In many communities for people within the autism spectrum, lots of people within these communities occasionally mentioned neurodiversity. Neurodiversity is a variation in the human brain regarding sociability, learning, attention, mood & other mental functioning in a non-pathological sense. It uses a social model of disability that involves societal barriers, which is the main contributing factor that disables them. This term is coined by a sociologist within the autism spectrum named Judy Singer back in 1998, and it includes someone with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), Developmental coordination & speech disorder, Tourette syndrome, dyslexia, intellectual disabilities, ADHD, OCD, bipolarity, schizophrenia, etc.
The activists/advocates of the neurodiversity movement denounce framing of ASD, ADHD, dyslexia, & other neurodevelopmental disorders as needing medical interventions to cure/fix them through inclusion-focused services, accommodations, communications & assistive technologies, occupational training & independent living support in order to honor the authentic forms of human diversity, self-expression & being themselves instead of conforming to norms within their societies.
This movement leads to inclusion to all neurominorities in which they share a form of neurodivergence that makes up their psyche, personality & ways of relating to the world. Neurodiversity has different degrees & levels & challenges. Respecting neurodiversity means respecting nonverbal choices, challenging assumptions about what intelligence & how to measure it, apologizing for seeing someone with ASD lacking emotions/empathy and the physical & psychological harm done to them because of errors from a neurotypical observer, as well as listening to ASD adults & take them seriously about the psychological cost of fitting in.
A neurodiverse/neurodivergent is someone with autism and other developmental differences in which they recognize rich differences, abilities & strengths of someone with developmental differences as well. They also diverge from dominant societal standards of normal neurocognitive functioning. In other words, they see it as the characteristics of what makes them who they are, and it should be respected instead of feared/belittled. They also see their challenges as differences instead of being their deficits, which they use to fight stigma & promote inclusion in schools & the workplace and embrace it as a part of the mainstream.
The signs that make someone neurodiverse are lacking babbling/pointing at their 1st year, poor eye contact, no smiling/social responsiveness, not responding to his/her name, fixation on lining up toys/objects more than normal, & no single words/phrases at the age of 16 months. Additional signs for older individuals include low social interaction, inability to initiate/hold a conversation, Lack of social play, repetitive language, intense & focused interest on an object/subject, & fixation on certain routines/rituals.
The strengths of someone with neurodiversity include being able to approach situations differently & think outside the box, strong abilities with systems such as math & computer programming, creativity, no pressure at conforming to social norms that doesn’t make them happy, strong musical abilities, above average attention to detail, strong visual-spatial skills & skillful in art & design. Despite these strengths, they’re often underemployed due to the fact they didn’t fit in with the norms of a good employee such as having solid communication skills, team player, emotional intelligence, persuasiveness, ability to network & conform to standard practices without special accommodations, & more. They also don’t interview well because of the problems with their confidence & trauma from their previous interview failures. Neurodivergents need to be allowed to deviate from established practices & adjust work contexts to each individual.
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