She expands on her thoughts on neurodiversity in this post.Īlthough Singer’s thesis focused on autism, the term ‘neurodiversity’ is now used more broadly as an umbrella term for people with neurodevelopmental differences. It also comes from lived experience as Singer is autistic herself. Disability Discourse, Mairian Corker Ed., Open University Press, February 1, 1999, p 64įrom this, we see that neurodiversity as a concept comes from a socio-political standpoint rather than a scientific standpoint.
Just as the postmodern era sees every once too solid belief melt into air, even our most taken-for granted assumptions: that we all more or less see, feel, touch, hear, smell, and sort information, in more or less the same way, (unless visibly disabled) – are being dissolved.”
The rise of neurodiversity takes postmodern fragmentation one step further. “For me, the key significance of the Autism Spectrum lies in its call for and anticipation of a politics of neurological diversity, or ‘neurodiversity.’ The neurologically different represent a new addition to the familiar political categories of class/gender/race and will augment the insights of the social model of disability.
It’s also a relatively new term coined in the 1990s by sociologist Judy Singer. Rather than being a concept of division and othering, neurodiversity is all about connection and celebrating that we are a neurodiverse species. Through the neurodiversity paradigm, we embrace there is variation in neurotype within our species and no neurotype is more valid than any other. However, the neurodiversity paradigm and the neurodiversity movement are philosophical and political perspectives that emphasise embracing neurocognitive diversity and challenging the idea that there is a ‘normal’ type of brain. The term itself is neutral and is simply a descriptive term.
Neurodiversity is generally defined as ‘ the diversity of human brains and minds – the infinite variation in neurocognitive functioning within our species.’ It can be thought of as analogous to biodiversity.
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