then they show you the solution. It’s neurodivergent-friendly without even advertising it that way. I’d hedge a guess the creator is most likely neurodivergent.

So Where Do Teachers Fit In?

If good e-learning does the groundwork, where does that leave teachers?

Exactly where they should be: helping you think, reflect, explore, and build deeper understanding.

Teachers should:

Reinforce what students learned on their own
Use personal stories to connect it to the real world
Be there to help bounce ideas around and go beyond the core content

In other words, they shouldn’t be wasting time repeating the same instruction 100 times. They should be bringing learning to life. Explaining how this can be used in the future and pointing you to new places to learn more based on your own personal interests.

Real Example From Care Work

I recently had to do my first ever morning shift as a carer, the most intense shift of the day. What did I do beforehand? I watched all the videos I had uploaded to the carer training app and reviewed the written instructions. Even during the shift, I kept my phone nearby to double check things.

And the shift? It was a success.

That’s how I learn. That’s how a lot of people learn, especially when they're anxious or unsure. I did shadow a few shifts prior and how much do you reckon I retained? Absolutely nothing!

When I teach or design content, I always build for that person in mind. The nervous first-timer, my anxious self. The person who wants to do well, but just needs clear support.

And guess what? Even if you’re neurotypical, that style still helps.

How Assessments Can Be Better

When assessments come around, people are already nervous. Why not show them what to expect?

Record a mock consultation or walkthrough, not to copy, but to ease the burden of whether they’re doing it right
Let people see how it's meant to look, mistakes and all
Subtitles should be a default, not a feature
Allow playback at different speeds, I can’t watch anything on single speed, even with meds

Assessors should also be clear:
“I’m here to make sure you’re safe and confident. I want to pass you. I don’t enjoy failing people. I’m not here to catch you out. I’m here to help you succeed.”

That human approach takes seconds but changes everything. I’m not saying they need to be your friend, but show some humanity.

Final Thoughts

Based on my own experience of not learning a thing in the classroom and having to teach myself everything at home, I now design everything with asynchronous learning in mind.

I'm not saying we should make things easy. I'm saying learning should be accessible to all.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to learn and be the best version of themselves. How can that happen when the system is built in a way that sets a huge portion of the population up to fail?

That’s why I’m so passionate about building tools and learning content that meet people where they’re at.

This isn’t about lowering standards, it’s about levelling the playing field.

It’s not a substitute for therapy or medication, but it’s part of the puzzle. If we really care about education, about getting people into work, about long-term change, we need to start by changing how we teach. Sadly politicians love talking about getting people into work and education, but they never want to discuss the other part.