What Does It Mean to Be Neurodivergent?

Neurodivergent is a term used to describe people whose brains function in ways that differ from what is considered typical, often due to ADHD, autism, dyslexia, or other learning or developmental differences.

Neurodivergence isn’t a disorder; it’s a way of understanding the natural variations in how the brain works in processing information and relating to others. The concept also emphasizes that different ways of thinking come with unique strengths and challenges, which is why support and acceptance are so important.

What Does Neurodivergent Mean?

Neurodivergence is the term for when someone’s brain processes, learns, and/or behaves differently from what is considered “typical.”

Formerly considered a problem or abnormality, scientists now understand that neurodivergence isn’t inherently an issue for the individual and that it has a large societal benefit. Not all presentations of neurodivergence are a disability, like synesthesia, but all are a difference in how the brain works.

With this shift, practitioners are no longer treating neurodivergence as inherently an illness. They are instead viewing them as different methods of learning and processing information, some of which become disabilities in an inaccessible and ableist society.

What’s the Difference Between Neurodivergent and Neurotypical?

Neurodiversity is the concept that there are a variety of ways that people’s brains process information, function, and present behaviorally. Rather than thinking there is something wrong or problematic when some people don’t operate similarly to others, neurodiversity embraces all differences.

The concept of neurodiversity recognizes that both brain function and behavioral traits are simply indicators of how diverse the human population is.

The term neurodiversity was coined by autistic sociologist Judy Singer in 1997. Neurodiversity can be divided into two categories: neurotypical and neurodivergent people.

• Neurotypical: Neurotypical refers to someone whose brain functions, behaviors, and processing are considered standard or typical. They may have no idea they are neurotypical because the subject has likely never come up for them before. They hit developmental and behavioral milestones at the standard times and ages and generally move through life without having to wonder if their brains function the same as others’.
• Neurodivergent: Neurodivergence is the term for people whose brains function differently in one or more ways than is considered standard or typical. This may manifest in mild ways that most people would never notice, or in more obvious ways that lead a person to behave differently from what is standard in our society.

Types of Neurodivergence

Because the idea of neurodivergence has grown to encompass a range of consistent ways that some brains work differently than others, it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that there are many different ways neurodivergence manifests.

You may not have heard of all the different types, but chances are you are familiar with some. These are the most common examples.

Autism

Autism is known as a “spectrum disorder” because autistic people range in what autistic traits they have, how these traits present, and their support needs. It previously had many subtypes, such as Asperger’s and pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), but now they are all classified as an autism spectrum disorder.

The term Asperger’s is also no longer accepted in the autistic community due to its origin from a Nazi scientist for use in the field of eugenics.

Autism is a broad set of conditions that may include challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, and speech difficulties that can lead people to communicate via Alternative Augmentative Communication, writing, typing, or sign language instead of verbally.

According to the Autism Self-Advocacy Network, autistic people generally think, process their senses, move, communicate, and socialize in a consistent range of ways that differ from how allistic (non-autistic) people do.

ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is an executive function dysregulation disorder, which means individuals may have difficulties managing their thoughts, attention, behaviors, and emotions.

People with ADHD may:

• Have difficulty with organization
• Be restless
• Seem disinterested or zoned out
• Show inappropriate behavior when experiencing strong emotions

Thanks to their out-of-the-box thinking, people with ADHD are often great problem solvers, may be energetic and “fun,” and are often sensitive to others.

Dyslexia

This form of neurodivergence involves speaking, reading, and writing. Dyslexia is typically associated with misreading, writing, or speaking words or letters out of order, but it encompasses more than that.

For example, it may involve confusion with certain letters, difficulty organizing words into sentences, trouble acquiring a vocabulary or pronouncing words, and/or challenges following directions.

People with dyslexia are often “big picture” thinkers who excel at visual processing. In addition, they tend to have strong spatial awareness and may be very creative.

Other Types

Other types of neurodivergence include:

• Tourette’s
• Dyspraxia
• Synesthesia
• Dyscalculia
• Down syndrome
• Epilepsy

Chronic mental health illnesses are also a form of neurodivergence. This includes conditions such as:

• Bipolar disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Borderline personality disorder
• Anxiety
• Depression

How to Know If You’re Neurodivergent

If you have been diagnosed with any of the above conditions, you would be considered neurodivergent.

• Talk to your doctor: If you have never been formally diagnosed but resonate strongly with the descriptors for one or more types of neurodivergence, you might benefit from seeking a professional to find out for sure.
• Explore the diagnostic criteria: You can learn more about the condition’s descriptions in the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM-5-TR), the tool doctors and mental health professionals use to diagnose mental health conditions.
• Learn from other neurodivergent people: It’s also helpful to explore the lived experiences of people with that presentation of neurodivergence. Self-diagnosis is a valid form of identification, and is often the only accessible diagnostic avenue for many marginalized people.

While neurodivergence is common, many people do not realize they are neurodivergent until they reach adulthood. This can create challenges as people find ways to adapt to the differences in how they think and process information, but it can also be helpful.

For many adults, finding out they have ADHD, autism, or another form of neurodivergence often helps explain things they didn’t understand about themselves previously.

If you have never been diagnosed with any of the above terms and never felt that you had any traits, then chances are you are neurotypical.

Can You Become Neurodivergent?

Many forms of neurodivergence are an innate part of how the brain develops and functions. While these differences may go unrecognized or undiagnosed in childhood, that doesn’t mean they weren’t there; they may have been present from childhood.

Acquired neurological conditions, such as traumatic brain injuries, strokes, and Alzheimer’s disease, can also lead to neurodivergence.

How Common Is Being Neurodivergent?

The exact number of people who are neurodivergent is not known, but looking at the prevalence of conditions linked to neurodiversity can indicate how common it may be.

• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in every 44 eight-year-olds is believed to have autism spectrum disorder, or 2.3% of children in that age group. It is 4.2 times more common in boys than it is in girls, largely due to a patriarchal lack of understanding of how autism presents in minoritized genders.
• The CDC suggests that around 9.4% of all children are diagnosed with ADHD at some point before the age of 18.
• According to the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, dyslexia affects 20% of the population.

What Is It Like to Be Neurodivergent?

There is no one answer to what it’s like to be neurodivergent. There isn’t even an answer to what it’s like to have any kind of specific neurodivergent diagnosis!

People are individual and unique; in the same way that it doesn’t feel the same for all people to have bodies, it doesn’t feel the same for all people with different neurodivergent diagnoses.

Life is experienced differently by all humans, whether their brains function very similarly to the majority of people or very differently.

Where Does the Term ‘Neurodivergent’ Come From?

Like the umbrella term neurodiversity, the word neurodivergent was also coined by sociologist Judy Singer. While originally used to refer specifically to people who are autistic, usage of the term has broadened significantly in years since.

If you’re interested in learning more about what it’s like to be neurodivergent, there is plenty available on the subject!

Books

• Personal stories in books such as “Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s,” “Thinking in Pictures,” and “Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic” are personal accounts of being neurodivergent.
• Fictional books with neurodivergent main characters include “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine,” “Flowers For Algernon,” and “On the Edge of Gone.”
• Nonfiction books about neurodivergence and the future of neurodiversity include “NeuroTribes,” “Neurodiversity: Discovering the Extraordinary Gifts of Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia and Other Brain Differences,” and “Divergent Mind.”

Podcasts

There are podcasts on the topic for those who prefer to listen to materials. These include The Neurodiversity Podcast, Neurodiverging, and Sensory Matters.

Social Media Accounts

If you’d like to diversify your social media feed with neurodivergent voices and advocates, some top choices to follow are:

The Future Of Neurodivergence

As society shifts its understanding of how the brain operates, the way in which we treat those who are neurodivergent will also change. For example, there is much work that has been done to stop treating autism as an illness that must be cured.

Special education is making progress in this arena as well, with approaches becoming centered around how people with assorted neurodivergent tendencies learn best.

Advocacy for neurodiversity acceptance may have begun with autism and how it is managed, but it has grown to include the many different neurodivergent types. The more we accept, affirm, and understand that it’s quite common for brains to work differently, the more easily we can go about accommodating people in ways that work best for them to learn, function, and thrive in society.