Beautiful Brains #2: What is neurodiversity?
As with many terms, there a quite a few definitions that capture: ‘what neurodiversity is’.
Basically, neurodiversity recognises the cognitive difference in brains and that some folks’ brains function in a different way to others. This does not make them ‘wrong’, just different. It challenges the notion that there is just one way for a brain to operate and raises awareness of the fact that there are many positives in having diversity of functioning.
I’m a big fan of not regurgitating information, so I have collated some information explaining neurodiversity. There are different formats for you to access (reading, video, audio) which hopefully will meet a range of neurodiverse needs.
Here are a few different definitions of neurodiversity that I think are useful and places to find out more, which you can digest in your own brain-friendly way:
‘Neurodiversity is the idea that cognitive conditions, such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia, are natural variations in the way people think and process information. The term recognises both the difficulties that people who have these conditions may encounter in the workplace and also the unique strengths that can derive from thinking differently.’ (GMB Union, ‘Neurodiversity in the Workplace’)
‘Neurodiversity refers to the fact that all our brains function differently. In the workplace it’s an essential area of diversity and inclusion that refers to alternative thinking styles, including autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.’ (This is from the intro to the CIPD podcast episode on neurodiversity which you can listen to or read the transcript.)
‘Neurodiversity encompasses a wide range of neurological differences. Although considered to be a relatively new term, it is thought to have been coined by autism activist Judy Singer back in the 1990s in a bid to move away from the ’medical’ view of autism and the idea it is something that should be “cured”….There is an emerging ‘neurodiverse paradigm’ – that argues that if 1 in 5 human beings are neurodiverse then this must be part of the natural diversity in human evolution. This new thinking about neurodiverse people argues that they are not errors of genetics but part of our growing understanding of the diversity of minds, intelligences, abilities and differences that are part of humanity.’ (ADHD Foundation, ‘Neurodiversity Celebration Week’ – note at the bottom of this article there are links to other resources and videos).
If you would like a full blog post to read, check out this 2013 post on Psychology Today by John Elder Robinson, ‘What Is Neurodiversity?’.
If you are a fan of a TED video, head to ‘Neurodiversity – the key that unlocked my world | Elisabeth Wiklander’.
Caption: Image with article title ‘Beautiful Brains #2: What is neurodiversity?’
A quick line on the social model of disability
You may notice that the common theme in the above information concerns moving the attitude towards neurodivergent individuals from being a ‘problem’ to having assets that should be embraced. This reflects something called the ‘social model of disability’ which stresses that the challenges faced by those with ‘impairments’ have been created by the environment.
Inclusion Scotland explains the social model of disability:
‘The social model was developed by disabled people and it is supported by organisations led by disabled people. It says disability is caused by barriers that arise because society (including buses!) is not designed to accommodate people who have impairments. It is these barriers that disable people who have impairments. They stop us from being included in society and participating on an equal basis. If these barriers are removed, a person may still have an impairment but would not experience disability.’
Key to neurodiversity is, therefore, a move from seeing individuals as having deficits, to embracing their strengths.
However! (Big however!!) We still have to acknowledge that neurodivergent people, and others who define as disabled, continue to face barriers in society, for example in their environments, communication and attitudes towards them.
Being differently wired, therefore, can be a definite strength, but many challenges still remain.
Let’s make sure we create environments where all our beautiful brains can flourish.
