Discover the power of neurodiversity.
Deep underground, in a bunker in an undisclosed location, there’s a perfectly average specimen of humanity. They have normal intelligence and normal athletic ability. They feel a perfectly average range of human emotions. The scientists in the facility take care to measure these averages and send them out to doctors everywhere to make sure they have an objective baseline for diagnosis.
If this sounds fake to you, that’s because it is. Thankfully! Humans are diverse and complicated creatures with massive differences in genetics and culture, interests and skills, and values that shift over time. With so much diversity, the idea of a perfectly average human can only exist in a dystopian novel.
So, in a species so vast and varied, why do we expect everyone to have the same brain?
Neurodiversity is a term that was coined by Judy Singer as part of her work in the autism advocacy movement. The core concept is that every person’s brain is intrinsically different, with a range of functioning and cognitive abilities.
In this content, we’re going to explore how this term can change the way we think about neurological divergences. We’ll cover the advantages of differently wired brains, look at ways you can harness these positive traits, and consider a future that accommodates the diverse range of human neurology.
More than a label, neurodiversity is also a philosophy of accepting spectrums of differences in our species. It pushes back against an attitude of diagnosing people with differently wired brains with a condition or benefit. Neurodiversity is natural and different doesn’t mean worse.
When we can change the way we think and talk about our neurological differences, we empower ourselves and build a more accepting future. Let’s take a look at how variable our species is and discover the power of neurodiversity.
A spectrum of competencies
Amanda Baggs posted the video In My Language in 2007, amidst a growing autism activism movement. For the first half, there’s no spoken language – Amanda taps on objects, flaps her hand, and hums. The camera flashes between shots of her interacting with objects that move and clatter. She’s focused and engaged in this visual, kinesthetic language.
Amanda has autism and is considered to be nonverbal and low-functioning. But the video seems at odds with this evaluation.
Through her synthesizer, she explains, “The thinking of people like me is only taken seriously if we learn your language, no matter how we previously thought or interacted … It is only when I type something in your language that you refer to me as having communication.”
The neurodiversity paradigm offers a more empowering perspective on neurological differences than the medical paradigm tends to allow. It challenges the idea that different ways of interacting with the world are incorrect.
Many people who have been diagnosed with dyslexia rank highly when tested for spatial intelligence. It’s believed that the same brain differences that are responsible for their reading difficulties are also responsible for this exceptional gift of translating visual images mentally.
You can imagine that in a world where students were tested on their special reasoning instead of their ability to read, our “smartest” students would suddenly become the ones with a deficit. People exist on a spectrum of competencies. How those competencies are valued by society dictates which are considered deficits and which are gifts.
Amanda can’t communicate with people verbally, but she’s in constant dialogue with her environment. This is an example of what’s called “systems thinking,” a type of intelligence focused on interaction and the relationship between objects in a system. There’s a high correlation between people diagnosed with autism and exceptional ability in this form of intelligence.
And yet, when people see Amanda interact with things “wrongly,” they often doubt that she’s a thinking person. Amanda says “… since their definition of thought defines their definition of personhood so ridiculously much, they doubt that I am a real person as well.”
Embracing neurodiversity means recognizing and valuing the vast spectrum of human experiences, just as we celebrate the vibrant richness of human culture or ability. By moving away from a deficit-focused medical model to an empowerment model, neurodiversity transforms difference into variety, deficit into advantage, and disability into possibility.
Power in the positive
As an educational consultant, Thomas Armstrong met with a lot of school staff and parents to solve the problems of particularly “difficult” students. These meetings always started the same way. The teachers would explain to him the negative behaviors or performance of the child, focusing on what was “wrong.” You could feel a dread settle over the adults in the room. Everyone was struck by the seemingly unavoidable, bleak future for the child they were there to help.
Unfortunately, when we as a society talk about people who struggle with conditions such as autism, ADHD, learning difficulties, mood disorders, or mental health issues such as schizophrenia, we tend to talk about the negatives. We adopt what has been called a “diagnosis-based” framework that labels people based on their deficits – lack of attention, academic failures, social difficulties, and trouble with emotional regulation.
Armstrong started to notice the effect that this negative focus was having on how teachers and parents responded to these so-called “difficult” students. The feelings of unease, worry, or frustration bled into what they viewed as potential solutions. So he decided to try something different.
Before each meeting, he requested the cumulative file on the child on whom he was consulting. This was a complete copy of every teacher comment, every test, and every piece of information collected throughout their entire academic career.
At the beginning of the meeting, Armstrong handed out a document that contained only positive information he’d found about the child they were due to discuss. Even small details like, “Marcus loves finger painting,” or “Cindy scored highly on spatial awareness testing” revealed some of the overlooked competencies. At first, the other adults in the meeting were surprised at how much good Armstrong had found. Then, they’d begin to think about the child in a new light.
Immediately, the meetings were transformed from the last resort of a troubled student to a discussion about new ideas which leaned into the child’s positive strengths. The solutions that emerged weren’t just about managing a child but about bringing out abilities that had previously been overlooked. The once bleak future gave way to a bright one, where the neurodiverse child could celebrate their unique strengths and flourish.
Context defines competency
We’re often led to believe that one size should fit all. But when we look at the spectrum of human diversity, this idea quickly falls apart.
Eddie, a ten-year-old African-American boy, volunteered most afternoons with a nonprofit organization which worked to integrate the arts into the public school system. His job was to go with adult volunteers to industrial areas where they could find materials for art projects back at the schools, even field-testing potential learning tools. Everyone who worked with Eddie found his enthusiasm and energy contagious. He was a huge asset to the team.
But at school, his teachers had a different opinion. Eddie had a hard time staying at his desk, walking around without permission. The same energy and enthusiasm which made him valuable in his volunteer role also made him a nightmare for teachers who wanted him to just sit down and do work. He was diagnosed with ADHD and labeled as disruptive.
Eddie’s story is a good example of what we mean when we talk about a spectrum of competencies. We often judge people’s abilities in a very specific context. The line between which neurodiversities are considered gifts and which are considered disorders is largely dictated by cultural values.
This becomes particularly obvious when we look at other cultures. While the Western world is centered around principles of rationality, there are examples across the world where a reorganized sense of reality is seen as a gift.
Masts are individuals who in some Indian communities are considered to be “God-intoxicated.” They hold a special spiritual status. Descriptions of Masts include a man who begged for money, only to throw it away. Another spent his days scribbling and drawing nonsensical patterns on the roads, pavements, and walls.
Similar roles are seen in the yurodivy or “holy fool” in Russian, a term used within the Eastern Orthodox church to describe religious members of the public whose defiance of social convention was considered a blessing. There’s a strong argument that in modern American culture, these individuals would all be diagnosed with schizophrenia. But in this cultural context, they’re considered to fill an important spiritual role for the people around them.
In a world where the list of neurologically-based disorders is expanding rapidly, we have to wonder how many describe natural differences in a society that isn’t built to cope with variety.
Find a niche – or build your own
When Chris Burke was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, his parents were advised to put him in an institution. At the time, the condition was considered a genetic disorder purely characterized by intellectual and physical disability.
Instead of following their pediatrician's advice, Chris’s parents raised him at home with a focus on his strengths. Although it’s often overlooked, Down Syndrome is also linked to high emotional and social awareness. This was particularly true for Chris, who displayed a natural love of performing. His mother claimed he was entertaining the family even before he could speak.
Building on these strengths, Chris honed his skills in music and acting. His radiant performances drew the attention of Network Executives at the ABC channel, and in 1989, it signed Chris to play the role of Corky Thatcher in the series Life Goes On. It was the first show featuring a main character with Down Syndrome. Chris went on to star in all 83 episodes of the show’s run.
In nature, we talk about animals or plants occupying a particular role or “niche” within a larger ecosystem. Chris had found his niche on TV screens across America.
Success in the life of neurodivergent people involves finding a niche that fits the needs of their unique brains. As we have already seen with Amanda Baggs, people with autism often display exceptional gifts when it comes to systems thinking. It’s this unique style of intelligence that makes Dr. Temple Grandin great at her job.
Dr. Grandin is an animal behaviorist who’s responsible for designing around one-third of the livestock-handling facilities in the USA. Although she’s always had trouble relating to humans, her ability to understand the responses of animals is uncanny.
At one pig processing plant, employees found that the animals were constantly backing up in a particular alley. Dr. Grandin decided that the best way to understand the system through the eyes of the animals was by making her way through the shoot herself – down on her hands and knees.
“I could see that there were lots of tiny bright reflections glancing off the wet floor,” Dr. Grandin described. “Nobody could have seen those reflections even if they did know what to look for, because the humans’ eyes weren’t on the same level as the pigs’.”
Chris Burke and Dr. Grandin are both powerful examples of niche construction. If you’re thinking about how to find your own niche or help a loved one find theirs, start by focusing on strengths and abilities. Consider what you excel at, what passions ignite your enthusiasm, and how these unique qualities can be leveraged to contribute positively to your community.
Whether it's a knack for problem-solving, artistic creativity, a gift for communication, or great spatial reasoning, remember that everyone possesses unique qualities waiting to be shared with the world.
Positive adaption
Of course, being neurodivergent in a world that isn’t built for you will always be difficult. Living in society means that at times there’s a demand to read, be sociable, be rational, focus, and conform in other distinct ways. Sometimes, living life with a differently wired brain can be devastating.
An adaptation is most powerful when it targets a person’s specific needs and differences. It should address the areas where they struggle and leverage their strengths. It should also increase the agency of the neurodiverse individual, empowering them to participate more fully in life.
Adaptations that align with an individual’s passions and intrinsic motivation are more likely to work. In fact, an engaging environment has been shown to help develop people’s neurological capacity to adjust to change elsewhere. In other words, just developing your niche can help you adapt more to difficulties you face outside of it.
The good news is that between advocacy groups and technological advancements, there are lots of tools to help you adapt while still leveraging your strengths. The rise of audiobooks and podcasts has presented an alternative learning avenue for people who struggle with the written word. Online forums connect neurodiverse communities to share tips and ways of living in a way that would have been unimaginable 50 years ago.
The smartphone is probably one of the biggest technological shifts. Now, people can carry a huge range of supportive tools with them everywhere, from communication apps that allow nonverbal individuals to speak, to reminders and scheduling apps that help people manage their days. The incredible work of advocate groups and medical researchers has allowed these tools to be more accessible than ever before.
While deficit-first definitions of neurodiversity can be damaging, criticism of this perspective doesn’t call for abandoning all medical support. Medication, after all, is an adaptive technology that has changed neurodiverse lives for the better. Rather, it encourages a holistic approach that doesn’t treat these diagnostic labels as illnesses but as a description to enhance access to helpful tools.
The key here is knowing your strengths and limitations and designing adaptations that lean on your strengths. Work with your brain, instead of against it.
A neurodiverse future
“Neurodiverse” is more than a label. It’s a way of accepting the full range of human mental differences. But how can we integrate this perspective into our organizations and support people across many competence spectrums? Let’s consider the classroom.
The neurodiverse classroom of the future needs to be designed specifically to support many types of learners rather than retrofitting an existing model for “special education.” This involves creating an environment tailored to different learning needs.
For example, the classroom might have designated quiet areas for reflection as well as collaborative spaces for group work. Progress wouldn’t involve pitting kids against each other, but looking at the development path of each individual. Teachers would deliberately build in flexibility, providing learning resources in multiple formats like visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.
This neurodiverse learning environment not only benefits those at the extreme ends of certain competence spectrums but also serves every student, who necessarily exists somewhere on those spectrums.
Even those considered neurotypical have areas of strength and weakness in their cognitive profile that benefit from flexible learning environments. A rigid one-size-fits-all educational approach fails to nurture the potential of learners who absorb information through diverse means.
Similar ideas can extend to other organizations. Danish software company Specialisterne – meaning “the specialists” – intentionally employs workers with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism spectrum disorder. The systems intelligence and exceptional powers of concentration of these workers are an incredible asset to the company, which in turn structures the company to create a supportive niche.
Everyone in contact with these highly paid consultants is educated on the conditions they require. Clients, including companies such as Microsoft, LEGO, and Oracle, know they must be direct and precise in communication. Clients are expected to learn the language of autism, rather than the other way around. This goes beyond simply accommodating to neurodiverse extremes in the workforce, and toward breaking down the structures that hold everyone back.
Neurodiversity means valuing cognitive differences as natural and necessary. By accepting these differences in others and ourselves, we empower diversity, rather than expecting everyone to fit the same neurological mold.
The neurodiversity movement opens our eyes to the beauty and brilliance found in all human minds. It challenges us to move beyond restrictive norms and appreciate the value of different ways of thinking, communicating, and being. The goal isn’t just tolerance but also active celebration and inclusion of cognitive variability in all its forms.
At its heart, neurodiversity is a vision of humanity that says, “You belong here, just as you are. Your mind is a gift to the world.”
Comments
Post a Comment