6 facts I wish people understood about neurodiversity

 1. Being made to feel different leaves an impact

According to research;

• learners with learning and thinking differences are 31% more likely to be bullied than their peers
• 65% of adults with dyslexia have experienced symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from trauma experienced at school

There are many articles and studies that demonstrate the link between trauma and learning. As a neurodivergent person, from my own experience I can relate this back to being made to feel different.

In grade 3 I was placed into a special education program due to remedial struggles I'd been having in school. When I told my friends I was going into this classroom they told me they didn’t want to be friends with anyone who was in the ‘stupid class’. I think this was my first experience with discrimination for being different (and have continued to experience this throughout my life). This and the bullying that proceeded, are some of the reasons I began to self isolate at around the age of 9-10 years old. 

In high school I was also placed in a Resource room (a separate setting where a special education program is delivered). I could only apply to basic level courses. Fortunately for me my Resource teacher was fantastic and very supportive of my learning endeavors. When the time came, she and my father advocated for me to get into general level classes. This was largely because of my high achievements in Industrial Arts, where I was obtaining a 90% average. But, it was quite the battle.

We were called to a general meeting to plead our case against a board of around 6 people. This consisted of the Principal, Vice Principal, and a psychologist amongst others. There appeared to be a great deal of concern that should I fail a course that this would be quite traumatizing for me and be very detrimental to my success. The reality, however, was that it was traumatizing for me to be made to feel different. Eventually, I was given permission to go into general level courses which made me feel fantastic. 

Today, 7 out of 10 kids with IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) for learning disabilities spend 80% or more of the school day in general education classrooms. This is a great step towards inclusion. But there’s still a long way to go…

2. Our goal should be to enable, not disable

Often, neurodivergent people are being forced to learn, work and behave like someone who is neurotypical. This can disable our unique gifts, and all the advantages that come with being neurodiverse.

For example, while it’s great to see a trend of inclusion in mainstream education, it’s important to note that only 30% of general educators feel strongly that they can successfully teach kids with learning disabilities. This often means that in the school system, we’re being taught to be neurotypical. Because our neurodivergent ways are not understood.

It also means that our environments often focus on the negative aspects, such as the challenges that we can have. It’s important to remember that what you focus on grows consequently. So, if there’s a focus on the negative, that’s what becomes most prominent.

Personally, as someone with ADHD and Dyslexia, I don’t perceive myself as being disabled. I see neurodiversity as a gift with many marketable skills.

However, if I don’t say that I’m disabled, I will not receive funding for or be allowed to have the accommodations that I need. There are many psychological ramifications for being put into this position: the least of which is being forced to describe yourself as broken (at least that’s how it feels for me). Telling a potential employer that I have dyslexia in an interview also has the added fear of discrimination and not getting hired. Especially since I have been discriminated against in the past.

Better awareness, training, and support are needed so that diverse learners and workers can thrive in general education classrooms, and the world of work. By normalizing different ways of learning and working, we can create environments that are universally designed for all. In such environments, support such as inclusive technology would be available for everyone - and that would be a much more welcoming and comfortable experience for someone like me.

3. We must remove neurotypical expectations

While I believe reading, writing, and arithmetic are all very important and necessary skills to acquire, I do not believe that learning has to adhere to a strict time schedule based on neurotypical expectations. As a teacher, I have the capacity to teach children all of those skills at any point in their lives, but it is exceedingly difficult to help a student regain their self-esteem when it is lost. And, contrary to popular belief, teaching a child to read does not improve self-esteem. We need to eliminate the idea that kids are required to be at a certain level of proficiency at a certain time.

In my opinion, that line of thinking has more to do with stakeholders than it does for children. Quite frankly, it can cause trauma to children both directly and indirectly. Through the pressure placed on them, and the bullying they may receive as a result of being centered out as being different. As well as through the messaging that somehow these children are lesser-than because they struggle remedially or with math. I think it’s very important that kids learn these skills, but not at the expense of their mental health or psychological safety. Remember, in regards to learning reading, it’s a dance, not a race.

Similarly, in the workplace there’s often a focus on grammar, spelling and communication. Too often, we see requirements such as ‘must have excellent communication skills’ written in job descriptions. Someone who is neurodiverse may not have the confidence to apply because they do not view their reading and writing skills in this way - even though they may have excellent verbal communication. This places a barrier to the workplace before we can even get in the door.

Rather than placing a focus on perfectionism when it comes to reading and writing skills, let’s embrace the unique skills the neurodiverse can bring. And instead of leading with neurotypical expectations, you can support our journey with tools such as technology. Technology exists to help us to do everything from grammar, to reading and writing, and math. Let’s embrace it.

4. We should take a growth mindset approach

Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, encourages dog owners to use calm and assertive energy when training their dogs. He also constantly reminds us that dogs aren’t people. You have to watch very closely to see that you’re not reinforcing behaviors you don’t want. I think the same thing is true with children, particularly the neurodiverse. We must be mindful of our interactions.

Research has also shown that the neurodiverse show greater emotional reactivity than the neurotypical. While this often means higher emotional intelligence and empathy in social relationships, it can also mean that the neurodiverse are detecting emotional cues differently from neurotypical individuals.

Many teachers are neurotypical and therefore have neurotypical experiences. So when they try to communicate with and educate neurodiverse students, sometimes it gets lost in translation. They encourage the very outcomes they’re trying to avoid. For example, a red pen is often used to identify mistakes. For someone like me, with dyslexia, this can reinforce the feeling of failure. The pen in combination with writing can bring back strong emotions that reinforce the idea or feeling of being broken. This inhibits me from wanting to do the writing process and creates one hell of an internal battle. 

Part of the reason a neurodiverse individual presents differently is because their volume is turned up a little more than a neurotypical. If you will, they perceive the world more intensely than a neurotypical, who has a tendency to want to turn down the volume. For example, the neurodiverse can often be more sensitive to sensory stimuli. To put this into context, the average individual sees 150 images a second whereas the average dyslexic sees 1500 to 4000 images a second. If there’s too much noise, we might not be able to process the information that’s being presented to us and loud noises can be irritating.

5. Neurodiversity must be understood

Unfortunately, for a long time neurodiversity has been largely misunderstood. There’s been a language of broken (and blame) in regards to how neurodivergence has been described through the neurotypical lens, which is juxtaposed to our gifts and abilities

It can also represent: interrupting conversations because we have a lot we want to get out and we're worried we might forget. Or, misinterpreting social cues. 

This has the potential to create suspicion, or people will make up things in their minds to make sense of what they're seeing. When we have accommodations in place, it can create jealousy amongst our classmates and colleagues. We have an invisible difference that can perplex teachers and colleagues. The result can be unconscious bias, or conscious bullying for that matter. 

If we can raise awareness of what it means to be neurodiverse, alongside our strengths and abilities, the world would be a more neuro-inclusive place.

The first is what I like to call popcorn thinking. When I’m given a topic to consider, my brain starts to act like popcorn. I start coming up with all sorts of ideas rapidly. But, unfortunately my thoughts can have a tendency to go all over the place. I often need a strategy to help me focus my thoughts. Despite the challenges I can have, the advantage is that I’m highly curious, highly creative and have a knack for exploration. 

The next analogy I have is that of a fox with a head cold who’s chasing after a rabbit. I run down every rabbit hole I see, and sure I chase up all sorts of good and bad stuff, and lots of times I still get the rabbit, but I’m exhausted! Again, the advantage of this is that I’m highly driven and focused on success. But I may need some support to recuperate.

I hope these two analogies shed some light on what it feels like to be neurodiverse. And can help people to understand and accept the need for strategies, resources and tools that help us to manage and capitalize on our gifts.

When it came to reading, writing and mathematical skills, however, I scored quite low. This is consistent with dyslexia. Understandably, this is perplexing for teachers who see a tremendously bright young student that strangely enough struggles with reading, writing, and arithmetic (also, limiting for teachers is that they tend to focus through the lens of a neurotypical individual). Unfortunately the methods which most teachers use to evaluate students are not true measures of a dyslexic’s abilities. Similarly, in the workplace, traditional hiring processes often don’t allow us to display our strengths in the best way.

This well-known saying comes to mind - “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

The neurodiverse tend to display right-brain thinking. Creativity is linked to the right side of the brain, as well as emotions. While we have the capacity to hyper-focus on things that interest us, we also have the tendency to hyper-focus on the negative.

If neurodiversity was recognized, or better yet celebrated, in our everyday environments, our gifts and talents would be able to shine much brighter.