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Do You Believe in Neurodiversity?

Daniel

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

  • Just reading and enjoying Jennifer Cook O'Toole's book, Autism in Heels. She's bringing up a lot of the ideas in this thread. What does average mean any way? Aren't we all a human spectrum, with people with autism at one place in the continuum of it in some respects, blending at the edges into other places?

    And I absolutely agree, Daniel, there is no one correct way to develop neurologically. 

    Yes, I believe in diversity. Who wants to live on a planet where are all the same? We would never grow. The suffering seems to come from a failure of society to appreciate differences of all kinds of things that make us what we are as individuals (neurological make up, sexuality  gender, race...) not from the mere fact of having an attribute which is less common or less accepted.

    And the concept of autistic spectrum even, whilst useful, still can't capture all of the potential diversity and bleeds out from the boundaries of the diagnostic criteria to a whole range of other folks whose brains are "sub-spectrum" on a point or two for a diagnosis, but who have traits which mean they aren't exactly "neuro typical" either, and share some of the gifts and challenges nonetheless. 

    I await a diagnosis still. But I know I'm a long way from the neurological mean point of the general population, whatever that means. I've had a diagnosis of dyslexia since my teens. It is objective fact that have so many life long sensory issues that I'm going to my assessment not with the question 'are my senses different?', but 'why are my senses different?'. I'll leave it to them to tell me whether, when they take into account the cognitive, behavioral and social stuff, it is autism or something else. I think it probable I am autistic, maybe I am "sub-spectrum" with some strong traits in a few areas, maybe it's an entirely different neurological issue...but whatever it is, I am not neurologically "average" and am sitting on some less usual point of the spectrum of all potential human neuro diversity somewhere.

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  • Just reading and enjoying Jennifer Cook O'Toole's book, Autism in Heels. She's bringing up a lot of the ideas in this thread. What does average mean any way? Aren't we all a human spectrum, with people with autism at one place in the continuum of it in some respects, blending at the edges into other places?

    And I absolutely agree, Daniel, there is no one correct way to develop neurologically. 

    Yes, I believe in diversity. Who wants to live on a planet where are all the same? We would never grow. The suffering seems to come from a failure of society to appreciate differences of all kinds of things that make us what we are as individuals (neurological make up, sexuality  gender, race...) not from the mere fact of having an attribute which is less common or less accepted.

    And the concept of autistic spectrum even, whilst useful, still can't capture all of the potential diversity and bleeds out from the boundaries of the diagnostic criteria to a whole range of other folks whose brains are "sub-spectrum" on a point or two for a diagnosis, but who have traits which mean they aren't exactly "neuro typical" either, and share some of the gifts and challenges nonetheless. 

    I await a diagnosis still. But I know I'm a long way from the neurological mean point of the general population, whatever that means. I've had a diagnosis of dyslexia since my teens. It is objective fact that have so many life long sensory issues that I'm going to my assessment not with the question 'are my senses different?', but 'why are my senses different?'. I'll leave it to them to tell me whether, when they take into account the cognitive, behavioral and social stuff, it is autism or something else. I think it probable I am autistic, maybe I am "sub-spectrum" with some strong traits in a few areas, maybe it's an entirely different neurological issue...but whatever it is, I am not neurologically "average" and am sitting on some less usual point of the spectrum of all potential human neuro diversity somewhere.

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