Do You Believe in Neurodiversity?

After I learnt so much about Autism I came to view Autism is not a tragic thing some people describe it as, not the nicest either but does have some positivity.

In the past I realized my suffering didn't stem from Autism, but stemmed from how people treat me and how I reacted to how they treat me. 

I couldn't think of any scientific basis that lead mankind to the conclusion that there is only one way to correctly neurodevelop and one cognitive functioning style. The genes to these conditions have existed throughout evolution but have only been focused on for less than two centuries, I were wondering why is that, it gave me the impression Autism is not a problem, mankind turned it into a problem by how they viewed it. 

People tend to tell me they believe there's something wrong with our brains because they're away from the average. Again, there's no scientific basis to being away from an average means something's wrong, and away from an average can also be an advantage. I read in a book by PhD. Thomas Armstrong that there was no such thing as averaged until the 1840s, so before hand there was no over or under functioning brain.

It's widely believed now that Einstein and Mozart were Autistic, John Nash had Schizophrenia, L. V. Beethoven had Bipolar, Richard Branson had dyslexia, a majority of the most influential people throughout history had one or more neurological difference.

Do you agree with Neurodiversity, or do you oppose it? Could you share why you agree or disagree please.

Parents Reply
  • Thank you. I still don't understand it all. I thought I was mentally ill, now it turns out I have a neurological disorder - but according to some it's not actually a disorder, it's neurological diversity. Whatever it is, it prevents me from fully functioning in society like most people do. That's the reality. Fair play, though, to those who want to see it as a diversity issue. 

Children
  • The short version is basically, you probably have a grossly over-active fight-or-flight function that forces you to live in a high-stress environment - like a hunted animal.  

    Yes.

    everything too loud, too smelly, too bright etc. 

    Just the loudness.

    You likely suffer from an absolute inability to process unpredictability.- it's all too much stress so you will freeze up and get 'lost' or freak out.

    Yes. And specifically other people, whom I find far too chaotic.

  • The short version is basically, you probably have a grossly over-active fight-or-flight function that forces you to live in a high-stress environment - like a hunted animal.   Your senses are likely to be set to max so everything overloads you.

    The end result is like trying to live in a Las Vegas Casino - everything too loud, too smelly, too bright etc.    This overload can cause you to not have enough brain power left to process what you have to do.

    You probably get to the end of the day frazzled and needing time to reboot before dropping into 'home mode'.

    You likely suffer from an absolute inability to process unpredictability.- it's all too much stress so you will freeze up and get 'lost' or freak out.

    That's my guess - how did I do?  Smiley