One key concept of the NeuroDiversity paradigm is the recognition of the diverse ways in which individuals experience and interact with the world around them. NeuroDiversity also claims that no singular ‘correct way’ of engaging with the world exists, and “no normal brain” exists, which poses the question, “If no normal brain exists”… “do NeuroTypical People exist?”

I firmly believe that the term ‘NeuroTypical’ does not represent humanity’s default state but rather a median or average that our society has been structured to accommodate (at the expense of those of us who are outliers).

Expanding on this, it’s important to understand that the normative average, often termed as NeuroTypical, is a social construct and, therefore, is not a fixed entity but rather an idea influenced by the ever-changing dynamics of time, space, and various other societal norms and hierarchies. This means our very definition of what is “typical,” “acceptable,” and “desirable” is fluid and ever-changing, making it problematic to classify individual people as “average” without examining them in the context of comparison to the communities they currently find themselves in.

Preview from My Upcoming Book based on a Substack Founding Member post from November 29, 2024.

You can read this post on Substack: https://neurodivergentrebel.substack.com/p/do-neurotypical-people-really-exist

Substack, Patreon, and YouTube channel members had access to this video on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. The video’s public release will be Friday, January 3, 2025.

ID: Lyric, a pale skinned nonbinary person with black hair hair with dark green ends and shaved sides, is sitting against a white background.

Transcript:

Lyric Rivera: There’s an idea I’ve been playing around with recently, and before you judge me for what I’m about to say, please, please, please hear me out. Here’s the question that I’ve been asking myself recently, and this is something I’m going to be unpacking in my new book, that I haven’t released the title to just yet, but my question is: Do NeuroTypical people REALLY exist?

If you want to know more, please stay tuned.

 One key concept of the NeuroDiversity paradigm is the recognition of the diverse ways in which individuals experience and interact with the world around them. Another key point in NeuroDiversity is that there is no singular correct way of engaging with the world, and no singular Normal brain truly exists, which poses the question, if no normal brain exists, do NeuroTypical people exist?

Stick with me on this one.

I firmly believe that the term NeuroTypical does not represent humanity’s default state, but rather a median, or an average, that our society has been structured to accommodate, at the expense of those of us who are outliers. Expanding on this, it’s important to understand that the normative average, often termed as NeuroTypical, is a social construct and normal therefore is not a fixed entity, but rather an idea influenced by the ever changing dynamics of time, space, and various other societal norms, and hierarchies. This means our very definition of what is typical, acceptable, and desirable is fluid and ever changing, making it problematic to classify individual people as average without examining the context of comparison to the communities they currently find themselves in.

What would happen if a bunch of Autistic people founded their own island, where only Autistics were allowed to take up residence?

I imagine it could be similar to when I used to travel and speak at conferences that mostly had Autistic attendees, but on a larger scale, of course. When I used to fly out to speak at autism conferences regularly, I was always really amazed by a phenomenon that occurred occurred Quite frequently, when you put a group of Autistic people together with only one or two non-autistic people, it was fascinating to me to witness a non-autistic person suddenly becoming “the awkward one,” once ranked as a minority within a space, especially considering how autism is frequently diagnosed based on assumptions that we are awkward in our engagements with non-autistic people.

Now, though this Autistic island may sound like a paradise to some listening right now, and might be a nice place to visit, and a really interesting social experiment, being segregated long term like this is contradictory to the ideals, and the spirit of NeuroDiversity and Neuro-Inclusion, which encourages those of us with varying brains and NeuroTypes to work together, to support and uplift one another, so that our vast tapestry of strengths and weaknesses will help boost humanity as a whole.

So I’m not going to advocate for segregation, because that’s not inclusion. Segregated systems, one system for “normal,” or “typical” people, and separate pipelines for the “others,” and those who “aren’t normal,” do us all a massive disservice, by isolating and excluding people, simply because we’re not average, which is highly ironic in our society, considering how people are praised, and even worshipped, for not being average, if they can do something their peers consider useful, desirable, or entertaining. In short, many view being atypical as okay, even preferred, if that person has skills that can be exploited. Think Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer as a good example of this.

Typical is relative.

What was considered Ordinary and socially acceptable 500 or even 50 or 100 years ago was very different from today’s standards.

Even in our modern globalized world, social expectations frequently still vary significantly based on cultural context, and it’s crucial that we learn to respect and recognize these differences.

For instance, While avoiding eye contact, a behavior often associated with Autistic people, is frowned upon, in Eurocentric cultures, many other cultures do not prioritize eye contact, and may even perceive it as aggressive, or disrespectful.

Do you know how much effort I’m putting into giving eye contact in this video for those of you that can’t engage with someone unless they are giving eye contact?

It’s really unnatural for me, but I’m doing it for you.

Additionally, though a person may be born, or assumed to be born, NeuroTypically average, any of us can become NeuroDivergent after birth, due to numerous factors, such as trauma, abuse, injuries, or other life events.

While a Neuro-Average person may become NeuroDivergent, if their brain develops, or is pushed to evolve in an atypical way, many of those who are born NeuroDivergent, (such as those who are Autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, hyperlexic, etc.), will not grow up to become NeuroTypically average.

Furthermore, pressuring someone with a lifelong neurodevelopmental difference to ignore their neurology, in favor of acting in a Neuro-Average way that is unnatural to them, also known as NeuroDivergent masking, or camouflaging, can cause that person significant physical and mental harm. Similar to what we see in Queer conversion therapy survivors.

Also, because most of us have been raised without NeuroDiversity as a frame of reference for describing the human experience, there are many NeuroDivergent people in the world today who do not know they are NeuroDivergent, because they haven’t been given a language to describe their experiences.

This doesn’t mean those unnamed NeuroDivergent people aren’t struggling in life, or don’t know they’re different.

I, for example, went the first 29 years of my life not knowing I was Autistic, and my ADHD, though much less of a surprise, wasn’t officially diagnosed until a few years later, when I was in my mid 30s.

Up until my autism diagnosis, a few months shy of my 30th birthday, I, though, Struggling with fitting in and constantly feeling like an alien amongst humans, still assumed I was, and always had been “typical,” as many unidentified NeuroDivergent people do… until my psychologist told me I wasn’t.

Now, I knew I was different because people treated me differently, mocking and scolding all the ways I stood out from them.

I also knew I was different, because I struggled with many of the things that my peers seemed to pick up quickly, like bike riding, socializing, shoe tying, sitting still, and being able to be quiet in class, while also being very skilled in areas my peers weren’t, like art, reading, vocabulary, and computers.

While I knew I was “different,” not having the NeuroDiversity paradigm as a lens, through which to view my differences, meant I believed there was only one “right way to be,” and I was falling short, because anything outside of that “one right way” was flawed.

Viewing NeuroTypical, or Neuro-Average people, as the “default state of humanity” plays into the same flawed social hierarchy that others and stigmatizes NeuroDivergent people and those within the neurominority, a term originally coined by Dr. Nick Walker.

Viewing humanity through the lens of NeuroDiversity means recognizing typical is a social construct, dependent on time, space, and social hierarchies. This means NeuroTypical isn’t necessarily one type of person, that can be statically defined. NeuroTypical is simply a descriptor for someone who happens to be more NeuroTypically privileged, because of being in the neuromajority.

So, do NeuroTypical people exist?

Yes, I do think they exist, but, because typical and average is not something that is going to be static, or the same, everywhere we go, NeuroTypical people likely don’t exist in the way that many people think they do.

What do you think?

This is a concept I’m unpacking in my next book.

While my first book Workplace NeuroDiversity Rising was talking about NeuroDiversity in the workplace, my next book is going to be a more general NeuroDiversity in the wider world book, where I will be unpacking this theory in more detail. I would love to know what you think about this idea that what NeuroTypical is is fluid in the comments below.

My Patreon and Substack subscribers had this video early, in mid December.

This video will actually be coming out in January.

Early release is just a little bit of a thanks to my monetary supporters for making this blog possible. This blog literally is funded by my viewers and would not happen without them.

Without the viewers. So to every single one of you that helps support this blog, whether you are a monetary supporter or you’re someone who is sharing and commenting and engaging, all of you are equally important to the, this blog and I couldn’t do it without you. So I am eternally grateful. Thank you all so much.

I will see you next, next month. I will see you next month. Bye y’all.

The following video is based on a Substack post that was shared with my Founding members on November 29, 2024.

Patreon members, Facebook Subscribers, YouTube channel members, and Substack Subscribers all had access to this video on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. The video’s public release will be Friday, January 3, 2025.

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