11 Things People Need To Know About Neurodivergent

There is no such thing as a “neurodivergent condition” or “neurodivergent diagnosis”.

A socio-political identity and term cannot and should not be used to categorise a group of diagnoses or conditions. You cannot diagnose hierarchy, power or systems which is what neurodivergent is naming.

Neurodivergent disrupts psychiatric authority.

Neurodivergent shifts the conversation from pathology to acknowledging how people diverge from normative systems. While “neurodivergent” functions as a descriptor for anyone who diverges from neuronormativity, it also exists as a challenge to psychiatric authority and a way for individuals to resist diagnoses that label us as disordered or mentally ill.

Neurodivergent is a political term, not a clinical one.

Neurodivergent names power, systems and hierarchy and our relationship to it. Neurodivergent is not a medical term, clinical term or another diagnostic category which brings me to my next point.

Neuropsychiatrists, neuroscientists and clinicians are not the arbiters of what counts as neurodivergent or what neurodivergent means.

Why? Because neurodivergent is not a scientific term, a medical term or a term that can be defined by biomedical research, neuroscience or psychology. It is a socio-political term. It has always been a socio-political term.

Neurodivergent isn’t about structural differences in the brain but how people’s functioning diverges from neuronormativity.

Focusing on structural differences shifts the focus from neuronormativity and systems to biology. Are there structural brain differences? Maybe but that’s not the point and it’s not what neurodivergent is naming. It's about acknowledging the diversity of human functioning, acknowledging there are multiple ways to pay attention, learn, process information, communication, feel, express emotion and exist and recognising that neuronormativity creates systems and environments that reinforce a singular way to function. Neurodivergent is about naming how we diverge from neuronormativity, it’s not about explaining why we may or may not diverge.

Not everyone who is neurodivergent experiences the same level of marginalisation and pathologisation.

Some neurodivergent individuals experience less marginalisation (emphasis on less, not none) because their differences are less visible and less disruptive to neuronormativity and more socially acceptable while other neurodivergent individuals may experience more significant marginalisation and face more punishment, more stereotyping, more exclusion. This is why it’s so important to acknowledge and discuss proximity to neuronormativity - the degree to which someone’s functioning aligns with dominant societal and cultural norms. By recognising these dynamics, we can better understand the hierarchies that exist even within neurodivergent communities and work toward solidarity that doesn’t erase the experiences of those who are most marginalised.

Neurodivergent people can still reinforce and perpetuate neuronormativity.

Just like certain members of the LGBTQIA+ community can reinforce cisnormative or heteronormative norms, neurodivergent people are not exempt from reinforcing neuronormative expectations or norms.

Neurodivergent only names whether someone diverges from neuronormativity, it doesn’t necessarily define how someone thinks about their neurodivergence.

Some neurodivergent people find their diverging from neuronormativity to be distressing to the point they want to treat it or fix it - this is valid. Some neurodivergent people view the way they diverge as not distressing and do not seek to treat or fix it - this is also valid.

Neurodivergent includes any form of functioning that diverges from neuronormativity even if it’s not a diagnosis.

Someone can identify as neurodivergent even if they don’t have a diagnosis or no diagnosis names their functioning. I don't mean self-diagnosis is valid (even though it is) I mean that someone who is neurodivergent can reject diagnostic labels altogether and call themselves neurodivergent and someone’s diverging may have no diagnostic label that describes their experience and they are still neurodivergent.

It is not accurate to say “neurodivergent traits” but it is accurate to say “neurodivergent experiences.”

Just like how we wouldn’t say queer traits or LGBTQIA+ traits but we can and do say queer experiences or experiences of LGBTQIA+ people.

Neurodivergent is not, has never been and will never be synonymous with neurodevelopmental condition.

It’s diverging from neuronormativity.

It’s not diverging from neuronormativity since you were born.