this episode about neurodiversity is
sponsored by onedrive stick around till
the end of the video to learn more about
it hello brains i talk about
neurodiversity a lot on this channel in
panels add talks but what exactly does
neurodiversity mean
neurodiversity noun is the concept that
there is natural variation in the human
brain that leads to differences in how
we think and behave it's short for
neurological diversity
neurodiversity the term was first coined
in the 1990s by a sociologist named judy
singer who argues that neurological
differences like autism are just that
neurological differences in other words
different brains work differently
neurodiversity exists just like
diversity exists in ethnicity gender and
sexual orientation those of us with adhd
dyslexia dyscalculia dysgraphia
tourette's those who are neurotypical
and those who are autistic all have
brains that are hardwired to work and
learn differently and even brains within
each group are wired differently and
have a spectrum of abilities and while
we can sometimes learn to mask those
differences those differences are still
going to exist and trying to pretend
they don't or being told that they
shouldn't often comes at a high cost to
our sense of self and our mental and
physical well-being often putting our
brain's operating system at higher risk
for the mental health equivalent of
malware such as anxiety or depression
which is why the neurodiversity movement
exists the neurodiversity movement is a
social movement historically led by
autistic self-advocates and other
neurodivergent activists advocating for
the acceptance of the autism spectrum is
reflecting natural variations in the
human brain rather than a disease that
needs to be cured this movement has
grown within the autism community as
well as to other neurodivergent folks hi
i have adhd while neurodiversity
advocates might disagree on some things
and i obviously can't speak for everyone
there are a few key assumptions within
the neurodiversity paradigm one
neurodiversity exists different brains
work differently and have distinct
strengths and weaknesses two
neurodiversity is valuable differences
in how our brains work allow us to come
at things from different perspectives
have vastly different skill sets and
accomplish more than we could if
everyone's brain worked the same way
three the potentially disabling
challenges that those of us who are
neurodivergent face aren't necessarily
inherent to our brains differences but
often a result of the social and
physical environments neural minorities
exist within which is highlighted
perfectly in a blog post about the
concerning condition called
neurotypicality written from an autistic
perspective the blog which is satire
presents a world in which neurotypical
brains are the nearer minorities and
discusses how odd those brains would
seem and the challenges they would face
in an autistic world a personal example
i'm very nearsighted if i didn't live in
a society that provided glasses and
contacts i would be disabled the
neurodiversity movement is a bit
controversial in that it upends some of
how we've thought about these things for
a really long time but most of the
criticisms of the neurodiversity
movement seem to come from
misunderstandings of what it actually is
a lot of critics of the neurodiversity
movement argue that viewing autism as
just a natural variation implies that
autistic people don't need any support
but in response to this criticism one
autism researcher and advocate explains
it well neurodiversity advocates
generally consider autism to be both a
natural variation and disability
advocates therefore concurrently
campaign for acceptance and respect for
autistic people as valuable members of
society and also fight for appropriate
support and services to meet the needs
of the autistic community and the same
is true of most adhd advocates we
recognize that life is hard for us and
there are times where it would be easier
to not have adhd but a lot of what we
struggle with is because of
environmental and social factors and can
be mitigated through creating social and
physical environments that account for
and accommodate neurodiversity that
doesn't mean we reject medical treatment
as a neurodiversity advocate with adhd
i'm working toward a world that
recognizes appreciates and accommodates
neurodiversity i also have a therapist
and take meds acceptance of my brain's
differences and support for the
challenges i face are not mutually
exclusive in fact they both work toward
the same goal a better quality of life
as i've mentioned a couple of times on
this channel i am writing a book this
year which i have never done before and
so i started taking a course on one
dream to learn how to do it one dream is
the rebrand of the great courses plus
and it's designed for curious brains
whenever i want to learn something in
depth i check there first because they
have a ton of courses and anything i
want to watch is included in my
subscription how-tos tutorials
documentaries one dream is where you can
find the answer to pretty much
everything you've ever wondered about
and they're constantly adding new stuff
i've been taking this one specific to
writing creative non-fiction which is
what my book is going to be part memoir
part how to i've already learned a lot
of stuff that has saved me time and made
my writing better the info in the
courses often blows my mind but the
latest thing i'm kind of obsessed with
is i found out i can watch it on my
apple tv which is hooked up to my new
projector so now it feels like i'm
actually in the classroom which is super
cool life-size professors if you don't
have a projector don't worry you can
also watch it on your phone tablet
computer in an actual classroom probably
don't do that it would probably make
your actual teacher sad one dream is
such a convenient way to take a course
because they're taught by experienced
professors but since it's streaming you
can watch it on faster speeds with
subtitles do the exercises that are
relevant to what you're trying to learn
pause it when you get ideas which keeps
happening during my book and rewind it
when you get distracted which is how i
learn best which is great for
neurodivergent brains one dream is
offering a free trial right now and
they're regular supporters of how to
adhd so by supporting them you're also
supporting us if you'd like to try it
out go to onedream.com howtoadhd or
click on the link in the description
below to start your free trial today if
you'd like to learn more about
neurodiversity i've linked some
resources in the description below in
the meantime if you're neurodivergent
neurodiverse a neurominority whatever
term you prefer know that advocating for
your own narrow differences and
appreciating the neurodiversity that
exists in this world paves the way for
others to do the same thank you to my
brain advocates and all my patreon
brains for facilitating this incredible
neuro-diverse community where we can
appreciate each other's challenges and
strengths like subscribe click all the
things and i will see you next video bye
brains
[Music]
you