What is Neurodiversity?

Oxford’s English dictionaries define neurodiversity as “the range of differences in individual brain function and behavioral traits, regarded as part of normal variation in the human population (used especially in the context of autistic spectrum disorders).“

Perhaps a more fitting definition would be a celebration of the myriad neurotypes found amongst the human species. For far too long the medical field and society at large have had a negative misunderstanding of neurodiverse individuals who deserve to celebrated just as much as there allistic counterparts.

Neurodiverse Diagnoses: Who Is Neurodivergent?

Agenesis and Dysgenesis of the Corpus Callosum - failure to form or abnormal formation of the Corpus Callosum part of the brain
Prevalence: (ACC) is among the most frequent human brain malformations with an incidence of 0.5–70 in 10,000 (NLM).

Apraxia - inability to perform particular purposive actions, as a result of brain damage
Prevalence: Childhood Apraxia of Speech: 1 child per 1,000 (NLM).

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - a mental condition, beginning in childhood and often persisting into later life, that is characterized by persistent difficulty in maintaining attention and concentration, and is frequently accompanied by hyperactive and impulsive behavior
Prevalence: “ADHD is estimated to affect around 5% of children and 2.5% of adults worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)”

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) - a type of hearing loss caused by something affecting the part of the brain that processes how you hear
Prevalence: 1.94 per 1,000 children (NLM)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) - a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave.
Prevalence: About 1 in 36 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (CDC).

• Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) - a profile on the autism spectrum, involving the avoidance of everyday demands and the use of ‘social’ strategies as part of this avoidance that is anxiety driven
  Prevalence: currently no data to reliably indicate how common it may be

Bipolar Disorder: - a mental illness that causes unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy, activity levels, and concentration.
Prevalence: An estimated 4.4% of U.S. adults experience bipolar disorder at some time in their lives (NIMH).

Borderline Personality Disorder: - a mental illness that severely impacts a person's ability to manage their emotions.
Prevalence: - 1.6% in the general population and 20% in the inpatient psychiatric population (NIMH).

Cerebral Palsy: - a condition marked by impaired muscle coordination (spastic paralysis) and/or other disabilities, typically caused by damage to the brain before or at birth.
Prevalence: - About two to three children out of every 1,000 have Cerebral Palsy (cerebalpalsy.org)

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder - a condition in which children or adolescents experience persistent irritability and anger and frequent, intense temper outbursts.
Prevalence: - Three-month prevalence rates for meeting disruptive mood dysregulation disorder criteria ranged from 0.8% to 3.3% with the highest rate in preschoolers (NLM).

Down Syndrome - a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome.
Prevalence: Down syndrome occurs in about 1 in every 700 babies (CDC).

Dyscalculia - difficulty in performing arithmetical calculations resulting from damage to the brain
Prevalence: 3–7% of all children, adolescents, and adults suffer from dyscalculia.

Dysgraphia - inability to write coherently, as a symptom of a neurological condition or as an aspect of a learning disability.
Prevalence: Between 10% and 30% of children experience difficulty in writing, although the exact prevalence depends on the definition of dysgraphia (NIH).

Dyslexia - a condition of neurodevelopmental origin that mainly affects the ease with which a person reads, writes, and spells, typically recognized as a specific learning disorder in children
Prevalence: Dyslexia affects 20 percent of the US population and represents 80–90 percent of all those with learning disabilities (Yale).

Dyspraxia - difficulty in performing coordinated movements, often associated with a neurodevelopmental condition in children (developmental coordination disorder)
Prevalence: up to 6% of the population, with up to 2% being severely affected (Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities).

Echolalia - repetition of words just spoken by another person, often occurring as a symptom of ASD.
Prevalence: The prevalence of echolalia is unclear as it is a heterogeneous symptom seen in various pathological states (NIH).

Epilepsy and seizure disorders - a neurological disorder marked by sudden recurrent episodes of sensory disturbance, loss of consciousness, or convulsions, associated with abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
Prevalence: estimated proportion of the general population with active epilepsy at a given time is between 4 and 10 per 1000 people. Globally, an estimated 5 million people are diagnosed with epilepsy each year (WHO).

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) are a group of conditions that can occur in a person who was exposed to alcohol before birth.
Prevalence: Using medical and other records, CDC studies have identified about 1 infant with FAS for every 1,000 live births in certain areas of the United States (CDC).

Generalized Anxiety Disorder -a mental condition characterized by excessive or unrealistic anxiety about two or more aspects of life (work, social relationships, financial matters, etc.), accompanied by symptoms such as increased muscle tension, impaired concentration, and insomnia.
Prevalence: An estimated 2.7% of U.S. adults had generalized anxiety disorder in the past year (NIMH).

Hyperlexia - advanced and unexpected reading skills and abilities in children way beyond their chronological age
Prevalence: Among autistic children, about 6% to 14% have hyperlexia

Irlen Syndrome - a perceptual processing disorder that affects the brain's ability to process visual information because of light sensitivity.
Prevalence: Around 50% of children and adults with reading, learning, or attention problems have Irlen Syndrome (Irlen.com).

Misophonia - a strong dislike or hatred of certain sounds
Prevalence: estimated to be close to 20% of the population (NIH)

Multiple sclerosis - a chronic, typically progressive disease involving damage to the sheaths of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, whose symptoms may include numbness, impairment of speech and of muscular coordination, blurred vision, and severe fatigue.
Prevalence: over 1.8 million people have MS worldwide (WHO).

Obsessive-Compulsive disorder - a long-lasting disorder in which a person experiences uncontrollable and recurring thoughts (obsessions), engages in repetitive behaviors (compulsions), or both.
Prevalence: lifetime prevalence of OCD among U.S. adults was 2.3% (NIMH)

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) - a frequent and ongoing pattern of anger, irritability, arguing and defiance toward parents and other authority figures.
Prevalence: reported to affect between 2% and 16% of children and adolescents in the general population.

Parkinson’s Disease - a progressive disease of the nervous system marked by tremor, muscular rigidity, and slow, imprecise movement, chiefly affecting middle-aged and elderly people. It is associated with degeneration of the basal ganglia of the brain and a deficiency of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
Prevalence: Nearly 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with PD each year (Parkinson.org).

Slow Processing Speed - when people need a lot of time to take in, make sense of, and respond to information.
Prevalence: The prevalence of Slow Processing Speed is unclear

Stammering - speaking with sudden involuntary pauses and a tendency to repeat the initial letters of words.
Prevalence: The commonly used statistic is that 1% of the adult population stammers and 5% of children stammer at some point (Stamma.org).

Synesthesia - the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body.
Prevalence: Synesthesia is a condition present in 2%–4% of the population

Tourette’s Syndrome - a disorder that involves repetitive movements or unwanted sounds (tics) that can't be easily controlled.
Prevalence: 1 out of every 333 (0.3%) children 3–17 years of age in the United States (CDC).

Traumatic Brain Injury - a form of acquired brain injury, occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain.
Prevalence: There were approximately 214,110 TBI-related hospitalizations in 2020 (CDC).

Neurodiversity: There is no normal

Neurodiversity refers to the diversity of human brains and minds, encompassing the wide range of neurological differences and variations in cognitive functioning found within the population.

The concept of neurodiversity emphasizes that these variations are a normal and valuable part of human diversity, contributing to different perspectives, talents, and ways of processing information.

It advocates for acceptance, understanding, and respect for individuals with diverse neurological traits, promoting inclusivity and accommodating these differences rather than seeking to cure or normalize them.

Trips to the grocery store can be significantly easier with social scripts for individuals who may become dysregulated, overwhelmed, and anxious in certain social situations.

Attempts from society to be more conscientious and understanding that a trip to the grocery store is the not the easiest tasks for some will equally aid these individuals.

Understanding and micro-accommodations may seem like an insignificant effort but for some they will mean the world.

Standards of Conduct and Civility are not constructed with neurodivergent people in mind and are antiquated in nature.

Autism diagnoses are horribly skewed by outdated and unresponsive diagnostic criteria that favors white heteronormative males.