What is Neurodiversity?
In reference to the brains of the neurodiverse, Temple Grandin Ph.D. described them as “Different; not less.”
The word ‘Neurodiversity’ comes from a combination of “neurological” and “diversity”
that was popularized in the late 1990’s by Australian sociologist, Judy Singer and American journalist, Harvey Blume. It described all people in the world living under the umbrella of ‘Special Needs’.
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The Disability Rights Movement rose from the definition insisting that people with neurodiversities didn’t have special needs. They had the same ‘needs’ as everyone else; variation in the human brain was acceptable.
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In March of 2016 both the United Nations and the W.H.O. identified all ‘special needs’ under ‘Neurodiversity’. “Every person born on this planet has a different brain and that’s Okay!”
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At Prep to Step-Up, we can see everyone in the room as typical or atypical but who’s to say which of us are not neurodiverse?