They’re very social and make friends easily. The adult learned to draw at the age of 17, and their talent took hard work and time to develop. Person #2: A 40-year-old neurotypical adult.The child is naturally better at drawing without taking classes or accumulating experience. The child’s main ASD-related issues are social problems, unusually high interest in drawing and being strictly dependent on a daily routine. Person #1: A 12-year-old child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who struggles in social situations.In many circumstances, healthcare providers determine a person’s health based on the yes-or-no question, “Is this normal?” Depending on the answer, a person is either sick or well based on symptoms they do or don’t have or things they can or can’t do.Īn example of this in everyday life would be comparing the following two people with a special talent for drawing. Because of that, there’s no definition of “normal” capabilities for the human brain.įor most areas of modern medicine, defining what’s normal is critical. Like a person’s fingerprints, no two brains - not even those of identical twins - are exactly the same. The term “neurodivergent” came from the related term “neurodiversity.” Judy Singer, an Australian sociologist, coined the word “neurodiversity” in 1998 to recognize that everyone’s brain develops in a unique way. The word for people who aren’t neurodivergent is “neurotypical.” That means their strengths and challenges aren't affected by any kind of difference that changes how their brains work.

Instead, it’s a way to describe people using words other than “normal” and “abnormal.” That’s important because there’s no single definition of “normal” for how the human brain works. The possible strengths include better memory, being able to mentally picture three-dimensional (3D) objects easily, the ability to solve complex mathematical calculations in their head, and many more. The possible differences include medical disorders, learning disabilities and other conditions. That means they have different strengths and challenges from people whose brains don’t have those differences.

The term “neurodivergent” describes people whose brain differences affect how their brain works. What does it mean when a person is neurodivergent?

NeuroDiversity by Judy Singer