Human beings are born with many differences, such as the colour of our eyes, skin and hair. We are all different, having different interests, hobbies, something that we are good at and something that we struggle with. This is recognised as DIVERSITY.

Humans have different types of brains, that we call NEURODIVERSITY.

All brains have natural differences. The most common type of human brain is known as a NEUROTYPICAL brain (NT). That type of brains experiences the world in similar ways. Neurotypical people can understand each other and become close with other similar neurotypical people. However, human brains that are not functioning as the neurotypical brains are called NEURODIVERGENT (ND).

Jim Sinclair, an American writer and activist, was one of the first initiators of the neurodiversity movement in 1993. He said, “Do not mourn for us – ‘It is not possible to separate person from autism’”. As before, autism was seen as disease or more like add on, not as a part of the person.

In 1998, Judy Singer, an Australian sociologist, used the term “neurodiversity” in her paper, published in the Atlantic Monthly. In 1999, she wrote: “The Neurological Different represent a new addition to the political categories of class/gender/race and will augment the insights of the social model of disability.”

At the beginning, neurodiversity was related to autism but now it contains much more.

Most neurodivergent people have a mixture of several types of neurodivergent brains. Neurodivergent people are struggling to navigate the world as the world has been made mostly for neurotypical people. Thus, individuals with neurological differences have difficulties to understand neurotypical people. Neurotypical people had expectations that neurodivergent people needed to change or work harder to fit in into the neurotypical world. Luckily, neurotypical people have started realising that people with neurological differences need help sometimes to do some things.

Examples of some neurodivergent conditions:

• Autism
• Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Tourette syndrome – sudden sounds or movements (tics)
• Dyslexia – learning difficulties affecting reading and writing
• Dyspraxia – learning difficulties affecting movement and coordination
• Dyscalculia – learning difficulties affecting numerical understanding
• Developmental speech disorders
• Pathological demand avoidance (PDA)
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
• Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD)
• Sensory processing disorder (SPD)
• Misophonia
• Synaesthesia

Some mental health disorders, like bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can be also considered as the part of neurodivergent spectrum.

There is no formal list of neurodivergent conditions and there is not a specific rule what to include in neurodivergent category.

Dr Thomas Armstrong, psychologist and education, says that “Neurodiversity includes an exploration of what have thus far been considered mental disorders of neurological origin but that may instead represent alternative forms of natural human difference.” Now, most of us can see that there are different ways of seeing and understanding the world and different ways of doing and learning things. Being neurotypical or being neurodivergent means only being different, not that one is better than another.

Some of the world’s most successful people are neurodivergent people, such as:

• Albert Einstein – scientist
• Steve Jobs – founder of Apple
• Stephen Hawking – theoretical physicist
• Tom Hanks – actor
• Stephen Fry – broadcaster
• Richard Branson – founder of the Virgin brand
• Satoshi Tajiri – Pokemon creator
• Walt Disney – founder of the Disney brand
• Ryan Gosling – actor
• Jamie Oliver - chef
• Ingvar Kamprad – founder of Ikea
• Daniel Radcliffe – actor
• Emma Watson – actor
• Justin Bieber – singer
• will.i.am – musician
• Ellen DeGeneres – television host
• Lewis Hamilton – racing car driver
• Simone Biles – gymnast
• Billie Eilish – singer
• Michael Phelps – swimmer
• Matt Haig – English author and journalist