What is Neurodiversity?

What is Neurodiversity?

It is the diverse thinking of our brains (some like to say our individuality), no two people are born the same, neurodiversity celebrates that in a simple word.

Below are some visuals to help understand the spectrum of neurodiversity.

What is it like living with Neurodiversity?

All of us in life as we age, grow and change, we always discover who we are,

what makes us the person we are and where our calling is in life. I know that

process may take longer for a person who is Neurodiverse, based on my

experience because I was different to many people around me due to 'weirdness',

intensity, insulting and so many other negative/discomforting aspects and I

never realized how or why I was doing them until I was diagnosed with

Asperger at the age of 9, although not told until I was 13. Even after that, it took

time for me to figure out right from wrong or apply logic and above all get

organized with myself and my life. My involvement in the Autistic community

now, has given me a sense of awareness in knowing that my people (Autistics)

have every right to achieve the greatness they d

esire and accept themselves for

who they are. I am proud to have Asperger because it has given me a great

many things and made me establish the notion, that I am proud of whatever is

happening in my life. I discover myself every day and learn what contributes to

being who I (Vikram Wagh) really am, especially the fact that even if all kinds

of Autism such as Asperger had a cure, I would never take it.

What makes us who we are as Autistics does not make us mentally or physically

sick or impaired or weak individuals who need to be cured with problems that

need to be confronted and resolved. In the simplest of terms, neurodiversity is

no weakness but rather a strength, one that is unique and an individualist form

of human expression that deserves every right to be supported and nurtured.

-Vikram Waugh Xabilities Committee member

If you would like to read more of my musings on everything from movies

and music to writing about my travels around Singapore and beyond,

please visit my personal blog @ https://vikramsworld.com/

The History of the Neurodiversity

With the rate of diagnoses for neurodiverse conditions on the rise this led to heightened

awareness around symptoms and a growing acknowledgement and recognition among the

medical community of neurodiversity as a valid medical condition. This inevitably sparked

conversations about neurodiversity with friends, family members, co-workers, and society

as a whole. The problem was no one knew how to talk about neurodiversity.

It had long been a taboo subject with large parts of society still believing conditions like ADHD were not real and had been invented to excuse poor behaviour in children and parents were to blame for not raising their children properly by imposing boundaries on their behaviour in the home.

As a result, when we first started talking about neurodiversity, we talked about it the wrong

way. Straight away, neurodivergent people were talked about as being ‘different’ and ‘not

normal’ which in contrast, meant neurotypicals were referred to as being ‘normal’. Yet this

label proved problematic as many neurotypicals felt it invalidated the struggles and

challenges they faced in their lives. Just because they weren’t neurodivergent didn’t mean

they didn’t have medical or other conditions that impacted their daily lives and their ability

to interact and participate in the world. To reflect this sentiment, the language soon evolved

in the conversation around neurodiversity and the label ‘normal’ was changed to

‘neurotypical.’

Neurodivergent people were commonly referred to as having ‘invisible disabilities’ which

many found to be offensive and invalidating especially as this fed into the existing beliefs

held by some in society that these conditions were not real. Soon the neurodiverse

community banded together to define their own identity and empower each other. No

longer would they be defined by others outside the community. They would define who

they were for themselves.

The term ‘neurodiverse’ was born.

The umbrella theory.

A easy way of exampling Neurodiversity is through the umbrella theory.

Neurotypical and Neurodiverse people are included under the neurodiversity umbrella.

The Neurodiverse/Neurodivergent umbrella is more detailed (with groups of people with stronger essence of diversity, compared to the typical)

The neurodivergent is an umbrella term refers to the diverse function of the brain, compared to the majority of people whom are called neurotypical, no two brains are the same, not even twins, diversity is our humanity.

Neurodiversity isn’t an illness that needs to be cured; it is a different way of

thinking.

Different. 

Not lesser.

To remove neurodiversity from someone is to take away the air they breathe, due to our Neurodiversity being our individuality, physically, emotionally & some would say spiritually.

Everyone is included on the neurodiversity spectrum, neurodivergent is a spectrum made for those who are diverse to the majority.

Written by Vikram Wagh

Produced and Distributed by Xabilities

Coordinated by Tamara Grant

Published by Aidan McNeely

Edited by Elanor Rawson

Thank you to the Xabilities committee for producing this research.

Xabilities is a team of superpowered Neuro-heroes trying to save the day, one day at a time. We

come from all walks of life and have come together with the same mission, to try to save

people from going through similar struggles that we have all had walking through life as

Neurodivergent people. We are team who love to advocate, create, plan and push boundaries

in all our own ways, to try make more space for people like us to live and thrive within the

world.

We are a team working with pure passion and love for our mission and work alot on our

mission in our own time, because we love to help others. If you love to work you are seeing

coming out of this space, and would like to support us to continue to do the work that we do,

you can donate at the link below, or contact us.

Thank you for your support and keep an eye on the website for upcoming events and meet

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