It is impressive how societal understanding of neurodiversity moved within past 10 years. When I have started looking into therapeutic field, autism was still considered an illness which should be treated. Not even considering my own possible neurodiversity, it did not sit well with me. I just was unsure why. Fast forward 10 years later, I have worked with multiple neurodiverse clients, either self-diagnosed, formally diagnosed or on the discovery journey. My world has rapidly expanded with every new knowledge around neurodiversity. I learned better communication about the topic, I learned individual stories and I have started looking into neurodiverse thinking and functioning.
It surely has been a fascinating journey from complete ignorance, to compassion, self-discovery, excitement over better understanding oneself and my clients and disappointment over still long journey ahead for societal understanding and acceptance.
There couldn’t be a better way how to come back to therapeutic topics, than bringing topic of neurodiversity as it certainly shaped my therapeutic journey massively over past few years.
What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘neurodiverse’?
Is it autism, ADHD?
Do you know that dyslexia fits the category as well?
Are you aware of neurological changes in the brain?
Or does your mind wander towards people in your life circle, who are, might be or are considering their own neurodiversity?
Maybe you are on the same boat yourself or contrary maybe you have no idea whatsoever about any of the mentioned above.
No matter what category you fit in and whatever reasons lead you to this article and topic overall I would like to start speaking about neurodiversity. My intentions are complex. There is drive to learn more and better understand neurodiversity. There is curiosity about possible new discoveries I haven’t considered or even came across with until now. And finally there is a need to spread the knowledge to hidden corners of society still largely ignorant and oblivious to the fact there is more neurodiverse people then one would of think only ten years ago. I see lacking education across the fields when comes to neurodiversity, stereotypes which don’t fit the complexity of diagnoses, misleading information creating believe neurodiverse means ‘ill’ when in fact it is just different way of relating and perceiving world around.
Did you know that if you don’t exhibit neurodiverse traits you are neurotypical?
Let’s speak only about these two words today: ‘neurodiverse’ and ‘neurotypical’
Let’s look at NEUROTYPICAL first.
Lisa Jo Rudy (2023)¹ states: “neurotypical” is an informal term used to describe a person whose brain functions are considered usual or expected by society. It is neither a mental disorder nor even an official diagnostic term.
‘A neurotypical person is an individual who thinks, perceives, and behaves in ways that are considered the norm by the general population. Institutions such as schools, sports leagues, and places of employment are typically designed to accommodate people who fit into these norms.’ (Rudy, 2023)¹
The important part to remember here is that neurotypical is considered a norm by general population whereases neurodiverse differs from this norm due to differences In brain functioning.
Neurotypical does not mean “normal.” It simply means that the behaviours fall within expected boundaries, which can differ from one culture to another.
In order to understand differences to neurotypical we need to have a look at NEURODIVERSITY.
“Neurodiversity” is not the same thing as being neurodivergent. As Rudy (2023)¹ states ‘the term was first coined to describe the diversity in how autism is expressed from one person to the next. It recognized that there was not one form of autism and that autism traits were neither “abnormal” nor inherently indicative of disability.’
“Neurodivergent” today can be applied to any neurodevelopment disorder. These are conditions in which a person’s brain function differs from how others in a society or culture normally think, function, or perform.
The neurodiversity movement focuses on the idea that developmental differences that may be seen in autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other conditions should not be considered traits of a disorder. These traits are seen instead as typical expressions that don’t require treatment.
Lisa Jo Rudy (2023)¹ continues:
‘Neurodivergent means that a person’s brain works in a way that is not expected. It is commonly used when the behaviour or response differs from what is expected socially, physically, or verbally.’
The society is mostly build to accommodate neurotypical needs, even though it might be questionable if even this format still reflects needs of the majority. Certainty is that neurodivergent people struggle in the format which is not reflecting needs of their brain functioning which is not abnormal, but different to neurotypical. This could be showed on ‘double empathy’ issue in between neurodivergent and neurotypical population. I will get to double empathy issue in the next article about neurodiversity. Stay tuned.
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