Neurodivergence 101: What do neurodivergence, Autism and ADHD Really Mean?
I’ve been thinking about what to write for this blog that would give an introduction to me, my work, neurodivergence, the point of this blog... I think when someone starts a blog (or restarts) they want to offer something new, something interesting, a hook to get people reading etc etc. But I find myself asking:
Is that the only way to blog?
There are some amazing resources out there already that people have created about what autism, ADHD and neurodivergence are. I could create something myself, which might be as good, but also might be a bit rubbish.
Instead, I think I'll use this place to share my thoughts, ideas and experience AND to share resources and content that other people have created that I find really helpful for understanding whatever it is I'm going on about. I'll always credit other content creators and link back to their work too.
I'm a counsellor, a coach, a mentor, a teacher. Most of my time is spent working with people, holding space, listening, gently helping them to explore. I also want to share things that can be helpful to others, to make tools more accessible and to help normalise experiences, to reduce that feeling of being broken and alone in feeling that, a feeling I know very well. But I can share things without having to create everything myself. It's also important to think about balance, to think about what I need to be ok and to keep doing the work that I do, to be able to show up for my clients and also to be able to feel healthy and happy in myself - or just ok sometimes!
So what was going to be a bit of neurodivergence 101 post has morphed into something different. A little reflection about what this blog is actually going to be 🙂
I'll share some of my favourite images below that I feel capture what neurodivergence, ADHD and autism are. This is a starting point, you could go deeper into each of these points (and loads more!) Over the coming weeks there will be more posts from me where we'll go into education, work, relationships and how these might be affected by our neurodivergence - and what we can do to try to manage some of the challenges that come up, and strengthen our strengths. I'll share some practical takeaways each time and maybe something to reflect on, because I want you to really get something from reading this blog.
So what is neurodivergence anyway?
It can be helpful to think about neurodivergence as an umbrella that covers many different ‘conditions’.
Essentially, it refers to a brain that functions and processes the world a bit differently to what we might think of as ‘typical’ or ‘neurotypical’.
Not everyone will use it as a term to describe their experiences though. I think it is mostly commonly thought of with ADHD, autism and dyslexia (where my focus is), but there are potentially many many more ways to be neurodivergent - and many people may be more than one of these.
I’ve seen a few posts recently challenging the concept of neurodivergence as it is not a clinical term. So I really like this image as it explains what it actually is and isn’t.
It’s important to understand where the concept came from and the social justice background of it, especially as many who identify as neurodivergent are still stigmatised and marginalised, and still experience poorer outcomes in areas such as work and with mental health, largely because they are trying to ‘fit’ into a system that is easier for neurotypical brains.
There are a lot of debates about diagnostic labels, about overlap between symptoms and co-occuring conditions. I think if someone has a label that they’ve been given, or feel fits them, that it’s important to respect that and explore what it means to them - the good, the bad and the in between feelings about it.
I also think moving away from labels to think about what is actually happening for the individual is really helpful. Everyone is different. Every neurodivergent person is different and so figuring out your own unique profile can be really helpful. What are your strengths? Not stereotypical autistic strengths but yours. What are your challenges? Not the ones society says you should focus on but the ones that are bugging you and you want to focus on.
This is a really helpful tool for doing just that and one I’ve started recommending to clients and other therapists.
Thanks @livedexperienceeducator - loads of amazing images (I’ll share a link below).
And ADHD?
I love @itsEmilyKaty’s graphics - they’re visually appealing to me, clear and move away from the clinical language that can feel difficult to engage with and leans into the defecits.
ADHD can be quite broad and look quite different, even beyond the inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive or combined diagnosis.
I’m finding emotional dysregulation and difficulties with self-regulation generally are coming up more and more with clients and an area I’m really keen to understand more about.
And what about autism?
Another awesome graphic from @ItsEmilyKaty (linked below) - she has lots of great content on her site.
Similarly to ADHD, autism can also present differently and often phrases like ‘high-functioning’ and in the US levels seem to be used. But these are often challenged by autistic individuals as they don’t capture the reality of being autistic and the emotional and energetic load of trying to ‘function’, whatever that means.
Again regulation is something I’m seeing more and more come up when working with autistic clients (and with myself!) so I’ll definitely be sharing some ideas and tools in the future.
What about AuDHD?
Lastly, I wanted to share this from ADHD Works showing some of the overlap between autism, ADHD and AuDHD.
AuDHD is a newer area of research and a growing conversation. For a long time it was thought that ADHD and autism couldn’t co-occur (or at least they weren’t both diagnosed). This has now changed and there is a question of whether AuDHD is where both are present or whether it is actually something different in itself.
One of the challenges with AuDHD is that you can have traits that cancel each other out to some extent and so can ‘hide’ that it is present, meaning people may have had a long wait to be diagnosed (or recognising and self-identify) and receive support. ‘Strengths’ from one can sometimes be used to compensate (to some extent) for ‘challenges’ on the other. But sometimes both can go in the same direction and compound the challenges someone experiences.
Executive functioning, emotional regulation and attentional regulation are in the overlap compounding what may already be real challenges here.
I’m just noticing as I finish this off the language… there are some real strengths that come with having a neurodivergent mind (passion for your interests, creative thinking, problem solving etc.) and there are also some real challenges. Going too far into describing neurodivergence as a superpower or as a disorder/defecit means that we lose sight of the varied experiences individuals may be having and I think there needs to be space to be able to say yes, I can do this thing and it’s amazing AND also I’m really struggling with this thing and it really sucks.
Resources links:
