Someone who is neurodivergent behaves, thinks, and learns differently from those who are neurotypical. This term can be used to describe a person whose brain works differently from what we consider “normal”. This includes people with autism, ADHD, Tourette syndrome, dyslexia, and a variety of other neurodiverse conditions. Neurodivergence is often different from mental health conditions, such as anxiety or depression, because it doesn't suddenly appear in adulthood or after a crucial experience.
However, learning about types of neurodivergence through reputable online resources can be helpful, especially if you think you're neurodivergent, and some people in the neurodivergent community encourage self-diagnosis. Because they are not considered to be like other people, neurodivergent people may have difficulty adapting to society, behaving as expected, or easily adapting to changes. That said, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other types of intellectual and learning disabilities are all current ways of describing neurodivergence. While it's true that some neurodivergent people may need more support than others, functional terms are problematic because they make value judgments about human beings and suggest that some are more valuable members of society than others.
Sometimes, you'll find that people use labels like “low functional” or “very functional” to describe a neurodivergent person. While parents' concern is understandable, a diagnosis of autism or a different type of neurodivergence doesn't mean your child is doomed to failure. So, is ADHD neurodivergent? If you want to learn more about ADHD and neurodiversity, keep reading our guide for parents. You may decide to consider yourself neurodivergent if you don't have a diagnosis but think, behave, or interact in ways that are out of the ordinary.
While one child may show mild neurodivergent traits, another may be significantly affected in all aspects of their life. Experts also believe that several prominent historical figures were neurodivergent based on the evidence of their lives. Many of those who take that position say they are against it because some of the neurodivergents have real medical conditions that require treatment. For people who are neurodivergent from the previous examples, the adaptations were the hiring process and the headphones.
Neurodivergent people can be very different from each other, making it difficult to provide a single list of useful adaptations. However, because there are no medical criteria or definitions for what it means to be neurodivergent, this term can also include other conditions.
