There is still a lot of confusion about the words we use when we talk about neurodiversity. An individual is often described as “neurodivergent,” for example. Yet this does not define the whole person or their personality: a person’s identity is much more than a diagnosis. The term describes differences in how the human brain may work, including how we make sense of the world around us and our own sensations.
A group can be neurodiverse, for example when it includes people whose nervous systems work in different ways. An individual may be neurotypical or neurodivergent, but is not “neurodiverse.”
Neurodivergent means differing from the range of functioning that society has come to regard as typical. It isn’t a synonym for autism. Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other developmental differences are examples of neurodivergence.
Neurodivergence can also be acquired, for example after a traumatic brain injury, an infection affecting the nervous system, or toxic damage to the central nervous system. A person may have several forms of neurodivergence at the same time. But what matters most is not the words themselves; it is what lies behind them.
For a long time, a person who functioned differently was viewed primarily through the question: how can we make them function more “normally”? How can we teach them to tolerate the environment, behave in ways familiar to others, and stand out less? Unfortunately, this outlook is still reflected in Russian expressions that roughly translate as “normal-typical” and “not-normal-typical.” I consider this terminology unethical and inhumane.
A neurodiversity-affirming approach offers an important frame: what does this particular person need in order to live, learn, work, build relationships, and remain themselves? How can their individual characteristics help them adapt and have a better quality of life? How can their personality, which is far broader than a diagnosis, find a fulfilling place in the world?
This changes where we put our attention: from making a person easier for society to deal with, to making life better for that person and those close to them. This doesn’t mean denying difficulties or disability, and certainly doesn’t mean romanticizing individual differences as “superpowers.” An approach that affirms neurodiversity invites us to see everyone through their individual characteristics and emphasizes that we are all different, without that making anyone better or worse.
For some neurodivergent people, their differences involve significant limitations, and we should not be afraid to use the word “disability”. Others do not experience their own neurodivergence in that way. The point is neither to declare every difference a “superpower” nor to stop offering help.
The point is to stop treating the person themselves as a problem, especially a problem for society that must be fixed, and start looking for ways to support them.
Related reading in English
- Supporting Neurodivergent Clients: Recommendations for Practitioners, Part 1
- Regulation and Self-Regulation
- A Child’s Individual Profile in DIRFloortime®
- Following the Child’s Lead Does Not Mean Doing Nothing
- High Sensitivity in Neurodivergent People
Neurodivergence resources · DIRFloortime® · Sessions, training, and supervision