Celebrating Neurodiversity

For adults navigating late-diagnosed ADHD, burnout, or sensory overload: how somatic grounding helps when the world isn't built for your brain.

Beyond the language of 'disorder'

It feels more positive, here and now, to be discussing neurodiversity as a term to describe the broad and glorious spectrum of different neurotypes that exist across human populations. The word is celebratory, with ‘diversity’ seen as something to be achieved and delighted in. An acknowledgement of all the different ways that brains can work and that this contributes to the many different skills and traits that make up a well-rounded society. Of course, neurodivergent brains are still described through the language of ‘disorder’ and still, in many cases require support, be it medical or psychoeducational. I’ve been reframing the language of ‘disorder’ for myself by looking at some of the traits and tendencies that can present challenges, and how they often seem to have a ‘mirror’ trait that is an advantage (like the struggle to think clearly through a task in ordered steps, vs. the creative thinking that gave me the edge in those 4am essays). Still, a society that, just like the school system I remember, is not designed with neurodivergent experiences in mind can be an exhausting place to navigate.