I’m officially working on my next book!!! My first book was about NeuroDiversity in the workplace. This time I’m writing about NeuroDiversity, Inclusion, and Equity in the wider world.
Here’s a sneak peak of a very rough draft of some of the ideas. I will be discussing in my next book on NeuroDivergence and NeuroDiversity.
Intro to “The Problem”
Many of humanity’s interpersonal problems stem from the fact that most of us (falsely) assume that everyone experiences the world as we do.
Many of us believe (the lie) that we all have the same abilities and ways of communicating, thinking, processing, and experiencing the world around us (through information, our emotions, identity, internal world, sensory, and motor input).
While most people assume that we’re “all the same,” nothing could be further from the truth.
In truth, human brains and nervous systems can vary in many ways, creating diversity from mind to mind. While some medians and averages exist, many paths to human variance and divergence (including NeuroDivergence) exist.The fact that these differences are not commonly understood is “the problem.”
What does it mean to be NeuroDivergent?
Kassiane Asasumasu originally coined the term Neurodivergent.
In coining Neurodivergent, Kassiane Asasumasu made a point to note that “Neurodivergent is a term of inclusion NOT a term of exclusion” – defining NeuroDivergent people as “those whose neurocognitive functioning diverges from dominant societal norms.“
In another instance, Kassiane said, “Neurodivergent refers to neurologically divergent from typical.”
I aim to build on this knowledge, respecting the original goal (of inclusion and not exclusion).
No two humans will have the exact same experience of the world.
Despite being a NeuroDivergent Person myself (someone who, by definition, diverges from the average), even I failed to understand how different human brains and experiences can be from person to person for most of my life.
Because I now know that we all have diverse minds and nervous systems (that causes each of us to experience the world around us differently from one another), I no longer see myself as “broken,” “bad,” or “other” (like I once did). I see myself as part of a NeuroDiverse human collective.
Back before learning about my NeuroDivergent mind, I’d lived my entire life (up until the age of 29) falsely assuming we all experience our internal and external worlds the same way. This wholly erased my own reality, but I didn’t know this erasure was happening to me.
Not understanding my mind, I used people around me whose minds differed from mine as the “model of success.” This meant I frequently set myself up for failure because the expectations placed upon me by my self and others were often completely unfair (due to how little support I had to meet my needs, thanks to not having a language to describe them).
There is no “one way” to be human.
Our differences are not wrong. They are a natural and essential variance in the human experience.
There is no “one way” for all (or even most) humans to experience the world (similarly, there is no “right,” “wrong,” “good,” or “bad” way either). These binary ideas (good, bad, right, and wrong) are too black and white to encapsulate the entire vastness of the human experience because, in reality, people are much more nuanced.
Our belief (that people must be one thing or the other), combined with an inability to truly see, understand, and appreciate our differences, hinders us, causing us to treat one another poorly (due to the assumptions we make, presuming we should “treat others how we want to be treated“—which only works if others want to be treated as we do). However, I do not wish to be treated “how YOU want to be treated.”
I want to be treated how I want to be treated, which means getting to know and understanding me and my needs—instead of assuming my needs are the same as yours or some other NeuroDivergent Person.
Unfortunately, many people have a habit of assuming instead of asking people about their needs. This can lead those with wonderful intentions to cause significant harm (due to a poor understanding of how different our individual needs and experiences can be).
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