Neurodivergence

The beautiful complexity and diversity of the human mind

Hiya!

Largely due to a lack of advanced technology, we humans have been limited to exploring and studying our shared objective, external world, through sciences such as biology, chemistry, and physics. However, scientists now have the tools to investigate our individually subjective, internal experiences involving the mind, consciousness, and neurology.

And what we’re learning is that despite our desire for simplicity and “normalcy,” we are anything but. Instead, we’re just as, if not more, diverse on the inside as we are on the outside. A perfect example is a somewhat recent buzzword you’ve likely already heard: Neurodiversity.

Google it, and you’ll get an array of articles discussing ways to help, define, and accept people who are neurodivergent, and even some suggesting that our dogs may be neurodivergent.

But what exactly is neurodivergence? To answer that is to ask another question: What is normal?

What is Normal?

Socially, we all have an innate desire to be normal — to fit in, to belong, which is to say, we want to be like everyone else. However, scientifically, particularly in modern medicine, defining what is “normal” is crucial.

For instance, healthcare providers often ask us questions, and our answers help them determine how sick or well we are based on the symptoms we do or don’t have or the activities we can or cannot perform, all of which revolve around the central question of “is this normal?”

What’s considered normal in healthcare is primarily related to our commonly shared biology, but it’s trickier to define what’s normal when it comes to our behaviors or mental experiences.

As with our bodies, the looooooooong evolutionary journey of the human brain has resulted in specific structures and organization that are generally more similar than different in function across individuals. This shared arrangement and functionality create a sort of blueprint for what’s considered a “normal” human brain.

However, while people’s brain organization may be similar, their functional brain systems differ in the degree of intersubject variability. Or, as the Cleveland Clinic summarizes:

“Like a person’s fingerprints, no two brains — not even those of identical twins — are exactly the same. Because of that, there’s no definition of ‘normal’ capabilities for the human brain.”

And it’s this exciting revelation that brings us back to our initial question.

What is Neurodivergence?

In the 1990s, Australian sociologist Judy Singer was inspired by social movements advocating for the rights of social minorities and by environmental sciences that emphasized the benefits of biodiversity for thriving ecosystems.

She suggested that, as with the biodiversity of plants and trees in nature, our human neurological diversity is a natural and healthy characteristic of our species and should not be pathologized by default.

So, in 1998, Singer published a thesis (and a book in 2017) in which she coined the term “neurodiversity” to recognize that, although the organization and structure of the human brain are similar across individuals, each person’s brain develops uniquely.

Since her thesis, neurodiversity has become a buzzword and umbrella term for the rich diversity of human cognitive, communication, and sensory experiences. It has also migrated from a social description to becoming a captivating subject of academic research for many social and life scientists.

Neurodivergence is typically applied to the context of various neurological or developmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as well as learning disabilities, like dyslexia.

Meanwhile, the term “neurotypical” refers to a person whose brain develops and functions similarly to that of most people.

That said, it’s important to clarify that neurodivergence is not a disorder but a way to conceptualize the natural variations in how our brains process information and how we relate to one another.

Someone who is neurodivergent has a brain that might work very similarly to some people's brains, but also very differently, in very specific ways. For instance, they may learn differently from what’s considered typical, or concentrate, behave, communicate, or even think a little differently than most people.

As such, the concept of neurodivergence emphasizes that different ways of thinking come with unique challenges and unique strengths.

In 2017, Harvard Business Review published “Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage,” which highlights many values of hiring neurodiverse employees. It discusses how neurodiverse individuals may have a unique ability to recognize obscure patterns in data, understand complex mathematics, or memorize intricate details. Furthermore, neurodiverse people might have boundless creativity or an unmatched level of concentration.

Johns Hopkins University adds to that last bit in a 2022 article when they point out that,

“Paired with their predisposition for pattern recognition and memorization, that different-ness in brain function/development allots a level of creativity and creative insight exclusive to the neurodiverse population.”

However, we still aren’t grasping the full breadth of neurodiversity. After all, the neurodivergent umbrella covers far more than those with neurological, learning, or developmental conditions.

Broadening the Umbrella

Given our preference for simplification and binary thinking, it’s easy to default to assuming there is a distinct line between people who are considered neurodivergent and those who are considered neurotypical. Or, in other words, we like to think a person either is or isn’t neurodivergent.

Such a reduction may seem straightforward — a person either has or doesn’t have neurological, learning, or developmental conditions, diagnosed or not.

But we are a complex species, with multiple traits rooted in our neurological structures and mechanisms; as such, neurodiversity is multidimensional, and the line supposedly separating neurotypical and neurodivergent is fuzzy at best.

Take, for example, left-handedness. It’s estimated that only about 10 percent of the global human population is left-handed, which has been linked to atypical brain lateralization. Therefore, being left-handed is a form of neurodiversity.

Left-handed people have been and sometimes still are discriminated against or stigmatized due to their atypicality. However, these days, especially in the West, being left-handed rarely elicits any social exclusion and isn’t viewed as a big deal.

Instead, hand-dominance has been normalized to the point that many wouldn’t even consider the left-handed population part of the neurodiverse population, which is precisely why left-handedness is the perfect example of what the neurodiversity movement is trying to get across: it shows the link between neurodiversity and dynamic social norms.

Learning about neurodiversity is about revealing the strengths of human diversity and realizing that individuals who learn, think, conceptualize, concentrate, process, behave, or communicate differently than most people have unique talents that can increase innovation and help improve society as a whole.

In that sense, we could expand the neurodiversity umbrella even further in the future, in my opinion, by including the diversity of how our brains present our minds or thoughts to us.

For instance, an estimated 4 percent of people have synesthesia, in which some of their senses are linked or merged, due to increased hyperconnectivity in their brains.

Meanwhile, about 4 percent of people have aphantasia, which means they can’t or struggle to visualize in their “mind’s eye.” And then there’s the estimated 5 to 10 percent of people with anendophasia, which is when they don’t experience an internal monologue.

And to complicate things further, all three concepts — synesthesia, aphantasia, and anendophasia — are spectrums in their own right, each with its own strengths and struggles we’re just starting to learn about.

Just the Beginning

Over the last two decades, neurodiversity has achieved what few concepts have — becoming both culturally and scientifically popular.

Culturally, neurodivergence is a buzzword. There are online personality test-type quizzes that claim to reveal whether someone is neurodivergent or neurotypical. Then there are pop culture sites like Buzzfeed that publish articles with headlines like: “Neurodivergent People Are Sharing The Quiet, Everyday Realities Neurotypical People Never Notice.”

Meanwhile, scientists across many fields are also intrigued by neurodivergence and have explored it from multiple perspectives, including social science, medicine, neuroscience, and evolutionary science.

Now, the combination of social awareness and scientific research dedicated to exploring and investigating neurodiversity is challenging the traditional medical understanding of cognitive variations as disorders or disabilities. Instead, we — the public and scientists — are discovering that to be different is, in a sense, to be normal.

Perspective Shift

I’ve never been diagnosed with any neurological, learning, or developmental conditions, though I suspect I’m dyslexic to a degree. Still, I have been told my entire life that I’m “different” or that there’s “just something about” me that no one can pinpoint. And since “neurodivergence” became a buzzword, I’ve had several friends and family members use it to describe me — though any specific reasons still elude them.

I’m just as confused as any of them as to what supposedly makes me different, because, in my opinion, we’re all different. We have unique experiences, curiosities, priorities, and traumas that we engage with in our own ways, shaping our perspective on the world.

I guess I view it as that quote by Margaret Mead, “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” I am unique, just as you are. And I believe that normality is subjective, like umwelt.

Regardless of whether or not I’m neurodivergent, I’m ecstatic that researchers are exploring the concept. I’ve long said that diversity is one of our species' most powerful and successful survival tools.

We’re a fascinating species in that we often strive for normality, while being collectively skeptical of so-called “outliers” in society, and are instinctually wary of things and people that are different from what we know or are used to.

At the same time, we view authenticity as refreshing, are fascinated by society’s black sheep, and embrace quirkiness in others. Though I suppose that’s the key, isn’t it? We celebrate such uniqueness in others while often hiding or masking the aspects of ourselves that make us individuals in an attempt to be “normal,” or like everyone else.

But I think we should celebrate our differences, as learning from each other leads to countless positive knock-on effects.

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Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash