What is Neurodiversity?

Neurodiversity means the variation that naturally occurs in human brains. We all have differences in the way our brains function.

There are ways of thinking and processing information that are thought of as more usual, or ‘typical’. People with brains that function like this are sometimes referred to as neurotypical.

Society tends to be set up to suit people with neurotypical thinking better, as then it works for the majority of people.

Having a form of neurodiversity that is less common, such as dyslexia, dyslcalculia, autism or ADHD, can be referred to as neurodivergence in that it’s a form of thinking and processing information that is different (diverges) from the norm.

People with these forms of neurodiversity can find aspects of everyday living difficult due to society being poorly suited to their ways of thinking and processing. All forms of neurodiversity come with positives though and if a person can find a way to get around their difficulties and use these positive, they can have an extremely positive future.

Even if someone has a neurodivergence, for example dyslexic thinking, they may be very different to others with the same type of neurodivergence. Brains are extremely complex and there are lots of factors, such as environment and genetics, that come together to determine how we process information. This means that it’s important to get to know a person and not rely on such general terms as dyslexic or autistic to decide how they will act or think.

Labels such as dyslexia are useful as they help us to know what difficulties and strengths a person may be more likely to have and can be used to explain certain behaviours. They are a tool that can be used by the individual and others around them, to help develop a greater understanding of their ways of thinking and how they present themselves.

There are lots of forms of neurodivergence and research has been done into each of them to try to work out how they occur and how any difficulties can be accommodated, so sometimes a diagnosis can help lead us to strategies that may be useful for learning and living.

We are all different and so all neurodiverse, which is why neurodiversity should be celebrated and supported. It makes us stronger, and happier, as a society if we do so.