Neurodiversity is at the heart of a growing crisis in modern education. It is the one that is shaping how young men learn, struggle, and carry their mental health challenges into adulthood. In this episode of the Men’s Therapy Podcast, host Marc Azoulay sits down with Jake Noonan. He is an academic neurodiversity coach at the Neurodiversity Collective. His work focuses on young men and boys navigating the modern education system. Jake approaches neurodiversity not as a deficit to be corrected. He sees it as a fundamental difference in how individuals experience learning, creativity, and mental health.
Jake reflects on his own journey through gifted education and late ADHD diagnosis. He sheds light on years spent teaching in public education, private education, and alternative school models. He explains that for many boys, especially those with neurodiversity, school is not failing because they lack intelligence or motivation. It is failing because the system itself is outdated.
“I was diagnosed with ADHD at 29,” Jake shares. “When that happened, my entire life suddenly made sense.”
Jake describes how neurodiversity often goes unnoticed or misunderstood. Particularly in boys who are labelled as “gifted” but struggle emotionally, socially, or behaviorally. He emphasizes that modern education still operates on an industrial-era model. It is the one that values compliance over curiosity and standardization over individuality.
Marc guides listeners through a broader examination of the education system. He focuses on teacher burnout and the mental health consequences young men are carrying into adulthood.
Jake explains that neurodiversity frequently shows up as twice-exceptionality. In gifted education, students are often praised for their intelligence while their emotional and mental health needs are overlooked.
“Giftedness was just a box I checked,” Jake says. “Nobody ever asked why things felt harder for me than for my peers.”
He notes that ADHD in boys is still commonly misunderstood as laziness or defiance rather than a neurological difference. Without proper coaching and support, many young men internalize shame. They disengage from learning and carry those wounds into adulthood.
The modern education system, as Jake describes. He places immense pressure on both students and educators. Teacher burnout is rising as expectations increase while resources continue to shrink. “Teachers are asked to teach, entertain, emotionally support students. They are expected to communicate with parents and manage bureaucracy, all at once,” Jake explains.
In public education, especially in underfunded districts, teachers are often forced to prioritize standardized testing over meaningful learning. Jake points out that this environment disproportionately harms neurodiverse students who need flexibility, creativity, and trust.
While private education is often marketed as a solution, Jake cautions that it brings its own issues. In some private education and alternative school models, profit is prioritized over pedagogy. He is leading to shallow learning experiences and ethical concerns. “Education is being treated like a product,” Jake says. “Not like a relationship.”
Both public and private education systems are struggling to adapt to the realities of neurodiversity, technology, and men’s mental health.
Jake emphasizes the role of coaching in helping neurodiverse students reconnect with learning. Project-based learning, gaming, and technology are not distractions, he argues; they are entry points. “When you trust students and give them ownership, they lean in,” Jake explains.
He shares examples of students using platforms like Minecraft and Fortnite to demonstrate deep understanding of history, systems thinking, and problem-solving. These moments, he believes, show what modern education could look like if creativity were taken seriously.
Marc and Jake connect the dots between educational disengagement and men’s mental health. When boys grow up feeling misunderstood or dismissed by the education system, they often carry resentment, isolation, and identity confusion into adulthood.
Jake warns that this void is increasingly filled by online figures offering rigid, harmful definitions of masculinity. “Young men are being sold identity instead of being taught how to think,” he says.
Education, Jake argues, should be a space where boys learn critical thinking, emotional regulation, and empathy, not just compliance.
As the episode closes, it becomes clear that neurodiversity is not a side issue. It is central to the future of education and men’s mental health. Jake Noonan calls for sweeping reform that trusts students, supports teachers, and treats learning as a human process rather than a mechanical one. For men reflecting on their own school experiences, this conversation offers language, validation, and a path forward. It is one rooted in understanding rather than self-blame.
Jake Noonan is an academic neurodiversity coach at the Neurodiversity Collective. He is working primarily with young men and boys. His work focuses on ADHD and gifted education. He focuses on helping neurodiverse students develop self-understanding, confidence, and sustainable learning strategies.
He has a background in philosophy, education, and teaching across public, private, and alternative schools. Jake brings both lived experience and academic insight to conversations about modern education and mental health.
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