I just love the growing community of women with ADHD and all other neurodivergent people who are out there standing up to say that brain diversity is natural!
As you probably know if you’re reading this, neurodiversity refers to the fact that there is diversity in the human brain: That not all people fit the socially acceptable way of processing and approaching each other, society, a problem, an issue.
People with ADHD are considered neurodivergent, and so are people with aspergers, autism, auditory processing disorder, dyslexia, sensory processing sensitivity, and a range of other neurological differences.
What’s so wonderful that’s happening now is that society is finally learning to recognize the contributions neurodivergent people have to make – rather than shaming them for acting differently from the cultural norms that dictate the way people approach issues: the way we communicate in communal settings, the way we come up with ideas, the way we talk – the way society recognizes intelligence!
Advocates want brain differences to be recognized and normalized just like other movements that seek to recognize, celebrate, and include those with sexual, gender, racial and other differences.
This isn’t to say that people with neurodivergent brains don’t have challenges. We do. But many of the challenges arise because our society is designed to cater to neurotypicals and expect neurotypical behavior.
Just like enlightened educators offer students lessons tailored to their different learning styles (auditory, visual, kinetic), society can support neurodivergent brains to excel by accommodating them in various ways.
This starts with awareness and education. Once awareness grows, changes can be made on the institutional level: at schools, in workplaces, public meetings, and backyards.
Here are a few of the ways society can begin to accommodate the millions of neurodivergent people whose contributions to society have been lost to ignorance:
-Offer flexible seating at work.
-Offer quiet workspaces that limit distractions and/or allow telecommuting for those needs.
-Allow earphones for those who concentrate best with music blasting.
-Offer flexible work schedules.
-Allow missing a meeting when someone with time blindness is hyperfocusing.
-Institute some kind of play or exercise time at work to cultivate a free flow of ideas.
-Become open to tangential ideas tossed into a conversation, avoiding knee-jerk rejections to how they were interjected.
-Follow up oral instructions with written memos.
-Periodically holding slow, unstructured periods at meetings.
On Instagram, I follow quite a few women who are flying their neurodivergent flags. Check them out!
