What IS neurodiversity?
This term, which is a combination of “neurological” and “diversity” originated in the late 1990s by sociologist Judy Singer as a challenge to prevailing views of neurological diversity as inherently pathological (which indicates it is something that can be cured), instead asserting that neurological differences are a natural variation of the human genome and thus should be recognized and respected as a social category on par with gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability status. It’s a basic belief that different people think differently, and that no one way of thinking is “right” or “wrong”. For purposes of this podcast, I see neurodiversity as an umbrella term that encompasses us all, whether we are neurotypical or neurodivergent.
Neurodivergent:
Anyone who has some form of atypical developmental, intellectual or cognitive function. Some neurominority conditions that fall into ‘neurodivergent’ are:
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Autism (ASD)
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Sensory Processing Disorder
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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
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Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
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Tourette’s Syndrome
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Dyslexia
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Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
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Dyscalculia
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Auditory processing disorder
1 in 5 people fall into one, or MORE, of these categories.
Neurotypical:
Anyone who has typical development, and intellectual, or cognitive functioning.