What is Neurodiversity
What is Neurodiversity
We like to say Neurodiversity is this big, beautiful umbrella word that encompasses many cognitive disabilities like ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Sensory Processing Disorder, Down Syndrome and many others. It means neurodiverse individuals have brains that just work differently, certainly not LESS.
The idea is that there’s no “correct” way for the brain to work. Instead, there is a wide range of ways that people perceive and respond to the world, and these differences are to be embraced and encouraged. 1
Neurodiversity was coined in the 1990s to fight stigma against people with autism, as well as ADHD and learning differences like dyslexia. It’s grown into a movement to support people who are neurodivergent — outside of the mainstream in the way their brains work — and to focus on developing their strengths and talents.
The movement acknowledges that autism, ADHD and learning differences do cause impairment. That is, they can create obstacles that get in the way of neurodiverse people doing the things they want to do, and treatment should help them reduce symptoms that interfere with their goals.
1 Child Mind Institute, childmind.org
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism is a neurological developmental condition, characterized by repetitive patterns of behavior and difficulties with social communication. Struggling to deal with change, mandatory actions, or other points of view can be elements of this learning difference.
No definition can truly capture the range of characteristics people on the autistic spectrum experience in a world often found to be "chaotic and illogical."
There are many autistic people who have behavioral and communicative differences, but their intelligence is not impacted by their neurodivergence.
Boys are four times more likely to have autism than girls
Sensory Processing Disorder
Kids with sensory processing issues behave in ways that their parents often find confusing. They might react strongly to loud noises or bright lights or complain that their clothes are uncomfortable. They may be clumsy or have trouble with fine motor skills like fastening buttons. Some kids show extreme behaviors like screaming when their face gets wet.
These behaviors happen because the child is having trouble processing the information they receive from their senses. In addition to the traditional five senses, there are also two internal senses that give us information about movement and where our body is in space. Hyposensitive kids need more sensory stimulation. They often love to move around and crash into things. Hypersensitive kids avoid strong sensory stimulation and get overwhelmed easily.
Attention Deficit Disorder (Adhd)
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects the nervous system, including the brain, during development from childhood to adulthood. People with ADHD can experience impulsivity, hyperactivity, distractedness, and difficulty following instructions and completing tasks.
Research shows that approx 41% - 55% of families with one child with ADHD, have one parent with the learning difference too.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. It can also include challenges with information processing, short-term memory and timekeeping. However, these challenges don’t stem from a deficiency in language, word processing or motor control, they are the consequences of a unique brain processing function. That means people with dyslexia often have a broad range of cognitive features and strengths too.
There are 5 Types of Dyslexia: Rapid-Naming, Auditory, Phonological, Surface Level and Visual
Dysgraphia
Dysgraphia is a specific learning disability that affects written expression. Dysgraphia can appear as difficulties with spelling, poor handwriting and trouble putting thoughts on paper. Dysgraphia can be a language based, and/or non-language based disorder.
Myth: Messy handwriting is a sure sign of dysgraphia. NO!
Dysgraphia is a lifelong condition — there’s no cure to make it go away.
Dyscalculia
Developmental Dyscalculia is a difficulty understanding number concepts, performing calculations and computations. A person with dyscalculia can also struggle with time, measurement and spatial reasoning. It is not IQ dependent. It is a brain-based learning difference. A person with dyscalculia is extremely creative and great strategic thinkers. They are also great at problem solving.
As kids get older, they might have trouble remembering numbers (like zip codes or game scores) and have a hard time telling left from right or figuring out distances. Other signs include struggling with things like making changes, reading clocks, or figuring out how long a task will take.
Dyspraxia
Dyspraxia is a specific learning difficulty affecting coordination, movement, balance and organization abilities. Motor difficulties include poor hand to eye coordination and spatial awareness, which can make it difficult for people with dyspraxia to carry out everyday functions such as writing.
This neurodivergence often exhibits similar characteristics with other neurodivergent conditions, particularly Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD, particularly in the areas of short-term memory, concentration, and social interaction.
Prader-Willi Syndrome
This is a rare genetic disorder that results in a number of physical, mental and behavioral problems. A key feature of Prader-Willi syndrome is a constant sense of hunger that usually begins at about 2 years of age. People with Prader-Willi syndrome want to eat constantly because they never feel full (hyperphagia), and they usually have trouble controlling their weight. Many complications of Prader-Willi syndrome are due to obesity.
Occurs in approximately one out of every 15,000 births
Social Anxiety
Social anxiety disorder is an intense, persistent fear of being watched and judged by others. This fear can affect work, school, and other daily activities. It can even make it hard to make and keep friends. A more refined way of looking at neurodivergent as it relates to social anxiety is if the following attributes of yourself and your daily living are affected by the following – attention span, behaviors, communication, learning, mood, movement, sensory sensations, social interactions, and time management. All-in-all, advocates categorize anxiety as neurodivergent since it defines the brain’s functioning as atypical.
Tourette Syndrome
Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement tics and at least one vocal tic. Common tics are blinking, coughing, throat clearing, sniffing, and facial movements.
Less than 10 percent of people with TS swear, which is known as coprolalia.
Williams Syndrome
Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic condition that is present at birth and can affect anyone. It is characterized by medical problems, including cardiovascular disease, developmental delays, and learning challenges. These often occur side by side with striking verbal abilities, highly social personalities, and an affinity for music. WS occurs equally in males and females and in all cultures worldwide.
A symptom of Williams syndrome is unique physical characteristics that are present when your child is born including: Full cheeks, Large ears, Prominent lips, Short stature, Small jaw. Upturned nose, Vertical skin folds that cover the inner corner of the eyes (epicanthal folds) and a Wide mouth.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common mental health condition where a person has obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. Children who have OCD have upsetting fears or thoughts that they are overwhelmed by, and they feel driven to repeat certain actions or rituals to make them stop. Unwanted thoughts are called obsessions, and the rituals they perform are called compulsions. For instance, a child might be plagued by worries that things around them are dirty and will make them sick, so they feel driven to wash their hands repeatedly, sometimes until their skin is raw and bleeding. Or a child may be tortured by worries that a parent will be hurt in a car accident and feel driven to touch something a certain number of times to prevent that from happening.
Synesthesia
Synesthesia is when your brain routes sensory information through multiple unrelated senses, causing you to experience more than one sense simultaneously. Some examples include tasting words or linking colors to numbers and letters. (e.g., every time you see the letter A, you see it in red). People who have developmental synesthesia are “neurodivergent.” That means their brain developed and works in a way that’s different from “neurotypical” people, whose brains developed and work as expected.
Experts can’t yet fully explain why this happens, but they suspect it may involve multiple factors: brain development, brain structure and genetics.
Irlen Syndrome
Irlen syndrome is a perceptual processing disorder. It is not an optical problem. It is a problem with the brain’s ability to process visual information. This problem tends to run in families and is not currently identified by standardized educational, psychological, optometric, or medical tests. This problem can manifest itself differently for each individual. Irlen Syndrome is not remediable and is often a lifetime barrier to learning and performance.
SIGNS OF IRLEN SYNDROME: Light Sensitivity, Reading Problems,Headaches and Migraines, Attention and Concentration Problems, Strain and Fatigue, Problems with Depth Perception, Print or Environmental Distortions.
Irlen Syndrome is present in a variety of populations, including individuals identified with reading and learning difficulties, low motivation, attention deficit disorder (ADHD), discipline problems, headaches and migraines, autism, and traumatic brain injury. While more common in populations with specific difficulties, such as reading problems and ADHD, even gifted and highly successful individuals can be impacted by this issue – often working harder and suffering more than necessary to succeed.
46% Individuals with reading or learning difficulties, including dyslexia
35% Individuals who have suffered TBI or concussion
33% Individuals on the autism spectrum
33% Individuals with attention and concentration problems, including ADHD.
Hyperlexia
Hyperlexia is when a child starts reading early and surprisingly beyond their expected ability. It's often accompanied by an obsessive interest in letters and numbers, which develops as an infant. Hyperlexia is often, but not always, part of the autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
A child with hyperlexia might figure out how to decode or sound out words very quickly, but not understand or comprehend most of what they’re reading. Unlike a child who is a gifted reader, a child with hyperlexia will have communication or speaking skills that are below their age level. Some kids even have hyperlexia in more than one language but have below average communication skills.
Not all people with hyperlexia have autism.
Approximately 84% of children with hyperlexia have autism.
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