Written by ACS Social Worker, Ashley Ellis-Smith

There’s been some online discussion lately questioning whether a strengths-based approach is truly neuroaffirming. Some suggest it focuses too much on “the positives,” potentially glossing over the very real challenges faced by neurodivergent people. As a social worker, I want to respectfully unpack this—because from a social work lens, a genuine strengths-based approach is not only compatible with neuroaffirming practice, it’s foundational to it.

What Is a Strengths-Based Approach—Really?

Let’s start by clarifying what a strengths-based approach actually means. Too often, it’s misrepresented as simply focusing on the “bright side” or ignoring struggles. That’s not it at all.

In social work, a strengths-based approach is grounded in:

  • Human dignity and worth – every person has value, regardless of their ability or neurotype.
  • Person-in-environment theory – struggles are not isolated to the individual; they’re shaped by context, systems, and relationships.
  • Collaboration – support is something we do with people, not to them.
  • Empowerment – recognising people as the experts in their own lives, even (and especially) children.

This perspective doesn’t deny difficulty—it acknowledges it, but without centring deficit. It sees challenge through the lens of context and capability: What do you care about? What matters to you? What’s working? What support would make life better?

Why It’s Neuroaffirming

A neuroaffirming approach recognises neurodivergence as natural human variation—not a disorder to be fixed, but a difference to be understood and supported. It rejects pathologising and compliance-focused models, and aims to reduce harm by creating safer, more accommodating environments.

A well-practised strengths-based approach does all of this and more. Here’s why:

  • It honours lived experience. We begin with the person, not the label. Their values, passions, and perceptions shape the support they receive.
  • It centres autonomy. PDAers, ADHDers, and autistic people often experience demand sensitivity and trauma from coercive systems. A strengths-based lens fosters collaboration and choice.
  • It understands regulation before reasoning. Borrowing from trauma-informed and polyvagal theory, this approach acknowledges that co-regulation and nervous system safety must come before behavioural expectations.
  • It affirms difference. Interests and ways of processing are celebrated as unique strengths, not “fixations” or “deficits.”
  • Common Misconception: “But What About Struggle?”

A critique sometimes levelled at strengths-based work is that it sugar-coats reality. “But what about meltdowns? What about support needs?” The assumption here is that focusing on strengths means ignoring challenge. This is a misunderstanding of the approach.

The truth is: strengths-based doesn’t ignore struggle—it just doesn’t pathologise it. It holds the whole person in view. A strengths-based practitioner might say, “This young person is struggling with transitions because their nervous system feels unsafe. Let’s support that need,” rather than “They’re resistant and need to try harder.”

In fact, it’s often through strengths that we find solutions:

  • A child with a strong visual memory? Use visual schedules to support change.
  • A teen with a deep passion for gaming? Use that to build motivation and connection.
  • A young adult with PDA who resists top-down demands? Centre autonomy and shared decision-making.

What Social Work Theory Tells Us

The strengths-based model has deep roots in social work, particularly through the work of Dennis Saleebey and others who championed the Strengths Perspective. This model invites practitioners to:

  • Recognise resilience and survival strategies
  • Ask what’s working, not just what’s “wrong”
  • Work collaboratively to co-create meaning and goals

Importantly, it sees individuals as situated within systems. When a child is struggling in school, we ask not “What’s wrong with this child?” but “What’s happening in the environment that might be contributing to this struggle?”

That’s core to neuroaffirming practice, too.

A Real-World Example

Let’s say a Year 5 student is constantly getting in trouble for “refusing to follow instructions.” They mask all day, bottle things up, and eventually explode in what’s labelled a “meltdown.” A traditional behavioural lens might call this noncompliance or oppositionality.

A neuroaffirming strengths-based lens sees something else:

  • The child is trying their best in an environment that doesn’t meet their needs.
  • Their sense of fairness and autonomy is strong (a strength).
  • Their meltdown is a bottom-up stress response, not a chosen behaviour.
  • Their interest in Minecraft could be used to build rapport and engagement.
  • Their capacity for justice-orientation could be nurtured into advocacy skills.
  • When we lean into strengths and address needs, we make space for flourishing—not just functioning.

To Sum Up

A strengths-based approach, when rooted in social work values and trauma-informed practice, is inherently neuroaffirming. It honours the whole person. It doesn’t deny challenges—it reframes them. It doesn’t ignore struggle—it gives it context and compassion. It doesn’t seek to make neurodivergent kids more compliant—it seeks to help them thrive, feel safe, and be understood.

And that’s exactly what neuroaffirming practice is all about.

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Ashley Ellis-Smith is a neurodivergent (ADHD) mother, social worker and creative practitioner. With lived experience as an ADHDer and parent, and a deep commitment to strengths-based, trauma-informed practice, Ashley works alongside children, teens, and families. She is a passionate advocate for changing systems to make them safer and more inclusive for people of all neurotypes. Ashley is also an author and visual artist (gotta love that ADHD brain!), and creates children’s books, therapeutic resources, and educational articles to support individuals to live with authenticity.