Understanding Difference to Make a Difference

Neurodiversity, Mental Health and What We Can Learn from Elite Sport

Keynote-Style Q&A: Professional Basketball Player Kofi Josephs

What happens when difference is misunderstood?

And what happens when it is understood?

As part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week, Neurodiverse Sport invites you to an honest online conversation exploring neurodiversity, mental health and performance in elite sport.

This is not a motivational talk. It is a systems conversation.

Professional basketball player Kofi Josephs will speak candidly about:

• Growing up undiagnosed with ADHD and autistic traits
• Being labelled “difficult” and misunderstood
• The pressure of elite performance environments
• Sport as his safe space — and the barriers that remain even at the highest level
• The paradox of disclosure, perception and trust

Kofi will reflect on how behaviours often misinterpreted as attitude or personality can in fact be regulation, focus or survival strategies.

He will also explore the idea of alignment — what it feels like to fit, and what it costs when you don’t.

Ambassador Panel: Different Sports, Different Experiences

Following the keynote-style Q&A, Neurodiverse Sport ambassadors from a range of sporting backgrounds will join the conversation.

These athletes represent diverse disciplines and performance environments — some of whom have experienced more aligned, supportive systems.

Together, they will explore:

• How different sports and cultures shape neurodivergent experience
• What has enabled them to thrive
• Where alignment has worked well
• How coaches and environments can create psychological safety without lowering standards
• What elite sport can teach grassroots — and vice versa

This part of the evening is not only about identifying barriers.
It is about identifying examples of progress.

By bringing together varied sporting contexts, the discussion will highlight that outcomes are not inevitable — they are shaped by environment, culture and leadership.