The other day I came across a meme on social media that read: “Why are there suddenly so many neurodivergent people?” And Dr. Jen Wolkin responded: “The same reason there are suddenly more stars after we built telescopes.”
My background is in psychology, and I had not even heard the term neurodivergent until about four years ago, so don’t feel bad if it’s relatively new to you too. Back then, I immediately looked it up and all I found was a couple of crappy websites that defined neurodivergent as a “catch-all” term for anyone who had been diagnosed as depressed, bipolar, or had some other “disorder.”
Today, the Cleveland Clinic shares this definition: “Neurodivergent is a non-medical term that describes a person whose brain processes, learns, or behaves differently from what society considers typical or neurotypical.” It goes on to say that this: “covers a wide range of developmental, learning, and neurological conditions rather than a single diagnosis” and that this is not an illness. Instead, “neurodivergence is viewed as a natural variation in the human genome rather than a defect or disease that needs to be fixed.”
The Associated Clinic of Psychology says, “While neurodivergent individuals often experience functional challenges in standard environments, they frequently possess unique strengths such as heightened creativity, pattern recognition, or out-of-the-box problem-solving.” The University of Washington says that “neurodivergence frequently includes, but is not limited to: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Dyslexia (reading differences), Dyscalculia (math differences), Dyspraxia (coordination differences), and Tourette’s Syndrome.”
The small amount that I’ve shared here barely scratches the surface and it’s not even that good of a scratch, in my opinion. This is a massive topic that deserves much more attention and detail, but we’re going for a highlight reel today because information like this can and does affect people psychologically. So far it’s been misunderstood and many neurodiverse people have been labeled as “less” in some way.
By nature, people fear things they do not yet understand.
For many years, most of the things listed above have been—and still are—labeled as “disorders,” alluding to something being “wrong” with people, when in reality, their brains just work differently than a “typical” brain. Many autistic people are some of the most intelligent people you’ll ever meet. Albert Einstein, Mozart, and Emily Dickinson? Not your typical noggins. There’s an extremely high likelihood they were all autistic. And all those restless ADD/ADHD people who were highly aware of everything in their environment and who were often seeking new sensory experiences? Oh, like Leonardo da Vinci and Walt Disney? They pushed beyond the norms and we now stand on the shoulders of these giants. Were their lives easy? Did they have lots of friends who understood them? These alternative neurotypes are often struggling with things neurotypical people find easy.
We live in a world built for neurotypicals because that is what is more prevalent. Very simply, there are more neurotypicals than neurodivergents on this planet. Think about this for a moment: If the majority of the people on the planet were in wheelchairs, we would live in a world with a lot of ramps and different shaped doorways, and all the people who were walking on two legs would be outnumbered and most likely considered “odd.” If we lived in a world built for autistics, people would likely speak very directly and truthfully to one another. Everyone would say exactly what they mean and there would be less guessing or miscommunications. It would also sound harsh to the neurotypicals who are more used to sugarcoated, more metaphorical language.
As you can see from these examples, we build worlds for the majority.
With technological advancements, we are learning more about the human brain than ever before. Because we now have this “telescope,” we are finally starting to see all the neurodivergent stars that have been here all along. It’s time for a world where various neurotypes are not just accepted and accommodated, but also celebrated.
We’d love to hear your personal experiences of how you have experienced the world from your particular neurotype.
The “Rise” of Neurodivergence
