It’s a term that’s being thrown around a lot and the definitions I hear seem to go from very broad to very specific.
To add to that, is epilepsy considered neurodivergent? Some sources say yes, some say no, and I’m quite confused.
In: 7
Tldr: no set definition leads to confusion and differing opinions on what it is. A good all rounder definition could be
“Neurodiversity is the concept that there are a variety of ways that people’s brains process information, function, and present behaviorally. Rather than thinking there is something wrong or problematic when some people don’t operate similarly to others, neurodiversity embraces all differences”
Fuller explanation:
There isn’t a set definition for it and it’s a relatively new term.
Generally it’s someone who is neurologically different from the typical person (neurotypical people).
The confusion happens with the definition because some people will only include those who have some kind of variation in their brain processing of their surroundings that hasn’t been caused by illness or injury and would be something that their brain was like from birth or at least first or second year of life. By this way of looking at it you’re mainly including such things like dyslexia, dyspraxia, autistic spectrum condition, adhd, etc. It’s all about how the person processes the input they get from the world &/ or their response to it. It suggests a difference in cognition, not a deficit or dysfunction
You then get a more expanded/wider definition, that it is anyone who’s brain and neurology is different from the typical. So this includes due to illness and injury as a cause, and that more people become neurodivergent with age. So this would include things such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, stroke, Alzheimer’s, etc
So as you can see, the answer to is epilepsy a form of neurodivergence is yes and no, depending on your definition used
Personally I quite like this definition; “Neurodivergence is the term for when someone’s brain processes, learns, and/or behaves differently from what is considered “typical.”
Is being neurodivergent bad?:
I will add that neurodivergence is a good word overall as it does not imply something is wrong or that there is only negatives to it. In the realm of asc, adhd, dyscalcula, dyslexia, problems arise from how modern life it.
600 years ago it wouldn’t matter if you struggled with learning to read or do anything beyond simple adding and subtracting, because most people couldn’t read and most didn’t need to do those kind of sums.
Likewise those with autism (I mean the milder end with no intellectual disability and can live independently). People with autism tend to struggle with social interactions and many would perhaps prefer a life with limited social interaction. That’s fine when the majority of people are farmers and that you can work on your own. And since many people with autism develop intense interests in one thing, if they found that thing that they liked, they would become experts. So they could be the best blacksmith or cobbler for miles (this still happens today, but in a different way).
Likewise people with adhd. Despite the name one trait of adhd is that they can become hyperfocused at times, especially if it’s something of particular interest, so those are traits that would lead to certain lifestyles just like asc would. Also there is some evidence that adhd may have made someone a more efficient hunter-gatherer before we developed farming
This article looks quite good at explaining
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