10/07/2026
Members approved a proposal for more training at every level of the church on neurodiversity and a new network of neurodiversity champions throughout the dioceses, based on the model of the disability advisers network.
Neurodivergent people, who include autistic people, people with ADHD, and those with dyslexia or dyspraxia, are a blessing to the church and wider society and their experience adds to the richness of experience of all, the General Synod heard, but they face discrimination and barriers that prevent them from flourishing.
The Archbishop of Canterbury was one of the speakers in the debate, describing how her dyslexia had led some people to believe she ‘wouldn’t amount to much’.
Archbishop Sarah, who became the youngest Chief Nursing Officer for England aged 37 and was installed as the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this year, said that she hoped that by speaking of her own experience she might encourage people to view the Church as a place for all kinds of people.
"In my life I have had to face the views of those who thought that I wouldn’t amount to much. I struggled at school and it was at a time when we were given very little support and therefore very little opportunity to help me to understand how I could overcome the challenges that dyslexia presented me," she said.
She added: “I have learnt however - and it wasn't an easy journey - that I am made in the image of God and that I am called as somebody who is dyslexic, not despite dyslexia, and sometimes because of dyslexia. I now speak more regularly about my dyslexia because I hope that by sharing my own experiences I might offer some encouragement, that we are a Church of all kinds of people. Neurodiversity is not a problem to be solved within the Church, but it is a gift.”
Opening the debate, Diocese of London General Synod member Fiona MacMillan, (pictured, above) for the Church of England’s Neurodiversity Working Group of the Committee for the Ministry of and among Deaf and Disabled People (CMDDP), spoke of diagnoses she has had since the age of 40 of ADHD, Tourette’s, and as autistic.
“These three diagnoses each came as a surprise, a serial unveiling of reasons for lifelong struggle and, initially a source of shame, grief and relief, before I gradually grew to understand and know myself as fearfully, wonderfully and intentionally made by God, with my particular combination of needs and gifts,” she said.
She added that the celebration of diversity and inclusion of all is a “core” commitment of the church.
“In each of the Gospels, Jesus welcomes the outcast and challenges those who limit the extent of the Spirit’s work. This motion calls on the Church to include people who think differently, and to allow ourselves to be blessed by them.”
A background paper for the General Synod notes that members of the Neurodiversity Working Group have developed and begun to pilot neurodiversity training, initially in the Diocese of London.
To date more than 500 clergy and lay ministers have participated in a 90-minute introductory training, and 150 in a full day. The training has been piloted in other dioceses through online sessions and through a “train-the-trainers” programme in the Diocese of Bristol.
Here is the wording of the General Synod motion:
All kinds of minds: Affirming neurodiversity in the life of the church
‘That this Synod: recognising neurodivergent people, lay and ordained, as lovingly and purposefully made and a blessing to the church and wider society whose experience adds to the richness of experience of all; and acknowledging the need to work towards the removal of barriers to their flourishing at every level of the church by challenging and transforming unjust structures & processes which disadvantage and discriminate against them, therefore:
a) affirm the work of the national Neurodiversity Working Group, and encourage National Church Institutions and other Church Bodies to develop inclusive practices and policies which promote the flourishing of neurodivergent people.
b) affirm the importance of, and need for, neurodivergent-led neurodiversity training throughout the church, and encourage the church at all levels to develop appropriate training led and shaped by neurodivergent people that builds understanding and confidence in the ministry of, with and among neurodivergent people.
c) call on each diocese to appoint neurodivergent people as Neurodiversity Champions, following the pattern of the existing Diocesan Disability Advisors network, ensuring the role is appropriately embedded within diocesan structures so they may be best placed to contribute to the identification and removal of barriers.
d) encourage all churches and church members to listen and respond to the experience of neurodivergent people in their specific local contexts to enable the flourishing of all.’