What is neurodiversity?

Neurodiversity is a term used to describe people who are neurodivergent, meaning that their brains function a little differently than what we think of as “typical” brain function. This can include anyone diagnosed with:

• Dyslexia
• ADHD
• Dyspraxia
• Tourette’s
• Dyscalculia
• Autism (and other related diagnoses)

As you can see, the term “neurodiversity” covers a very broad range of experiences. These experiences can be understood as differences in the way the brain makes connections with the world.

It is estimated that about 1 in every 10 people experience some form of neurodiversity. And when you think about it, that’s quite a lot of people.

Think about it this way:

• Imagine yourself in your class at school, college or university.
• Count the number of people around you in bunches of 10.
• Each time you count “10” put a finger up.
• Once you have counted everyone, look at how many fingers you have up.

This number can help give you an idea of what 1 in 10 people looks like in a crowd.

Is neurodiversity a disability?

You may have heard people use the terms “learning difficulty” or “learning disability” to describe the different diagnoses mentioned above. This is how neurodivergence used to be labelled.

However, more recently, people have begun to challenge this way of thinking, instead using the term “neurodivergent”.

Seeing these differences in processing as a disability can cause bias, and it can suggest that neurodivergent people need to be changed or cured. But neurodivergent people are just as “normal” as anyone else. Their brains function in different ways than other people’s brains, but we all have differences that make us unique.

Celebrating differences in this way can reduce stigma against neurodivergent people, and it can help them feel more confident in themselves.

Are there specific topics that you would like us to cover? We would love to hear from you if there are! This is something else you can let us know in the comments.

Want to share some of your own experiences? You can do that here

If you want to talk about any of the issues raised in this article, you can speak to a member of the team by clicking here. We are here between 12pm and 10pm Monday to Friday and between 6pm and 10pm on weekends.

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