An estimated 1 in 8 children in India is neurodivergent. Inclusive policies exist on paper, but everyday attitudes and system readiness still lag. This leads to inadequate implementation and systemic exclusion, which begins in schools and compounds across the lifespan.
Many neurodivergent children are:
- denied school admission, or
- present in classrooms but not meaningfully engaged in learning;
- misunderstood by teachers and peers;
- excluded socially; teased, isolated, or even bullied.
These challenges are rooted in gaps in mindsets and implementation. Schools have limited capacity to effectively support neurodivergent students. Educators often want to help but lack the resources, skills and confidence to do so. Uninformed peer attitudes can make classrooms and playgrounds difficult spaces for neurodivergent children to belong and participate.
Neurodivergent children miss crucial opportunities for identity formation, social interaction, and skill-building which affect later independence, employment, and participation in society.
Change can only happen with active allies. With the right support in schools from both teachers and peers, an estimated 80% of neurodivergent children can thrive in mainstream settings.
#InclusiveDuniya was created to build this change ground-up, by helping people - students, teachers and the wider community - become active allies who understand neurodiversity and actively practice inclusion in their own spaces to make it a lived reality.
Inclusive Duniya engages the ecosystem around neurodivergent individuals to build awareness and allyship for inclusion through 3 interconnected elements:
Open-access content to deepen understanding of neurodivergence and lived experiences - from our Insta-comic (Naina’s Inclusive Duniya) to micro-learning resources on allyship, and our TuesdaysForTeachers Youtube series on neuro-inclusive teaching
Conversation formats (Inclusive Duniya Circles and SEL Curriculum centred on our comic) to seed an inclusivity mindset in children - designed to be light-touch and led by anyone aged 14+
Capacity-building to support teachers, students and community members, to better understand neurodiversity and drive contextually-relevant inclusive practices and solutions.
This includes training programmes for teachers, workshops and action-learning programmes for students, and partnering with youth and cultural organisations to build neurodiversity-themed initiatives.
We also foster three growing communities of Youth Champions, inclusive teachers, and volunteer allies allowing all those who engage with us to stay connected to the cause and continue as lifelong allies for inclusion.
With this ground-up approach, more individuals have meaningfully connected and committed to the cause, and #InclusiveDuniya has reached new spaces where neurodiversity is often not recognised.
The initiative began as India’s first neurodiversity comic. As we identified emerging needs in schools and communities, Inclusive Duniya developed into a programme to address those needs.
We launched our teacher training programme in 2024, and began establishing a continuum of structured opportunities for students which targeted allyship competencies for inclusion.
In 4 years:
- We have reached 23K+ students and trained 1290+ educators
- Naina's Inclusive Duniya comic and Circles was featured in HundrEd Global Collection 2025
- Our allyship-focused work was recognised by Nayi Disha Caregiver Changemaker Award
- One of our student-led inclusion projects won the Ciena Solutions Challenge 2025 Sustainability Award
In the next 2-3 years, we aim to establish 100+ student-led Inclusive Duniya projects in schools and communities across Tier 1 and 2 cities; make our teacher training and support accessible to more teachers; and grow our community of Youth Champions and teachers actively contributing to neuro-inclusion in their spaces
Start by exploring our open-access content
- Visit our (un)Learn page for thought-starters on disability, ableism, and allyship;
- Follow our Insta-comic, Naina’s Inclusive Duniya with neurodiverse characters, to understand lived experiences and everyday acts of inclusion
- Subscribe to our Youtube Channel (@inclusiveduniya) for #Tuesdays for Teachers, bilingual bite-sized guidance for neuro-inclusive classrooms
Help raise awareness with guided conversations
Educators, student leaders, parents, or volunteers can use our Inclusive Duniya Circle or SEL Huddles to sensitise children in classrooms and beyond.
Fill in the form to receive the Toolkits: https://bit.ly/IDVolunteer
Build your capacity to contribute to the cause
- Teachers can join our training on neurodivergence and classroom strategies
- Students can explore our continuum of opportunities based on interest and time
- Volunteers and organisations can collaborate with us to design neurodiversity or inclusion-themed events or initiatives
Follow us on Instagram (@thesarvodyacollective) to stay updated on new resources, student projects, workshops, and ways to get involved.
You can begin with any of these entry points and scale up based on interest and readiness. Scroll down to get more details. For tailored support or collaboration, reach us at contact@sarvodya.org or srushti.patel@sarvodya.org.
Let’s build an #InclusiveDuniya together!
