Hello, and welcome back to The Autistic Writer. One of the barriers to social acceptance of autistic people is the way we use words and terminology to discuss autism. There are many examples of technical terms with very specific meanings that are used and repeated out of context by people who are unaware of the appropriate definitions. I’ve already covered some examples in previous articles, notably autistic burnout and the autism spectrum. Today, I’m going to examine two other terms related to autism and to the wider neurodivergent community. Or should that be the wider neurodiverse community? And does the difference matter?
Why Terminology Matters
Language changes all the time. It evolves. Sometimes a word can start off meaning one thing, but as time goes by, it comes to mean something else entirely. But the fact that language evolves should not be used as an excuse to attach any meaning whatsoever to any term, whenever you want. If definitions of words are casually disregarded, language no longer communicates; it becomes simply noise.
Using terms with specific meanings in a way that misrepresents or obscures those meanings creates confusion.
Dictionary Definitions
Although language can and does evolve, current dictionary definitions of words are important. A word is a signpost to a meaning; a shortcut to a concept or idea. Without a definition, a word is just a jumble of letters.
Sometimes, the new words and terms that enter a language are specifically coined to represent a new or emerging concept. Confusion arises when people assume they know what a word means but never actually check, and then they go on to misuse that word. Repeatedly. This is a common problem on social media with the words neurodivergent and neurodiversity, and the misuse of these words is actually undermining the very concepts they represent.
The Origins of Neurodivergent and Neurodiversity
Australian sociologist Judy Singer is widely credited with coining the term neurodiversity in the early 1990s, although it has been claimed that while Singer and others were important in developing the concept of neurodiversity, the word itself first appeared in a publication in 1998, in an article written by journalist Harvey Blume.
When the concept of neurodiversity emerged in the 1990s, it was initially centred on autism, as it was popularised by early online groups of autistic self-advocates.
The concept deliberately shifted attention away from asking whether some brains are “normal” and others (such as the brains of autistic people) “abnormal”, towards recognising that variation in human neurofunctioning is a natural feature of our species.
The word neurodiversity is a portmanteau of neuro (to do with the nervous system or brain) and diversity, for which any good dictionary will include a definition along the lines of this, from the online Cambridge Dictionary:
Diversity: The fact of many different types of things or people being included in something; a range of different things or people.
Definitions
Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity is the concept that human beings have brains that are all different from one another; that there is great diversity of brain, or neuro-, functioning across the human race. It includes everyone.
The Neurodiversity Paradigm
The neurodiversity paradigm challenges the assumption that neurological differences should be understood as deviations from supposedly normal or ideal neurological functioning. Instead, it views neurological variation as a natural feature of humanity.
In the neurodiversity paradigm, all types of neurological functioning fall under the neurodiversity umbrella (even though we might label clusters of functioning as autistic, ADHD, or typical, etc). While the concept of neurodiversity had its roots in autism self-advocacy, the neurodiversity paradigm includes everyone: the full neurological diversity of the whole human race.
Neurodivergent and Neurodivergence
The terms neurodivergent and neurodivergence were coined in 2000 by American autism rights activist Kassiane Asasumasu.
A person who is neurodivergent has brain functioning which is different from (diverges from) what is considered either normal (what is generally expected) or typical (statistically most common) in society.
There are many different types of neurodivergence. Some of these are characteristics a person is born with and which are an innate part of them, such as autism. Any acquired or developed alteration to brain functioning is also considered a neurodivergence. For example, many advocates include suffering from seizures as a result of a traumatic brain injury, developing clinical depression or anxiety, or experiencing traumatic flashbacks, among many other things, as neurodivergences.
Some neurodivergences are obviously detrimental to the wellbeing or functioning of a person, such as epilepsy, for example. Other neurodivergences that are innate and lifelong, such as autism, are the subject of controversy as to whether they are detrimental. Historically, the medical and mental health establishments regarded autism as a disorder, and the current diagnostic terminology still reflects this. However, the neurodiversity paradigm rejects this view, and increasingly, health authorities (for example, the NHS), and advocacy organisations (for example, the NAS) view autism as a difference rather than an illness or disease.
Many neurodivergent people have more than one type of neurodivergence. Such a person is correctly identified as multiply neurodivergent.
Neurotypical
People who are not neurodivergent are considered to be neurotypical.
Neurodiverse
A common mistake with this term is to say a person with more than one type of neurodivergence is neurodiverse. This is wrong. An individual person cannot be neurodiverse; the correct terminology is to say that person has multiple neurodivergences, or is multiply neurodivergent.
A goup or people who have various neurotypes can be neurodiverse; an individual cannot.
A group of autistic people (whose only neurodivergence is autism) is not neurodiverse, because everyone in that group is of the same single neurotype: autistic.
A group of people containing, for example, two autistic people, a neurotypical person, and someone with ADHD, would be considered a neurodiverse group because there are several different neurotypes present.
The Neurodiversity Movement
The neurodiversity movement is broadly considered to be a social justice movement promoting equal rights, social acceptance, and inclusion of neurodivergent people.
The neurodiversity movement is not a formally organised institution; there is no membership or headquarters. There are just many small groups and collections of people, and many individuals, who are considered to make up the movement. It is an organically emerging and growing set of neurodivergent people and their allies around the world who are advocating for change.
Summary of Definitions
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Neurodivergent | Describes an individual whose neurofunctioning differs from what is generally regarded as neurotypical. |
| Neurodivergence | The state or characteristic of being neurodivergent. |
| Multiply neurodivergent | Describes an individual who has more than one form of neurodivergence (for example, someone who is both autistic and has ADHD). |
| Neurodiversity | The concept of natural variation in human neurofunctioning across the population. It includes all neurotypes, both neurodivergent and neurotypical. |
| Neurodiverse | Describes a group, community, workplace, classroom or population that contains a range of different neurotypes. It does not describe an individual. |
| Neurotypical | Describes an individual whose neurofunctioning falls within what is generally regarded as the typical range and who is not considered neurodivergent. |
| Neurodiversity paradigm | A conceptual framework which views neurological variation as a natural and valuable part of human diversity, rather than assuming that differences from the majority are inherently deficits or disorders. |
| Neurodiversity movement | The social movement that advocates for the acceptance, inclusion, accommodation and equal rights of neurodivergent people, drawing on the principles of the neurodiversity paradigm. |
Why Confusing Neurodiversity With Neurodivergence Matters
It is becoming increasingly common in the media, on social media, and in workplaces, for neurodivergence to be referred to as neurodiversity. This is a problem. Below is one example pulled at random from the internet. It is easy to find more.
This screenshot from the PAM group’s website is a particuarly blatant misuse of the terminology, describing neurodiversity as covering a wide range of cognitive differences. Cognitive differences are neurodivergences; they are not the whole of neurodiversity.
As we have seen, neurodiversity includes all neurotypes. It’s not just autistic, ADHD, etc; it includes neurotypical people. Understanding this is vital to understanding the neurodiversity paradigm that, simply put, says neurological differences should not be considered abnormal in a pejorative sense. This leads into the neurodiversity movement, which promotes equality and inclusion for neurodivergent people; equality, that is, alongside the neurotypical majority.
When people start using the word neurodiversity to refer only to people who are neurodivergent, the definition has quietly changed. Instead of referring to the natural variation in neurotypes across the whole of humanity, it becomes a label for those who are different. It returns neurotypicality to the centre of a concept of supposed normality that socially marginalises those who do not fall into that cluster. It fundamentally undermines the neurodiversity paradigm.
Social Media and “the Neurodivergent Experience”
Increasingly on social media, people are posting about things they refer to as the neurodivergent experience. Unfortunately, most of these posts refer to common experiences of autistic or ADHD people. As we have seen, there are many different types of neurodivergence beyond autism and ADHD. There is no authoritative list of all possible neurodivergences, but the selection below gives an idea of the vast scope of neurodivergence, the boundaries of which are still debated in the neurodiversity movement, and by researchers.
| Neurodivergence | Brief definition |
| Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) | Differences in social communication, sensory processing, interests and behaviour. |
| Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) | Differences in attention regulation, impulsivity and executive functioning. |
| Dyslexia | Differences affecting reading and written language processing. |
| Dyscalculia | Differences affecting mathematical understanding and number processing. |
| Dysgraphia | Differences affecting handwriting and written expression. |
| Dyspraxia (Developmental Coordination Disorder) | Differences affecting motor planning and coordination. |
| Tourette syndrome | Neurological condition characterised by motor and vocal tics. |
| Specific Learning Disorder (general category) | Umbrella diagnosis covering dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia. |
| Hyperlexia | Advanced reading ability relative to language comprehension. |
| Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) | Difficulty interpreting auditory information despite normal hearing. |
| Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) | Significant differences in processing sensory information. |
| Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) | Persistent intrusive thoughts and repetitive compulsive behaviours. |
| Epilepsy | Neurological condition involving recurrent seizures. |
| Traumatic brain injury (TBI) | Cognitive changes following physical brain injury. |
| Synaesthesia | Neurological difference in which one sensory experience triggers another, such as seeing sounds as colours. |
Bearing in mind the many different types of neurodivergence, how much sense can it make to talk about one type of experience as “neurodivergent”? Below is a small selection of posts about the so-called neurodivergent experience that have been made publicly available on Facebook:
These three posts describe experiences that many autistic people will recognise. But to call them simply neurodivergent experiences under-extends the use of that term. It’s difficult to imagine how being told you overthink things relates to a neurodivergence like auditory processing disorder, or hyperlexia, for example.
The key point here is not that the experiences described aren’t neurodivergent experiences; it’s that they under-extend the term neurodivergent, which refers to so much more. Every autistic experience is a neurodivergent experience. Every ADHD experience is a neurodivergent experience, and every Tourette’s experience is a neurodivergent experience, and so on. But none of them is the neurodivergent experience.
Describing neurodivergent experience only in terms of, for example, an autistic experience, excludes all other neurodivergent people. The neurodiversity paradigm is the opposite of this; it is inclusive rather than exclusionary.
Conclusion
Language, inevitably, changes over time. When those changes are good, communication improves. But where the change obscures accuracy and understanding, it creates confusion. Sometimes, it causes something worse than confusion.
Where neurodiversity and neurodivergence are concerned, if we lose the distinction between the two terms, we lose more than technical accuracy. We lose a powerful tool for discussing human diversity, equality, and social inclusion.
The irony of conflating neurodiversity with neurodivergence is that it restores to prominence an idea that the neurodiversity paradigm was created to dispel: that there is only one type of normal neurological functioning, and anyone who doesn’t fit in with that is other, and somehow lesser.
Precision in language is not about policing words. It is about preserving distinctions that help us think clearly and communicate accurately.
That’s all for this time. Take care.
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